15 Comments

There's so much I disagree with in Klosterman's argument about the 90s and beyond. That aside, something that comes to mind in distinguishing the 00s: Physical Media? Love the Paris Hilton Sims photo, as well as all the stylish cell phones, curated albums, etc. When streaming and always-on internet went universal, content kind of exploded and atomized and style dissipated (literally no boxes, devices reduced to a piece of glass). Early 00s was the peak of THINGS and they needed to look different. So much is downstream of this IMO.

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Great comment... seems related too that the 2000s was the final moment (the peak?) of the customizable web, before the rise of the iPhone, Facebook, streaming, emoji etc. structured and confined most on-screen experiences to a standard

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re: further avenues of inquiry:

fwiw, I think 2000s bro comedies were a/the(?) common link between the sleaze indie and Von Dutch cultural subsets – mostly providing members of each group a common meme-language in a [mostly] still pre-social internet age, centred on Ferrel and Vaughan quotes [ie. those with the most legit 'indie' cred via SNL & Swingers] – and thus fell out of fashion at almost exactly the same time. In other words, it was cool to like bro comedies for about as long as it was ok to like Von Dutch hats and Franz Ferdinand and to wear a Von Dutch hat to a Franz Ferdinand show.

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Feb 24, 2022Liked by Max Read

Jackass is 2000s culture. Similarly, though his tv show was mainly in the 90s, so is Tom Green.

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I wonder if Tom Green might be "mannerist" '90s — the 90s turned in on itself, the 90s exploring the outer limits of its character — but paving the way for Jackass, a pure 2000s product.

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Feb 24, 2022Liked by Max Read

Re: further inquiry, can't overlook the enduring ubiquity of The Office (US) and Peak Apatow.

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Laughing aloud in my co-working space - which I think will be a cornerstone of 2010s culture - thank you!

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Feb 24, 2022Liked by Max Read

I went looking to see if Justin Timberlake was still wearing Von Dutch hats around the time Where is the Love? came out, thinking there might be a value add here beyond the first essay question, but Google images is telling me he had already transitioned to fedoras, which feels like it's own thing.

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jimmy fallon absolutely factors into both why boston was cool and why the sox's win prefigured trump's election. horrifying to think about on every level

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Okay but this totally leaves out twee which includes mcsweeneys, the believer and bands like Moldy Peaches, freak folk and the the new back to the land /white people homesteading movement, crust punk and Earth Liberation Front

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"a return of irony"? have these people never been on twitter?

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TPM's (and Jreg's) post-irony and meta-irony might have something to do with it. Twitter is now more cringe than ironic in its intended sense nowadays.

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Boston was not cool

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> explain uffie

really asking the hard questions

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