Geeks logo

Hey Duckface Selfie, Whatever Happened to the Weird?

The problem being that "weird" is the most troublesome concept to DS.

By Sean Bw ParkerPublished 7 years ago 2 min read
Like

In the same way that the pejorative "gay" continues to mean effeminate, non-realistic, or light from some mouths, "weird" has long meant non-mainstream and possibly threatening. When David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust landed on Top of the Pops in 1972, technicolour weird invaded the homes of Britain en masse, and when Prince would strut the live music stage in the early eighties clad only in a black thong and flasher overcoat, The Purple Perv was born.

These two now sadly passed men were weird looking and acting, immensely charismatic but eventually saved and rewarded by grace of The Tunes. There were weird women too, with Kate Bush and Bjork, their mass appeal tipping points a decade apart, but resplendent in colour, quirkiness and Banshee-like screams—again, buoyed in market acceptance by the tunes. This was a pre-millennial age of four terrestrial TV channels, and a handful of radio stations to keep the tuneage bobbing along.

A certain bloody-minded artistry encapsulated in these four, but echoed in individuals now considered "legends" in every shape and size, colour, sparkle, and eccentricity. With the minnowing down of the Mississippi of capitalised contemporary culture into the Delta of the Gulf of Tinternet, artists of all kinds are struggling to find a voice, due to a lack of depth or reflection, and a feeling that getting something, anything out there is more important than slaving over it to a point of fanaticised, blistering acuity. Queen’s "Bohemian Rhapsody" is an incredibly strange, rich song, and that didn’t happen over two practices with a smartphone camera.

If it’s the hippies of the sixties, the punks/stack heels of the seventies, the new romantics/hip hoppers of the eighties, grungers/britpoppers of the nineties, the retro-image looked back on from either of the first two decades of the new millennium will be the Duckface Selfie. This young lady is unconcerned by allegations of narcissism, having been surrounded by OK magazine since a nipper, and knowing that celebrity is its own reward—and if you don’t have anything special to offer—and who does?—then it doesn’t matter as there’ll be enough click-likes to sustain a degree of positive/negative self-esteem.

The problem being that "weird’"is the most troublesome concept to DS. Weird means different-thinking, probably nerdish, geeky, left-minded, possibly studious, analytical, socially/internationally conscious. This doesn’t work with the community that DS has built around him/herself, where smooth lines, urban soul, and perfectly honed bodies have been now joined by an ultra-tech, gaming, hyper-normalised fitness obsessive soundtracked by Ed Sheeran and Stormzy. The weird is a challenge to think, to experiment, to push boundaries, to take risks—the stuff of life past the endemic austerity the older generation has cast upon them.

There’s not much new in the psychology of the instant wish-fulfilment of likes and the rest—it’s a way of feeling better about the physical at least. It’s the lack of appetite for challenging culture in art and music which is I guess a plateauing thing to be expected. "Weird" as an artistic expression comes from the cult of the individual, and when that is separated from market forces, becomes an exciting and often life-affirming thing. In the late seventies, Hugh Cornwell from The Stranglers sang—to those gloriously weird bass/organ arpeggios—"no more heroes anymore." Fast forward forty years, all I can see are copy-pasted hashtags of those heroes, whether he even meant it at the time or not.

pop culturehumanity
Like

About the Creator

Sean Bw Parker

Songwriter, musician, poet, author, interviewer, editor, teacher, promoter, producer, artist, chef, creative director

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.