Comments on: Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a Mockery of Mariachi?

By: JontKopeck

JontKopeck — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:08:00 +0000

Well, as cultural appropriations go it’s rare enough that the inauthenticity is declared, let alone brought to the fore.

By: Aru

Aru — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:21:00 +0000

Yes exactly, I’m half Mexican/Native American but I know for a fact I might come off as a hipster to some people. ( I go to an art school, enough said.) It irks me to see people who are like me being put in a box and targeted for something ridiculous.
If I make a comment about being Mexican, instead of people assuming I’m actually Mexican they chalk it up to me being an oblivious hipster.
But yes, “hipster” is a very relative term, so it’s pretty tricky to talk about it.

By: Andres

Andres — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:05:00 +0000

I really liked that article on Jezebel and thought it was bringing some really relevant issues to the forefront – but I agree, that particular aspect of it really bothered me.

Hipster is such a broad term that encompasses a bunch of things, whither it be listening to Animal Collective, wearing feathers from your hair, or taking fashion cues from previous counter-culture youth movements, eras, or ethnic cultures and wearing them in an ironic manner (which is about the only thing that bugs me about “hipsters”). But by linking them to a very specific form of racism, that is not unique to hipsters and has preceded them and will surpass them, it unfairly maligns the people who might be considered hipsters simply because they might like Animal Collective or wear feathers in their hair. And it encourages the hatred of a group and the formation of a negative stereotype, which will only be harmful further down the line. (For instance, what impact might hatred of hipsters have on future youth movements and the public’s perception of independent music, art, and cinema?)

Of course, I think that it’s important to point out that the Mike’s Hard Lemonaide ad and other more egregious examples of ironic racism are stupid and bad. But that can be done without simultaneously encouraging hatred of a group by simply identifying that ironic racism is the problem, and not necessarily hipsters or any other group.

By: Aru

Aru — Mon, 07 May 2012 01:12:00 +0000

I’ve been thinking the same thing since I read that article on Jezebel.

I can’t exactly pinpoint it, but from reading any article talking about “hipster racism”, the image is always the same, “culturally oblivious young whites”.
I have yet to see any other race being “ironic” about another one in these types of articles. It seems like whites are the only ones that can use “hipster racism”.

By: decius

decius — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:24:00 +0000

The ‘context of social justice’ seems like it is the same context as universal moral imperatives. Also, it seems completely unrelated to social justice as I see it.

I feel like the intended message is “It’s not acceptable to make fun of Mariachi music.”

By: Legolewdite

Legolewdite — Sun, 06 May 2012 17:35:00 +0000

For my part, I took “better” to be in the context of social justice. The meaning provided by this “better approach” would be one which relied on less stereotypes and which eschewed normalizing certain cultural attitudes and rendering them invisible at the expense of exoticing Others. In this instance, rather than portraying Mariachi music with the all-too-usual parody of it, they could have showcased some of the skill and allure of either Mariachi’s long heritage or the evidence of such seen even in more contemporary examples today for example. Personally, I didn’t find this particularly egregous, but it’s not for me to say what others should or should not be offended by. Justifying even the slightest sleights seems far more wrong and absurd to me…

By: decius

decius — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:39:00 +0000

In the phrase “A better approach” did you intend ‘better’ in the moral imperative sense, the suitability for purpose sense, or in some other sense? I can’t interpret it in a way that isn’t wrong or absurd.

By: Andres

Andres — Sun, 06 May 2012 08:02:00 +0000

I’m not particularly comfortable with the term “hipster racism”. I think that if something is racist, then it’s sufficient enough to just say it’s racist. There’s no need to insight a stereotype in order to combat a stereotype. It’s counterproductive. The same goes for irony. The sooner the word irony is relinquished from it’s “hipster” connotations, the better.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sun, 06 May 2012 06:07:00 +0000

This is Mike’s Hard Lemonade, all of their ad campaigns consist of idiots making a fool of themselves and acting in stereotypical manners. When it came time to make a Cinco de Mayo themed ad, instead of making real Mexican mariachi bands look silly, they got a bunch of white guys to try to be mariachis and fail miserably, (the message the I received was that only authentic Mexicans can be good mariachis, as opposed to white hipsters).Can a case be made against Mike’s Hard Lemonade because all of their ads (to my recolection) feature exclusively white people and don’t feature women prominently? Absolutely, without a doubt. However, considering that the “theme” of all their ads is people acting ridiculously, how much MORE of an outcry would there have been if there were actual Mexicans acting foolishly in their ads?

In a sense, because all of the “characters” in Mike’s Hard Lemonade’s ads are acting foolish, it could be argued that they are “playing it safe” by casting white actors as opposed to underrepresented minorities, because otherwise they would have to answer to people complaining that they are protraying minorities in a negative light. For the record I am NOT MAKING THIS ARGUMENT (is there a way to do italics or bold or some other form of emphasis on this site?) I just enjoy playing devil’s advocate and looking at things from all points of view, and wouldn’t be surprised if the PR department at Mike’s Hard Lemonade has had this exact thought.