We’re going to take a look at a few documentaries that examine different subcultures:
Lolita: http://vimeo.com/30930981
Furries: http://vimeo.com/17995012
Dungeons and Dragons: http://vimeo.com/8026668
Gamers: http://vimeo.com/31266513
Possibly related to sneakers: http://vimeo.com/26788975
I encourage you to watch any/all of these. As you watch them, think about what defines + distinguishes these subcultures as distinct communities, and consider how successfully these documentaries depict those communities.
By the end of class:
Post a comment on this post reflecting on any or all of the films you watched today, and include any ideas you have at this point about what subculture you might want to document for your final project. I encourage you to respond to each other’s comments with helpful suggestions/questions.
Examples we discussed earlier include: punk, riot grrrl, goth, hardcore, hip-hop, skateboarding, graffiti, gaming, straight-edge, sneakerheads, otaku, fandom, etc. Additionally: ethnic (Dominican, Chinese, etc), deaf, and other subcultures that aren’t specifically youth oriented
We are Sixteen. 
Looking at the majority of the films, I have been able to really see how people are categorizing a subculture. I feel that people categorize a subculture as a group of people that feel they have something in common and have a strong feeling for. It doesn’t always have a message that is universal but they are all meaningful in their own way. An example was the bands that we watched yesterday; they have a meaningful message, which was family, just like the jugglers. They depend on the idea of family and connection through what they love. While others, such as the Lolita and Furries have their own message, of another persona, which is not as universal. Going off of what I originally said as a subculture, as a group of people that have something in common and/or have strong feelings for, it doesn’t have to be something like Lolita or Furries. Ethnic groups count as part of a subculture. Each ethnic group or group in general, are all different and are brought up differently as well. Such as Hispanic, Caucasian, Asian, African-American. Then going into a more serious set like the Deaf Culture, the blind, the musical life even and adoption. I weigh into many of the cultures that I just presented you, however, being adopted is something I don’t take lightly. Being adopted raises so many questions on identity and acceptance, and I feel I would like to document what it is like for not only the kids who have been adopted, but the parents that have kids that they adopted. I guess subculture is something that is on a gray scale and there isn’t really a black or white to it, it is up to the person analyzing the world.
The videos that i saw were gamers and dungeons and dragons. These two cultures are very interesting because people would call these gamers and DND players weird for what they love doing. If you were to ask me to play DND i would be like no but after hearing the videos i would because you use a lot of skills just to play DND. For example, you need a big imagination just to play because most of the time you need to imagine yourself there and what your character would do. For gamers i feel like a lot of adults say that video games waste your life and are a distraction but actually these gamers go beyond just playing, they actually go and try to make there video games experience better and they try to make it were they can multi-task with the item they are playing with.
The two films that stood out to me the most were probably the Lolita and Furries videos. The way people interacted with one another in each community gave me a sense of belonging, even thought I am not apart of either subculture. Each community was unique in the way they dressed, acted, etc. I find it interesting; how people choose their subcultures and how to shape each one. For instance, in the video we watched yesterday about the band of clowns (juggalos), they defined their community/subculture as a family. They looked out for each other and obviously had the same interests; they did not care what other groups thought of them. Out of all the sulcultures presented in these videos, I have come to conclusion that I would do a video on the subculture of adoption. Being adopted, it is a very touchy subject to me and it is not something I can talk about to just anyone. I was thinking about documenting adoptees and adopters; how it feels to be living with someone not blood related, how they felt when they adopted/were told they were adopted, so on and so forth. To me, subculture is something many people tend to look down upon because people not within their own subculture might be considered “not normal”—sometimes. It is really up to the person within a subculture to define what is “normal”, “real”, and just what life is to them.
Love this idea.
I watched the furry fandom. In this fandom people would dress up as characters they would create as a their alternative persona. People come up with the idea of these personas by whatever the animal they pick inspired them. They chose the animals base on characteristics they wished they had or symbols they represent. Also the subculture I want to do is gaming.
Post a comment on this post reflecting on any or all of the films you watched today, and include any ideas you have at this point about what subculture you might want to document for your final project. I encourage you to respond to each other’s comments with helpful suggestions/questions.
These different subcultures describe how these people see themselves. Some people feel different from others but some like the idea since it’s them, it’s their personality. It’s really interesting how many different subcultures there is, and there are a lot I don’t know about. Subcultures describe how these different people feel about themselves and how they should act. A subculture I might think of doing would be a hipster because it’s really interesting and I know some people who are hipsters.
Until now I didn’t know there could be these many subcultures; in fact, I hadn’t really thought of people who play World of Warcraft, for example, to be a subculture. I really just viewed them as people who like to play video games. This has also got me thinking what subculture I belong to.. and what kinds of subcultures exist in the iSchool. The ones I can think of off the top of my head: Yugio (?) Subculture, Manga Subculture, and Hipster subculture. Otherwise, I’m not sure what else there is. I want to document an unusual but common subculture in New York City, preferably one that includes some members of the Ischool.. for now I’m stuck.
I think all of these films show that nobody does something for attention, I think everyone is just different and they found a group that they can relate to in some way. For example, the Lolita group have been that way since they were younger- they have always loved dressing up and instead of being embarrassed about something they like to do, they embrace it. The same go with furries, many of these people played online game where they made a avatar and decided to become one themselves. I think a group I would want to focus on is Muslim Teens. Many of them act differently while many of their parents want the same future for them.
I am very excited to do this final project after seeing these videos. They ones that we watched were all similar in the sense that they were being themselves, not caring about what people think about them. I find this interesting because this is not something you see a lot, and would like to base my final project on a subculture that acts that same way. I am thinking about making my videos on skaters,gang members, or graffiti artists but i am not set on anything for sure.
~Tim Hale Caparosa
I feel like what defines people who consider themselves as “Lolita” are people who enjoy dressing up and wearing clothes that are related to anime characters. They seem to enjoy wearing mostly big, fluffy dresses thats pink and have cute designs on them like animals, cupcakes, etc. Their hairstyle seems to be curled or extremely straight and short.
As of right now I’m not sure what subculture I would want to document for my final project.
After watching all the videos, I feel that each group had a sense of comfort with one another. They all had a similar passion and they group together to do these things, be it dress up as little girls, create/change up video games, or dress up as furry characters made from spawns. They made me feel warm, and accepted, even though I wasn’t part of their group. They were accepting of each other, and considered each other ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’. The video that most stood out to me was the gamers. They would take old games, like the N64 and the original game boy, and add new things to it and upgrade it- almost like they were recycling the games to be re-used once again. Just like more mainstream games and things like that. For my final project, I have a few ideas that I’m thinking of playing out, and planning in my head, but I’m not completely sure yet.
I found the Dungeons and Dragons the most interesting. They repeatedly said that playing the game was a way for them to feel like they could do more than is possible in real life. They said they could be someone, create a new identity, or be who they wanted to be. I’m exactly sure if this is who they really because I think they contradicted themselves. I heard, “This is who I am,” but I also heard “It allows us to be someone we want to be.” I’m leaning towards them wanting to be someone they’re not and playing games all day to be that person.
After watching these videos, I’ve noticed that these people are basically doing things that they like and do things that have strong feelings for. Even though these things they are doing seem to look strange towards us, they are a group of people that understands each other and do common things they enjoy. For example, in the video ‘Furries’, this subculture group likes to wear fur and dress up as a character that they created themselves. Besides the fact that the characters seem to be fluffy and cute, these people explain how they are misunderstood by ‘non-flurries’ and take these people as sex offenders, and etc. After watching these videos, I think I understand what subculture means. After hearing that word yesterday, I was thinking of religious cultures such as the Chinese but instead a subculture is something about a group of people who do things together that they both enjoy doing and what they have in common. I cannot wait to start on this project.
I’ve noticed that mostly all of the people in subcultures are trying to live life they wished they had. They all think that they are not good enough in real life and so they try to become better versions of themselves. They like being in groups because they feel that they are family and that they all are the same.
I think that these people became part of these sub-cultures because it’s who they are. The people in the sub-cultures all said that everyone in their sub-cultures were like family to them. They don’t become part of the sub-cultures for attention they become part of them so that they can fit in into their own personality.
Exploring some of many subcultures in the world today really opened my eyes to “fitting in” or “feeling like you belong”. There are probably thousands of subcultures, 90% I haven’t even heard of. It’s so incredible that these people connect because they are outsiders, and have certain intrests most people don’t. The two videos that stood out to me the most were the “Furies” and “Lolita” documentaries. In the Furies video, people overtoke their own identity with a custom giant, fuzzy, animal costume playing as there alter ego. To us, it seems crazy that they don’t do this for attention, but that they do it because they have a passion for it. These videos were very inspirational, especially for the topic ideas I had for my final documentary. One idea I had was documenting youth culture in Paris from an outsider’s perspective, almost comparing it to the lifestyle we have here. Another idea was actually documenting my experience living with a person I just met, playing the role of an anthropologist. The last idea I had for the film was documenting my student’s personal culture (social life, clothes, where she fits in, ect…). I am still thinking of ideas for my final film, but I definatley want to explore the ideas of: being unique, being an outsider, what shapes/defines people, ect.