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"Indeed, his primary reaction is not revulsion but envy: 'They believe in something. It's more than many of us can say.' What most of us believe, Niedzviecki thinks, is not just a lie but a cheap and secondhand lie."
Am I supposed to feel sorry for you all?
No offense, Mr. O'Hehir - I'm an admirer of your work for Salon. But frankly, I relate neither to Mr. Niedzviecki's angst nor to your "uncomfortable" sense of seeing yourself reflected and implicated in those he documents. I see nothing inconsistent with corporatism or fascism in a message of non-conformity created and marketed to the public by corporations (no high horse here; I'm an Apple user). And I don't see what's so mystifying about a society of wannabe celebrities who can't formulate blueprints for their own fantasy success beyond the ones they see on TV; isn't that nothing more nor less than a clear-cut failure of imagination?
Personally, I love going to karaoke bars - not because I imagine myself a star, or even want to goof on being one. I do it because I love to sing, and as a 37-year-old man whose last band was 15 years ago, I have no other opportunity to do so. At the risk of turning this simple pleasure into an emblematic gesture of defiance, in other words, I sing karaoke once in a blue moon because singing makes me happy; I love the authentic experience of it. It means nothing more culturally fraught than that.
And to my way of thinking, that's what Mr. Niedzviecki's subjects, and he himself, and apparently you, and perhaps 99% of the American public under 50 have lost touch with. Don't do things, don't make choices in your life, because someone else tells you you ought to, or ought to want to. Do them and make them because they have meaning for you. Because they give pleasure to you. In this world, the only true non-conformity is listening to your own heart and soul and ignoring the whole question of who else, if anyone, hears the same song.
And not to be glib, but anyone who can't figure that one out, I ain't got time for.
