Strike the Pose
This guy is not posing for the camera. He’s posing for the WORLD. I saw him at the Grove Street PATH station Sunday night. He strutted past me and my roommate and coolly struck this pose up against a pillar:
He did it for a good while before my camera came out, too. He just stood there, coolly surveying the platform until the train came.
And it got me to thinking about culture and subculture, and the way we signify our memberships in large, medium, and small overlapping circles. There’s more peacockery and showmanship on the streets of New York (and the surrounding area) than almost anywhere in the world, even though most people are more alike than different. A lot of people use clothing and attitude not to put forward the person that they actually are, but the person they want to be. It’s aspirational, not necessarily reflective.
People run their perceptions of another person — their aspirational outfit — through their own set of prejudices and filters, too. And it’s a flawed system at best. The end result is that nobody knows what’s really going on, and all you have are these clumsy, lumpy mysteries. Most people have a hard time articulating what’s on their mind when you talk to them directly, so how can you tell if someone’s a tool or not just by looking at them?
I don’t know, but man, it sure works a lot of the time. The world is pretty magical that way.
Kurt Vonnegut said “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.”
And whenever I see a person in baseball hat that’s in any position other than brim-forward, cap-on-scalp, I think the wearer is sending a very clear message. They’re saying, all with the turn of a hat:
I am a proud and defiant member of a subculture that places absolutely ZERO value on intelligence. We place so little value on intelligence that we don’t even value the APPEARANCE of intelligence.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:12 am
What he thinks the hat is saying:
“I don’t play by the rules– I make my OWN rules. I got a lot goin’ on and I just threw this hat on my head as I ran out the door. So what if it didn’t land straight? I’m not a straight and narrow kinda guy. Like I said, I make my own rules. I hope my roommate didn’t eat all my Blazin’ Buffalo Ranch Doritos again.”
October 6th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I like it. i like him. I LOVE New York.
October 6th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
You believe that you can assess a person’s intelligence based on their clothing choices, you provide no evidence nor scientific studies to back up your amazing psychic claims–and yet he’s the one who doesn’t value intelligence?
I still like reading your blog; it’s great, but this shit is ignorant.
October 14th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Is that what he’s saying with the hat, or is it your interpretation of what he’s saying with the hat? (legitimate question, not trying to be all intellectually-picky) Things to think about….
In any case. Great post. Really glad to know everyday things “get [people] to thinking.” I love that.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:28 pm
New York is an incredible intersection of culture and subculture – especially the trains. The PATH trains are no exception because they’ve become access to the unofficial borough of New Jersey – an ever expanding New York City.
Here is where a guy from Wall street and a guy from Harlem could share the same train to a Yankees game. That’s why I love New York.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Did he have to intentionally do something to get the hat to almost hover? I almost hope so. That would be some real dedication to the pose.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
B-Boy in full mother-uffin effect!