Manequins!fake people!

PhrEakyKat

PhrEakyKat

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 26, 1999
Messages
2,406
Location
South shore. NorthEast. US.
Maybe it's just me but my pal B-dawg and I had a long winded conversation on people and how they compose themselves these days. The conclusion that we came up with is that lately people (mostly youngins, say college freshman and soph's) are manequins. They're molded by whatever false imaginary belief of what to wear, who to talk to, who to associate themselves with and worst of all it's all fake. Plastic personalities I'd like to say. It's those people who are "dressed up" by a power that is totally not their own, lack of individuality.
The reason this came up is because more and more at clubs, outings, parties, i've been noticing the sudden influx of clique-ness and the unfortunate deterioration of PLUR. Who can honestly call themselves a raver, roller, or even a person for that matter if they lock themselves in a solid social confinement and only speak with, go out with, associate with those people who have been zombified by social stasis. Myself, I am always open for meeting anyone and everyone I possibly can, I've NEVER turned down someone who gathered enough wit to approach me and say "Hi, how are you doing?"
I'd like to know if any of you share this view with B-Dawg and I.
Again I must add, Bluelighters Kick Ass!!!
PLUR always.
Seann.
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PhrEakyKat
*grrroowwll*
fun for all
[email protected]
*SMILES!!!*
 
Well, since I'm one of these "plastic people" you're referring to, I feel compelled to reply. I'm finnishing up my last year before I head on over to UCF. No one, I MEAN NO ONE, tells me how to be or who to hang with.
One thing I've always prided myself on is my uniqueness. Even if that meant at times being a social perriah, I didn't care. If I wanted to hang with such and such, I was. If I wanted to be by myself, nothing was going to stop me either.
Now that I'm in the category you're critisizing, I haven't chnaged in my beliefs. Though I do see your point, I see it my classmates. They're always hanging out with eachother, no one else, always drinking, never doing or trying anyhting different. Me on the other hand, I'm all about meeting up with new people, though I'm somewhat handicapped by a slight case of shyness.
I'm very opened minded, and fully embrace PLUR in every way. Wherever I'm at, I'm all about helping out everybody else. If it's at the expense of my roll to blow others up, so be it.
Just wanted to let you know not everyone my age group's like that. Thinking so is just about as concrete and static as the ones you're criticizing.
smile.gif
 
bluelighters kick ass and so do you PhrEakykat that is very true in society today. The world has something in the minds of all young kids today of how they should act or be and it's hard to break away from this. I know cause I had to and to not be yourself is wrong even if you do,do the raves and parties............You as yourself is beautiful but only you yourself can make you that way.
plur to all
blaze
 
Thanks PhreakyKat. Plastic I'm not, vinyl I am (as in 12"'s !!!) hehe.
 
I guess you could include me in that group of "fake" people but it's not that I let my friends dictate the way I act, dress or think. It's just that I am a really shy person and sometimes lack the self-confidence to break away from my traditional groups of friends to meet new people. Which brings us to the reason that I love to roll so much. Ecstasy makes me feel free and enables me to meet new people. When I'm not rolling there is no chance that I'd ever go up to someone I didn't know and introduce myself. So it's not that I'm not open to meeting new and interesting people it's just that I stick with the people I already do know because I'm afraid of rejection. Well I hope that sheds a little light on the subject.
~Kali
 
as tempting as it is to agree with you phreakykat, i'm going to have to dissent on this one.
i think that you have to keep some historical perspective when looking at this whole issue of whether "today's kids" are their own people. it is very tough to compare one generation to another in terms of their "individuality." people usually just end up making value statements about the generation to which they don't belong. "these kids today, they don't have any values. Now in my day. . ." it gets kind of ridiculous, and you see it played out time and again throughout history. critics are always trying to make an argument for the decline of society based upon the differences from one generation to the next, and it's my feeling that this just amounts to differences between the two, not a better/worse scenario.
now when you say "they're molded by a false, imaginary belief about what to wear, etc..." i think you should really reconsider that. i mean, what you're saying amounts to the hypodermic model of communication (i think i read in roll call that you were a comm major, me too
smile.gif
). basically: message of conformity goes out, it is absorbed whole by media consumers - media consumers now believe this message, and conform. it's not a very sophisticated model, and i bet if someone said to you that you were acting in this way, you'd probably disagree and argue that you do a whole lot of interpreting that message that gets sent out.
i think that what is more likely is that you and your friend (and me too sometimes) no longer relate to the same symbols as these people, in the same way. perhaps that is why they seem "fake" and like "mannequins". they're just manoevering in slightly different cultural space than you and i. basically, the reason we don't relate to all the same symbols is because we are growing up (not a bad or a good thing, just inevitable) and we remember what came before. it is this basis for comparison that makes things seem "different" to us while still seeming "new" to them.
well, once again, i wrote a book here. i do have to agree with you on one thing tho
BLUELIGHTERS ROCK!!!
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And the end of all our exploring/Will be to arrive where we started
/And to know the place for the first time.
-T.S. Eliot
"In the war on drugs, I'm a conscientious objector" -- brand-x
[This message has been edited by brand-x (edited 12 November 1999).]
 
i can see exactly where your coming from phreaky. one day my friends and i were just sitting down talking and that popped up. it seem to us that a lot of people out there are fake. especially all those frat guys, i still don't like those guys, unless they are my friends, cause some of them think they are all that, and thats what i hate. i agree to some point, but they know no difference. so were we all fake before we did X?? i'm glad that i did X and i think everyone should experience at least once. i know that i've changed as a person, for the good. well those are just my thoughts, take care and have a great day =)
happy
 
I want to agree, but i cant. Why? because it is human nature to want to fit in with everyone else. No one wants to be the outsider....well most people anyway. there are always the few whoa re truly unique. I myself am somewhere in the middle. But just because they are all robots and act exactl the same and look exactly the same doesnt mean you should discount them as human beings. some of them are pretty decent.
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Life is just better with porn stars
-EckstashE-
 
Everyone of us has been "fake" or "plastic" at some point in our life. This is probably a "feeling out" period/stage/phase whatever. You must go through this space in time or else how would you truly know what real is? I can see where you and your friend get your ideas because I see the same exact things in our society. I do mean OUR society because I believe America itself is,in a way, absolutely "fake". First, a good % of Americans are "MEDIA WHORES", by this I mean Americans take what the media tells us, just like BRAND-X said, we process that info and we either conform, a good %, or we choose not to conform, 100% bluelighters (I hope), and come up w/ our own opinions/beliefs/values/norms etc. This is what makes an individual individual, a set of beliefs and such based off of how we process what information we recieve in whatever form.
I believe history repeats itself, and what you are sayin about these mannequins, was more than likely said about you at one point or another. I am not dissing your observations at all, like I said I see it to.
We cannot be so quick to judge people in that realm. They need a chance to shine and come out of their cocoon, just like you and I needed that chance. What do you think that chance was? Might be the rave/drug culture we are involved w/ now, or it could easily be some other situation. We were all like this at some point in our life. Just let people be themselves, no matter how you view them, because they are playing the same game we all are. The hardest game in the world to figure out --------- LIFE (then of course GOLF is next). Its very easy to pass judgement when you have already passed the point of which your judgement is directed. Enuf PSYCHOBABBLE I know no one person will get this far in this post but last words of wisdom, Stay on the middle path, DO NOT IN ANY WAY FUCK W/ THE BALANCE OF EXISTENCE (YIN&YANG), never stop the search of valuable knowledge and happiness, and LIVE AND LET LIVE. All of you fucking rock! I love you all, I mean it. I have never in my life met such a group of people as yourselves and I am lovin every minute of it. I am done now.
MAD LOVE and PLUR!
stepper69
 
i agree in part, but i think age is not the deciding factor. have you seen fight club yet? lots of media hype, violence, brad pitt, blah blah ... but man it hit me hard. regardless of what it said to anybody else in the theatre, what i got from it was that what ever you decide to do is ok. the trick is to make sure it's what you're doing because you want to do it, not because you mindlessly accepted what media or society or the corporation shoved down your throat. some people conform to the point of automotons, never considering what they do or why. some people are so concerned with nonconformity that they'll not do things they want to do because 'that's been done'. either way, either extreme, is bad. the point is to always be in control of your life. so if someone really digs something that just happens to be the new media buzz word, that's ok. if someone else digs on something incredibly esoteric, more power to them as well. anything is ok as long as they've made a choice.
i have more to say, but realized i was ranting. the point is, it has nothing to do with age. there are teenagers, middle-agers, and retirees who all feel more comfortable in the establishment. none of them are right to let someone else decide what they do. the best i think i can do is look for people who are as open-minded as me and try not to be too disgusted by those others. and occasionally show the others something shocking so that they know there is more interesting life beyond their very 'normal' world.
- aby
 
I think this whole discussion originates from a frustration about humanity in general, rather than animosity towards one particualr group, in this case, what phreakykat called "manequins". Truth be told, we all more or less conform to the values and beliefs of a particular sect of society, be it a large or small sect. Take your own observations, even. For the most part, you've received praise and concordance from the people who view this message board, a sign that you all share similar beliefs and personality traits. You may take issue with a certain prolific popular sect of society, like club abercrombie frat boys and all that stuff, and think of rave culture and plur as a much more rewarding way to live. Therefore, you end up associating with those types of people, often dressing a certain way, speaking a certain way, etc. I would agree with you there, I absolutely love what I've found in this type of environment, but its no more or less exclusive or whatever than any other group. As humans, we all share certain things, so there are a finite number of fundamental ways to live. You'll end up part of a group. The point is to find the chill people from any group/setting you should come upon. Don't rule out people based on anything, which I think was your original point. They could be looking at you sucking on a pacifier and dancing your ass off and think, "oh, hes an etard. nothing more to him than music and drugs, etc. i have nothing to say to him." then you've both lost. i dunno, just my thoughts on it.
pl~ur
kid*e
 
I've notice the sudden influx of 'plastic people' in some of the places I've been to myself. I'm rather reserved, but don't mind when people come up and talk to me
smile.gif
. I usually have to work up some courage to approach strangers. I've approached the wrong person, and she just brushes me aside like yesterday's trash. It makes it that much more difficult on me when there's hordes of socialites and such wandering around. It's funny, some of these people come to places known for rolling and such, and get all agitated when people come at random and talk to them! It's kinda difficult to be mad at them without being hypocritical to the whole e experience...
-pod
 
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