Your Scene Sucks… and anyway, I don’t get it…

Sometimes I feel like I am getting a little old. Back when I was fourteen, I found my grandmother’s remarks about the “youth of today” pathetic, to say the least. Nowadays it’s me who can’t grasp the different movements, groups and spin-offs. Between Cyber-Goth, Emo, Scene or Hipster, I am completely at sea.

Therefore, I was more than delighted to find this little project online where Rob Dobi draws caricatures of the different scene types and crossovers: the “scenesters” on http://www.yourscenesucks.com/ Naturally, this site is used to poke fun at the strict dress codes or behavioural patterns of the different scenes, but it also, in a comical way, shows you which group your counterpart feels he belongs to. This should not be taken to seriously, as it is clearly exaggerated.

It also works as a means of criticism of the uniformity of youth subculture: "Wouldn't it be more of an act of rebellion if you didn't spend so much time buying blue hair dye and going out to get punky clothes? It seems so petty. Stop me if I'm being offensive. You wanna be an individual, right? You look like you're wearing a uniform. You look like a punk. That's not rebellion. That's fashion."

Since I detest being shoved into a pigeon-hole, it seems strange to me how people follow fashion trends like lemmings and nowadays even seem to obey rules as to what music you are allowed to listen to or what use of your language is appropriate. There are even counseling websites that tell you, how to be “scene”.

If you have as little a clue as me, enjoy the colourful caricatures of Rob Dobi and have a laugh at the obscure rules that a subculture can impose on someone (and at the people who are willing to obey them). Maybe this will soothe my fear of growing up a little, if I just convince myself that being a teenager is a nuisance anyway.

Pic via