Hate The Hair, Love the Balls
I posted something last night about the worst haircut I’ve ever seen, complete with a cute little drawing to illustrate it. At about 6 pm, both BoingBoing and Gawker linked to it, increasing my traffic tenfold.
“Oh look,” I thought. “Everyone thinks I’m witty, brilliant and wonderful. It must be true if the Internet says so!”
Then I left work and got on the subway — and saw the owner of said haircut. I felt really, really bad. On the one hand, this guy was obviously seeking attention with his ‘do, and now he’s gotten it. But then again, taking cheap shots at strangers kind of sucks, I think, even if it does pay off in the dizzying sweet nectar of Internet attention.
When I got home, I saw this comment, which really made me think:
Style is a product of Risk Taking… & those of you who laugh @ people who take risks are simply too scared to be true inventors…
I disagree only slightly. It’s not just style that comes from taking risks … it’s everything worth doing, everything wild and weird and beautiful and cool. True beauty is not always pretty. Just ask John Waters, Thurston Moore, Francis Bacon and the team that made ‘Liquid Sky.’
Sure, those artists have a thick patina of cool that’s developed over time, but it was a hard slog there for a while. It’s like that for everyone that’s trying to do something cool, strange and truly new.
I still stand by the fact that the aforementioned haircut is god-awful. No amount of guilt and Internet commenting is going to change that. But I had an art professor once, a very wise man named Stuart Downs who said about my response to a piece of art:
If you hate something powerfully, intensely and immediately, you should examine that feeling. Get close with it, get comfortable. Because once you peel back those layers, you’re probably going to find something very beautiful underneath.
Stuart was right. Anyone who’s got a haircut like that doesn’t just have balls — they’ve got two flesh-based planetoids orbiting their thighs. They’re restless, inventive, and have the nerve to Frankenstein together a few things to make something new. I may not like the look, but I appreciate the hell out of that spirit, and my world’s a richer place because of guys like that.
I’m just trying to entertain some people with this blog, get a couple laffs and stay on the relentless treadmill that is regular, fresh, original content. I’ll pretty much grab ahold of anything and write about it and it’s never meant as a personal attack.
Ultimately me and that guy, we’re cut from the same lumpy cloth. We’re both putting ourselves out there, trying to draw a little attention to ourselves and make the world a wilder, weirder place. Sure, I’m pointing the finger but it could come back at me just as easily. I am no male model, not by a damn sight. And nobody appointed me the Royal God-King of All That Is Fashionable and Acceptable. All any of us can do is try to get ahead and entertain ourselves the best we can and bruise as few feelings as we can in the process.
But the chick at the Dante’s Fried Chicken party last Sunday, with the black siding shaven into the side of her otherwise white-blond, Vader-shaped hairdo, though … that was fucked up.
Popularity: 18% [?]
January 25th, 2008 at 12:44 am
We must all take a moment to remember that, no matter what anyone says, the internet is clearly serious business.
You have a new reader.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:12 am
I am torn the same way sometimes, but if the good humoured outweighs the nasty and you are prepared to take it yourself if necessary, then it’s OK. Pure nasty is always uglier than any haircut. He’s out there. You can respect it, but it’s still ok to laugh.
January 25th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Style isn’t just trying something new, but having the the sense to know when it’s wrong, even before it happens. Innovators are those who everyone else say is wrong, but they themselves know are right, and moreso go ahead and do it. But they also know when to give up when they’ve made a mistake, and focus on something else.
January 25th, 2008 at 6:52 am
a bad hair style is still a bad hair style, no matter what philosophy we put behind it.
January 25th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Good or bad is just something we made up in our heads. It just is. Besides, how do we know what his intent is? Maybe he’s trying to make us laugh?
January 25th, 2008 at 8:22 am
I agree with you whole-heartedly! Yet another new reader =)
January 25th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Damn, I thought you were going to go up to him and talk to him. Now THAT’D be a blog post. haha
January 25th, 2008 at 10:25 am
And, yes another new reader. Because of the original post and the Boing Boing shout-out, but now definitely because you have the balls yourself to come out and love everyone as they are. Admirable!
January 25th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I’m personally just too hooked on the whole karma thing. I just don’t feel that it’s in my best interest to try and further myself by doing it at another person’s expense.
Usually the think you have the most about someone else is the exact thing that you hate about yourself. You hate a risk taker because you don’t take risks yourself.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Stephanie — which “you” are referring to? Me personally, or the general “you?”
And thanks to all of you guys for commenting, being willing to check back in. I’ll see if I can keep it up!
January 25th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
“Usually the think you have the most about someone else is the exact thing that you hate about yourself. You hate a risk taker because you don’t take risks yourself.”
Yeah, don’t buy that AT ALL. My making fun of someone has absolutely EVERYTHING to do with what they’ve done to themselves to make me raise an eyebrow and NOTHING to do with whether I’m afraid to be a risk-taker.
Rock on, Jeff. New reader here too.
January 25th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I don’t think you need to justify adding a little humor to the world at someone elses expense.
Have you ever cracked a joke about your friend? Your sister? My family and friends are full of love, with some pretty biting jest at each others expense.
You probably could have walked up to the guy with a smile saying: “Man, that ‘do is FUCKED UP!!!, with a hand up for a high-five. He would have given you one, and probably said thanks.
January 25th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Meh.
Anything you could say to the dude about his odd little nimbus of screwed up hair, he’s probably heard already. A person doesn’t just leave the house rockin’ that sort of madness without being prepared for the critique. It’s not like he was caught with his zipper down. This guy looked in the mirror, grabbed a comb and some industrial-strength shellac, and planned for the assault of unwanted opinions.
January 25th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Jeff, you’re too nice. Anyone who wears a haircut like that should be ready for some harmless poking fun.
When I first read this comment, I thought, “God, what an uptight fuckwad.”
January 25th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
“She kills with her c***.”
“Liquid Sky” was a defining movie for me.
Thanks for bringing that back!
D
January 27th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
ive learned some things about the internet all these years wasting tons of time upon said device: anonymity brings out the worst in people. trolls love to advocate the devil. no matter what it is, someone thinks they should talk shit about it or pretend they are the moral highground. but i agree, dude has a pair. if i had balls of such magnitude, i would probably do something slightly more awesome with it, like fly around and fight crime.