Saturday, 17 December 2011
In what has to be the least cool thing since Miley Cyrus covered Nirvana, Justin Bieber has hijacked the uber-nerdy yet surprisingly cool steampunk aesthetic in his video for Santa Claus is Coming to Town, the latest piece of tinseled poo off of the most annoying Christmas album I've ever heard. Except for maybe the Chipmunks' Christmas album. I guess as far as Bieber Christmas gifts go though, I'll take that over whatever it is he's always grabbing in a box.
Needless to say, the steampunk community is clutching their pearls in dismay. I mean, seriously, I haven't seen a bunch of nerds in this much of a tizzy since the announcement that Hollywood would be bastardizing the Doctor Who series. I personally am enjoying this mainstream/underground culture clash. I never thought I'd see the day when a grown man wearing antique goggles, dressed in a suit made of leather and cogs and sporting an oldey-timey villain mustache would be calling Justin Bieber a butcher. He's kind of like the Jack the Ripper of steampunk. And music. And my faith in humanity.
Hardcore steampunker Isabella “Captain” von Pumpernickel (I'm gonna assume that's not her real name, NO reason) sees it differently: “If you think steampunk is dead because the ‘mainstream’ has noticed it, well then you weren’t really into it that much. ... You are not a steampunk, you are just a hipster.” The steampunk cat below agrees. He's fed up with the posers hijacking his sub-culture. I mean, he's been into steampunk since the Industrial Revolution, yo!
Honestly, I hardly even noticed the steampunk nods in the video, what with all the faces JB was pulling. I didn't realize that when you sing a crappy song you actually have to make faces like you're having trouble pushing one out.
I predict that steampunk will survive and Bieber will move on to destroy something new. So what 'trend' will Bieber co-op next? I recommend sexy mirror pic fail girl.
Here's a look at the video if you need an incentive to bash your head into a wall with disgust:
