So after composing my research proposal and ruminating on the beginning of Epstein's text I was forced to revisit a query that has plagued me during the last few days: why does the subculture I'm studying appear content, almost docile within the adult sphere? We have thus far discussed this semester the teen rebellion that grinds against the hegemonic culture. Youth subcultures come to be defined, in a rudimentary sense, as reactionary groups opposing the dominant social, economic, and political ideologies. They cannot coexist with adults, because adults are the pillars of these oppressive ideologies. These ideologies have demonized youth by arbitrarily placing them on the negative side of a binary. At a basic level, it becomes adult versus youth, with everything virtuous and moral listed under adult and everything problematic and detestable projected onto youth. Hedonistic desires, nihilism, freedom from being politically correct, and any other aberrant adult desires are thrust onto youth. Youth become the repository for the liberties adults pine for and adults react with disdain towards their suppressed selves.....I mean, react with disdain towards youth.
This is the great irony; adults must appear appalled and outraged at the youth that corrode our society, yet they really are pleased and stimulated at the emergence of their suppressed selves. I have started to once again poke around the surface of the war that rages on between youth and adults, but I swear it has a purpose. As I mentioned earlier, I have difficulty finding sites of resistance within the subculture I'm studying and I was initially bemused by their complacency and docility. This binary surely exists so why are youth not outraged at the ideologies that have marginalized and misrepresented them? Then it hit me. These youth are being heavily co-opted. The appearance of this church is modern, vibrant, and suffused with a youthful energy. There are electrical guitars, keyboards, and drums that produce the beats present in youth's music. Youth services are delivered through the assistance of the Internet in a room that emanates a nightclub vibe. Coca-Cola and Nachos are grudgingly digested by adults worried about their figure, while youth voraciously devour these items. In a multitude of ways there is appropriation and co-optation of youth within New Life Worship Center.
They do not leave the youth marginalized, left to feel denigrated and othered by this binary. Instead, they embrace youth through appropriation and co-optation. There are many negative labels that popular culture applies to Christians and more specifically to religious fanatics a.k.a Evangelists (Saved!, Jesus Camp, Friends of God, Mike Huckabee and his acoustic, etc) to name a few examples. However, youth are empowered by the adults within the church and feel a security and acceptance that allows them to I suppose withstand the secular heat. Within this church it appears as though the battle between the ages is temporarily frozen and that by doing so the adults have recruited an important demographic into their panoply: the youth.
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Brandon,
Holy WOW...this is your strongest, most articulate and most focused posting yet. Here, your understanding of concepts and of how they are related in "the real world" is crystallized for me. Through this post, I am able to KNOW that you are beyond the level of understanding and have waded into "synthesis" territory--now you're starting to make sense of what you're seeing in the context of what you're reading and what you think. And, this post pulls it ALL together. Honestly, Brandon, this is one of the smartest pieces of student writing I have read in a LONG TIME, and I highly suggest that you include it, somehow and somewhere, in your final paper for class. Here, you are both cultural critic and ethnographer, trying to better understand people, human behavior and human relationships to better make sense of our structures, institutions, and cultural mores. I like where you begin, and I like where you end up here...with a "war" beging waged on "the streets" between money, power, adults, and youth, the "church" seems to indeed be a safe haven...in fact, totally immune to the complexities of life as we know it. Does the church keep its people ignorant or, at least, does it make them believe that a simplistic vision of reality is all we need to fuel our faith? When I finished reading your post, I couldn't help ruminating on the name of the Church. "New Life Church"---the name "New Life" to me triggers a vision of youth, of vibrance, of springlike renaissance, of rebirth. So, even in name, the church is appropriating youthfulness. HOLY MOLY! You could have a page in your final paper where you analyze this name...hmmm...
Thank you for the most thoughtful entry yet. I am so impressed by the amazing ways your mind works.
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