Let's talk about Vice Magazine

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I love everything about Vice. It's odd that almost this entire thread is about the language they use and not about the actual articles, reviews, etc that make up the magazine.

You want examples of why I hate Vice? This article got mentioned on some blogs a few months ago. I'm sure this magazine is very proud of its CANON SMASHING SHOCKAH, and I'm not like offended that they're dissing bands I like, I just think the writing here is really puerile and annoying. (And ooooooh, "venereal warts" -- these guys are PUSHING BOUNDARIES. WHOA.)
And I quote:

3 The Fall
Great band, right? “Mr. Pharmacist” is the jam, right? What about the other 99.9% of their songs? Have you ever heard that album they made up on the spot? The one where he goes, “I am curious orange, curious oh-rawnge”? What the fuck is that? Those guys suck. They’re one of those bands your big brother totes because nobody’s ever heard them before and they seem like some heavy shit. Like Brian Eno. Or Roxy Music. How gay are they? All these groundbreaking bands like The Residents or Throbbing Gristle or Captain Beefheart or Pere Ubu or Cabaret Voltaire are essentially nonexistent. Music critics always cite them as a huge influence but nobody’s ever heard them play a note. I wouldn’t be surprised if none of them even have any albums. I’m not going to look into it, though. I checked out Gang of Four, Love, and Frank Zappa after hearing how influential they were and all I heard was a bunch of gay weirdos going “pajama people, pajama people.” Fuck that.

Jody Beth Rosen, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 17:49 (twenty-three years ago)

jeez louise, there's an I Hate Everything board where that vile New York Press article you linked to also belongs. perpetutating that stuff makes you complicit.

felicity (felicity), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 17:55 (twenty-three years ago)

that's right, jbr. it's all smiles and roses here on i love everything.

mark p (Mark P), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 17:56 (twenty-three years ago)

that paragraph jbr cited is hilarious. does anyone find it ironic that some of jess' own posts on ilx are very similar to vice's style of writing?!

chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:03 (twenty-three years ago)

You're missing my point, Mark P. I THINK THE WRITING SUCKS AND THERE'S AN ANNOYING OVERRELIANCE ON SHOCK VALUE.

Jody Beth Rosen, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:03 (twenty-three years ago)

jbr, I think mark p. was actually on your side there.

felicity (felicity), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:07 (twenty-three years ago)

jbr, i think the writing was trying to be 'childlike' on purpose to get a reaction from 'proper' writers like yourself. and you fell for it!

chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:09 (twenty-three years ago)

chaki, if you can find me a post where i call someone a "nigger" or a "fag" ironically or not (and NOT in this thread), without using it to point out someone elses stupidity, then you get a cookie.

jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:11 (twenty-three years ago)

(maybe jealousy has a thing or three to do with this vice backlash. i mean it is very popular with the kids. whereas most of yer websites, fanzine and blogs arn't!)

chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:12 (twenty-three years ago)

and milk too!

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:13 (twenty-three years ago)

chaki you really are one of the biggest idiots i've ever met.

jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:14 (twenty-three years ago)

JBR & jess have been on the money this entire thread, and Nick's contention some postings back that using offensive language takes "courage" has got to be the single most boring assertion...EVAH!

just sorta had to swing into a thread gettin' as long & unwieldy as this one -- everybody sit back now and wait as Momus thinks up another postmodernism-by-numbers response

J0hn Darn13lle, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:15 (twenty-three years ago)

jess, vice doesnt call people nigger and fag in EVERY article. in fact, im pretty confident in saying thats its RARE. you're singling out one aspect of a pretty large monthy mag. if you want, ill find a record review in vice and compare it to one of your posts and point out the similar writing/wordplay IF YOU REALLY WANNA TAKE IT THERE.

chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:16 (twenty-three years ago)

jess, and now you've been reduced to just slinging insults left and right.

chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:17 (twenty-three years ago)

nigga, please.

jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:18 (twenty-three years ago)

John- i saw you play at the ICA. it was pretty funny. and good.

as regards to the article on jody's post: i remember we discussed on ILM Jody and it was dumb but not shocking and it's just your annoying oyunger brother talking (mine does, he believes i can't possibly like burse with wound and I'm just 'faking it' to show how 'tough' i am).

and if they keep mentioning how the fall and other bands are shit ppl might check them out.

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:37 (twenty-three years ago)

"One thing we noticed is that people don’t want to read about music, really. Nor should they."

I'm people, and I find it frustrating that their articles are so short and unfulfilling. The writers give themselves just enough space to drop the appropriate names, talk about all the coke the artist does or how poor the artist is, and maybe add one sentence about why the music is good. A glossy magazine should try harder, y'know?

Jody Beth Rosen, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:40 (twenty-three years ago)

it's just your annoying oyunger brother talking

Do you want your annoying younger brother to run a magazine, though? (BTW, I know plenty of people who like and actively listen to Nurse With Wound.)

Jody Beth Rosen, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:45 (twenty-three years ago)

there's always The Fader

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Jody- i ignore him so it wouldn't matter.

same with the mag.

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:49 (twenty-three years ago)

momus: so the 'status quo' stance on the use of derogatory racial/sexual orientation terms is...?

ch. (synkro), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 18:57 (twenty-three years ago)

I find it slightly depressing that Momus goes to bat so hard for a fratboy magazine whose sole moment of grace was when they gave him good press (hence Momus going to bat so hard for them. Gee, media whore much?) and a little depressing that Momus is so self-congratulatory for daring to address this pressing issue of the day (nvermind the war, there's ladbooks to discuss!) I also find it depressing that a discussion about a fratmag, and not even a very good fratmag at that (I'll take ESPN the Magazine or McSweeney's, or even Esquire) has seemingly completely consumed ILx.

James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:01 (twenty-three years ago)

it hasn't consumed ilx, james, it's what jones said upthread: the vice guys act like idiots, ilx discusses their idiocy, ilx receives the benefits of intense discussion, vice guys go on acting like idiots unawares.

ch. (synkro), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:05 (twenty-three years ago)

(and then they all lez up)

TWICE IN ONE THREAD! (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:06 (twenty-three years ago)

TO-GA!

felicity (felicity), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:09 (twenty-three years ago)

the only thing that's fascinating about the situation to me is that some of ilx's more level-headed folks seem really mad at Vice, which makes me wonder why. it's a free magazine that you're not required to read. don't you guys have any sense that - especially in that music piece that jody cites - that they are satirizing themselves and their readers and the conventions of music mags? eg all I heard was a bunch of gay weirdos going “pajama people, pajama people.” Fuck that. c'mon, the voice of the piece is intentionally an idiot. but "pajama people pajama people" is FUNNY too.


Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:12 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not interested in winning, but in thinking. I'd rather be perplexed than right.

momus, since you seem to prop up your lame arguments with this one quite a lot, it might help to actually READ the adorno passage i assume you got it from: after the bit about how philosophers should try to be wrong he qualifies it with "but in such a way as to convict their opponents of untruth." which i've yet to see you do.

ch. (synkro), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:13 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, like such a long thread and no ma$e or bras.

jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:16 (twenty-three years ago)

(to clarify something upthread: jody, i was indeed agreeing w/ you)

mark p (Mark P), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:16 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't see how the "it's free, don't read it/buy into it if you don't wanna" argument really goes - we're talking about the spread of *ideas* here, aren't we? shouldn't wider availability mean we get even angier at vice for the bits we don't like? (cf. the internet being full of angry people like us)

Mitch Lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:26 (twenty-three years ago)

ma$e is clearly the real leader at battling the status quo. He's kickin it with Jesus now!

bnw (bnw), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:34 (twenty-three years ago)

You are all idiots.

Your pal,
http://members.aol.com/dubplatestyle/mase.jpg
Ma$e.

Ma$e (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:39 (twenty-three years ago)

looks like there is going to be a UK version of Vice starting next month.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,7495,804547,00.html

jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:50 (twenty-three years ago)

(to clarify something upthread: jody, i was indeed agreeing w/ you)

Gotcha. Sorry.

Jody Beth Rosen, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:52 (twenty-three years ago)

don't you guys have any sense that - especially in that music piece that jody cites - that they are satirizing themselves and their readers and the conventions of music mags?

Nah, I think they're just picking at their own scabs, and by doing so, they make themselves look even uglier.

Jody Beth Rosen, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 19:59 (twenty-three years ago)

I think you're all being a little overearnest and holier-than-thou about something that's basically a cross between Thrasher and Cracked with a little High Times on the side - not everything has to be morally uplifting you know

Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:10 (twenty-three years ago)

There's a difference, though -- Vice is a very high-profile culture mag that's been called a "hipster bible" because of its influence, and it's up to its neck in book/movie/tv/record deals.

Jody Beth Rosen, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Go read Death to the Nerds -- The Nerds Must Die. It's well written and amusing -- and I say this as a total nerd. I have to say, Suzy, that it's a lot fresher than anything I've seen in i-D for a while. And they illustrate the article with an artwork by Spencer Sweeney, one of the key personalities of the NY art fag scene.

Fresh? How is "Well guess what, nerds? Fuck you. Fuck fucking you. We are going to tape your buns together so tight that we’ll get muscles doing it" fresh? It's tired as all hell. Who here didn't spend the first fifteen-or-so years of their lives being subjected to moronic 'quips' like that?

OK, so let's imagine there are two ways to interpret this article. The first: "As one of the cool people who used to savagely beat and torture the socially awkward members of the society I lived in, I am appalled at the foothold that they have gained in mainstream pop culture. Let us return to the days when we would savagely beat and torture the weak and disadvantaged."

If this is the author's sincere intention, then my objection to this one ought to be obvious.

The second: "Now that nerd culture is dominating pop culture, I am appalled at the fact that bullies have become the new underdogs. This article will satirize the modern cliche of the pissed-off nerd, which is oh-so-tired."

This might actually be funny and interesting if it worked, but there's one problem. Bullies will never be the underdogs, because when bullies grow up, they beat their wives, their kids, homosexuals, black people, and anyone else who get on their nerves. When stylish people appropriate nerd style, it's funny because the perpetual losers appear to be winning. It's really hard to imagine or even get a laugh out of the idea of bullies as losers, because they're not the ones who get their assholes taped shut or get black eyes every time their spouses get drunk. Maybe you can enjoy the writing regardless, but I have trouble.

Without that juxtaposition, this article (and most of the magazine, for that matter) is just a big whiny rant by a barely-literate thug. I'd be really interested to read why you enjoy it, Momus.

Dave M. (rotten03), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:15 (twenty-three years ago)

but fritz those are all fearless pioneers who are bravely revealing what deluded uptight truck-drivin' bushites we all are!

ch. (synkro), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Dave I think that is a bit reductionist.

I actually found thart article mildly funny in a sort of Mennipean satirical way indirectly dealing with the internet bust.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:33 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/cowfish/momase.jpg

and they call him "Momase" (mitchlnw), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:38 (twenty-three years ago)

mitch that has redeemed this whole godawful thread.

jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:39 (twenty-three years ago)

(any similarity to any art-fags, living or dead, is purely coincidental)

Mitch Lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Dammit Jess, I was about to post exactly what you said.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Mitch = my hero. :-)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:47 (twenty-three years ago)

what the fuck is wrong with you people? this is probably the most engaging ILX discussion i've read all year.

Dave M. (rotten03), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:51 (twenty-three years ago)

moma$e!!! mitch will you have art fag sex with me?

ch. (synkro), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:53 (twenty-three years ago)

There's a difference, though -- Vice is a very high-profile culture mag that's been called a "hipster bible" because of its influence, and it's up to its neck in book/movie/tv/record deals.

well, all I can say is if you're looking for moral instruction and rectitude in a "hipster bible" then I think you're already lost. It's a magazine that tells you what brand of sneakers are cool to wear. Only Momus takes it seriously.

and the bullying thing ...If this is the author's sincere intention, then my objection to this one ought to be obvious...come on! lighten UP on the faux outrage

Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Dave, casting your argument in the same type of faux-binary strawman choice as Momus doesn't do it any favors, nor does it entice me to take you the slightest bit seriously.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 20:59 (twenty-three years ago)

if you're looking for moral instruction and rectitude in a "hipster bible"

I'm not looking for moral instruction or rectitude ANYWHERE! I just don't like seeing a major magazine throwing around the word "faggot."

Jody Beth Rosen, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 21:01 (twenty-three years ago)


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