Millennial Perseveres
Just a bit more than a year ago, young Emma Carmichael, a nice young person from Vermont, unwittingly became the subject of a much-used news photo: at her graduation from Vassar, a little hungover and a lot bored, someone snapped her picture and then it got licensed to a bazillion news stories about how there were no jobs for new graduates. "We were all destined for unemployment and my face seemed to say it best," she wrote here a year ago: "Hungover and under-prepared, but I could fake contemplation and self-awareness with the best of them."
Well, Barack Obama promised the young people that everything would work out for them—and it did! Over the weekend, Emma dressed up in clown makeup and "a new pair of aqua jean shorts" to go undercover as a Juggalette for Deadspin. In the course of her voyage to Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, for the Juggalo shindig, she may or may not have smoked opium, but definitely did not flash anyone her front parts, because she knows better. See? If I could tell the young people anything, it'd be this: just don't bother with worrying about the future, you just can't even imagine what magic and complications it might bring! All this to say: I enjoyed this travelogue.
I thought the lesson was that it's better to be unemployed than a Juggalo.
I would absolutely smoke opium in an attempt to tolerate being around those dudes, probably to no avail though.
If I could tell the young people anything, it would be don't flash your front parts.
@C_Webb Nah. Flashing your front parts is the new handshake.
@boyofdestiny How 'bout "Don't FILM yourself flashing your front parts"?
that's a good read and a noble project. But I'm bummed that her conclusion was that she makes a terrible jugglalo because, essentially, she can't bring herself to be crass or be comfortable with crass sexual behavior, because the real reason she makes a terrible juggalo is that she went to Vassar. All "amongst the jugglalos" things always focus on the titties and the drugs ( JUGGALOS TOPLESS –SLIDESHOW!) and not the socioeconomics of the attendees, which I would love to know more about.
dude, it was for deadspin.
@Abe Sauer She's a millenial, so I assumed she was contractually obligated to make the article about herself.
@Abe Sauer Socioeconomics, how do they work?
@Abe Sauer Just to hint at the potential for understanding the juggalos wrt where America itself has gone is one comment that is so introspective and suggestive it makes the whole " tits!" angle look shallow. http://deadspin.com/5831225/dropping-in-on-the-demented-utopia-of-the-gathering-of-the-juggalos?comment=41896804#comments
The future's so bright, I gotta wear facepaint.
As someone that's about to get laid off can tell you, clown make up may have nothing to do with becoming a hobo.
@BadUncle As someone that's about to get laid can tell you, clown make up may have everything to do with becoming a nun.
Congratulations Emma! I'm voting Republican forever.
@coalbaron So is every single Juggalo.
One of these years, some media outlet is going to send someone who…I dunno…actually grew up in the Rust Belt to The Gathering.
That person will probably be able to put together a better piece than the usual "Look At The Unwashed Masses" feature, and actually bring some context to the table.
This one was relatively tongue in cheek, being Deadspin, but the one in the Village Voice last year was just horrible.
I'd be more interested in the socioeconomics and political dynamics of a phish show parking lot. More diverse. Juggalos are lock-step ignorant.
I shall read this with gusto, for it shall make an excellent topic of conversation over a postprandial glass of sherry. Brava to you, brave cultural tourist!