2003-10-01 - 3:02 p.m.
Ghoti recently pointed out to me that Ill Mitch has a spiritual brother out in the world of edgy street posturing. Super Greg, with his lanky Mahir-ish appearance, his Freddie Mercury moustache and skin-tight sportswear is a tough nut to crack. I can't figure either of these two out -- they deal in a version of "cool" that is so adolescent, exaggerated, and outmoded (think Strong Bad and his zeal for Spinal-Tap-ish sci-fi-tinged eighties hair metal) that it's never possible to decide one way or the other whether they are sincere and pitifully out of touch or whether they are engaging in spirited and clever parody. Try to lean one way on the matter, and the other side tugs you back.It's such an incredibly dweeby form of cool, absent of any charisma whatsoever, that sincerity seems impossible, but at the same time I still see guys around now and then wearing faded Iron Maiden tour shirts and sporting feathered mullets, walking time-capsules of an Atari-era version of hip who by the severity of their expressions are clearly not toying with old-fashioned styles for a lark. They're deathly serious and intensely loyal leftovers of the Old Guard, longing for the days of headbanging, tandem guitar solos and D&D imagery. These guys make it hard to rule out the possibility that Ill Mitch and Super Greg are utterly serious.
Then again, perhaps I'm the dork here. There may be an element of genius in their guise that I don't perceive -- and it might make me out to be like those who scratch their heads at the Andy Kaufmans and Crispin Glovers of the world whose antics balance on the knife-edge between brilliant subtlety and insanity. Perhaps I puzzle over it because I'm not in on the joke.
Nah, that can't be it. They're goofy. It's decided.
What do you think?
