That's just wrong! The un-Tiki thread: - General Tiki

T TikiJosh Member Joined: Feb 01, 2005 Posts: 735	T TikiJosh Posted posted on Thu, Aug 10, 2006 1:17 PM On 2006-08-10 12:06, Dr. Shocker wrote: how would Christians feel going there and seeing a Christ Bar with drinks sold in a Jesus Mug (I have often wondered this) Not exactly the same thing, but pretty close: http://www.mcphee.com/categories/christianity.html This is a perfect example of what popular culture IS. It is designed to appeal to the masses, to the general public. It is not aimed at the Christians who can't have a laugh about shooting a plastic toy nun out of a catapult. It's funny to some people, and insulting to others. I believe this has been said elsewhere, by others, and more eloquently, but pop culture is a distortion of the original concept (whether it's native Hawaiian religion, or Christianity). Pop culture IS irreverant. It just is. I'm not making excuses, or saying that I think it's okay to be irreverant towards the beliefs of others, but you can either choose to make a big fuss over it or let it go. There's been a lot of fuss lately over the Party City crap being passed off as "tiki" here and I think there are a few important things to remember about Party City crap: It's modern pop culture. It's aimed at the masses, not at the few of us on TC. Someone said earlier that they were insulted by some of this stuff. I can't understand why, since it's not directed at us. Party City crap is for the people who just want to have a luau/hawaiian party while they're celebrating someone's wedding anniversary or graduation. Party City crap is intended for those purposes, and then intended to be thrown away. That's modern pop culture. This stuff is not aimed at the people who are interested in tiki style and poly pop. The higher end niche market aimed at us is filled by companies like Tiki Farm and Munktiki and Oceanic Arts. Now because this stuff is aimed at the masses, and there's more of them than there are of us, I think this crap is here to stay. We may not like it, and we can boycott it or whatever, but there's always gonna be people buying it. It may not be at home on TC, but I've seen more than one post about "Bought this at Party City-- Any way to make it cool?" People using the granite type spray paints on cheap plastic masks is a perfect example of that. It's important to remember that some Party City crap has its uses. More than once I've seen someone post that they bought a few of those plastic tiki glasses for 50 cents. They use them at parties because tiki is hard to come by in some places. If a plastic 50 cent cup gets tossed in the garbage, no big deal, it was 50 cents. If someone tosses your latest Shag/Tiki Farm mug in the garbage, some party guests get to go dumpster diving. The Party City crap is a cheap alternative to using nice stuff at parties where things are bound to get broken. There's going to be more than one person out there who says, "Why not just buy a couple of Tiki Farm 4 packs for $20. That's only $5 a mug, it's cheap, and then people can take them home." I think that's a fine idea. But I've been to graduation parties with over 40 people. That's a lot of mugs. And a lot of money. With high attendance, plastic becomes more attractive than ceramic. And not everyone is as dedicated to tiki style as others may be. Most of the new collectors started out with some junk from Party City and upgraded as they learned more and found stuff that appealed to their sense of tiki aesthetic. When I first got into tiki, I didn't know where to buy cool mugs and stuff. I'd never really been in a thrift shop before. Party City was the first place I started looking because I didn't know better. The first tiki mugs I ever bought was the Accoutrements 4 pack for $12. The one with the blue, purple, green and whatever the 4th color was. They're alright mugs. Compared with the latest Tiki Farm and Munktiki offerings though, these things are sorry. But they do serve a purpose-- I'm not so worried about using (and possibly breaking) those mugs. My Tiki Tony Fatutu-- up on a high shelf-- gets pride of place. And doesn't get used often. Since this seems to be such a sensitive and delicate subject, permit me to say again that I'm not trying to start a fight, or an argument. I'm also not trying to defend passing off Party City stuff as "tiki" or "poly pop". I've seen more than one person say that they see any tiki as a good thing, as it increases awareness. I guess I tend to agree more with that viewpoint than with those that say I'd rather have it all be Munktiki quality, or I'd rather not have it at all. As I said above, I'm not trying to defend every offering of tiki in the world, as much of it isn't good tiki, at least by the TC definitions. But, as others have pointed out, and I agree, I think that even the bad stuff can have it's purpose. [ Edited by: Tikiwahine - to fix a broken link - 2006-08-10 14:50 ]

On 2006-08-10 12:06, Dr. Shocker wrote:
how would Christians feel going there and seeing a Christ Bar with drinks sold in a Jesus Mug (I have often wondered this)

Not exactly the same thing, but pretty close:
http://www.mcphee.com/categories/christianity.html
This is a perfect example of what popular culture IS. It is designed to appeal to the masses, to the general public. It is not aimed at the Christians who can't have a laugh about shooting a plastic toy nun out of a catapult. It's funny to some people, and insulting to others.
I believe this has been said elsewhere, by others, and more eloquently, but pop culture is a distortion of the original concept (whether it's native Hawaiian religion, or Christianity). Pop culture IS irreverant. It just is.
I'm not making excuses, or saying that I think it's okay to be irreverant towards the beliefs of others, but you can either choose to make a big fuss over it or let it go.

There's been a lot of fuss lately over the Party City crap being passed off as "tiki" here and I think there are a few important things to remember about Party City crap:

It's modern pop culture. It's aimed at the masses, not at the few of us on TC. Someone said earlier that they were insulted by some of this stuff. I can't understand why, since it's not directed at us. Party City crap is for the people who just want to have a luau/hawaiian party while they're celebrating someone's wedding anniversary or graduation. Party City crap is intended for those purposes, and then intended to be thrown away. That's modern pop culture. This stuff is not aimed at the people who are interested in tiki style and poly pop. The higher end niche market aimed at us is filled by companies like Tiki Farm and Munktiki and Oceanic Arts.
Now because this stuff is aimed at the masses, and there's more of them than there are of us, I think this crap is here to stay. We may not like it, and we can boycott it or whatever, but there's always gonna be people buying it. It may not be at home on TC, but I've seen more than one post about "Bought this at Party City-- Any way to make it cool?" People using the granite type spray paints on cheap plastic masks is a perfect example of that.
It's important to remember that some Party City crap has its uses. More than once I've seen someone post that they bought a few of those plastic tiki glasses for 50 cents. They use them at parties because tiki is hard to come by in some places. If a plastic 50 cent cup gets tossed in the garbage, no big deal, it was 50 cents. If someone tosses your latest Shag/Tiki Farm mug in the garbage, some party guests get to go dumpster diving. The Party City crap is a cheap alternative to using nice stuff at parties where things are bound to get broken. There's going to be more than one person out there who says, "Why not just buy a couple of Tiki Farm 4 packs for $20. That's only $5 a mug, it's cheap, and then people can take them home." I think that's a fine idea. But I've been to graduation parties with over 40 people. That's a lot of mugs. And a lot of money. With high attendance, plastic becomes more attractive than ceramic. And not everyone is as dedicated to tiki style as others may be.
Most of the new collectors started out with some junk from Party City and upgraded as they learned more and found stuff that appealed to their sense of tiki aesthetic. When I first got into tiki, I didn't know where to buy cool mugs and stuff. I'd never really been in a thrift shop before. Party City was the first place I started looking because I didn't know better. The first tiki mugs I ever bought was the Accoutrements 4 pack for $12. The one with the blue, purple, green and whatever the 4th color was. They're alright mugs. Compared with the latest Tiki Farm and Munktiki offerings though, these things are sorry. But they do serve a purpose-- I'm not so worried about using (and possibly breaking) those mugs. My Tiki Tony Fatutu-- up on a high shelf-- gets pride of place. And doesn't get used often.

Since this seems to be such a sensitive and delicate subject, permit me to say again that I'm not trying to start a fight, or an argument. I'm also not trying to defend passing off Party City stuff as "tiki" or "poly pop".
I've seen more than one person say that they see any tiki as a good thing, as it increases awareness. I guess I tend to agree more with that viewpoint than with those that say I'd rather have it all be Munktiki quality, or I'd rather not have it at all. As I said above, I'm not trying to defend every offering of tiki in the world, as much of it isn't good tiki, at least by the TC definitions. But, as others have pointed out, and I agree, I think that even the bad stuff can have it's purpose.

[ Edited by: Tikiwahine - to fix a broken link - 2006-08-10 14:50 ]

Post #248099 by TikiJosh on Thu, Aug 10, 2006 1:17 PM