We need to talk about your kitsch problem... - General Tiki

C CosmoReverb Tiki Centralite Southern California Joined: Sep 19, 2016 Posts: 93	C CosmoReverb Posted posted on Wed, May 31, 2017 9:44 AM It certainly is a valid concern. The media loves a scandal and you are absolutely right, they won't seek out a more educated response. It also doesn't help that there most definitely is at least an element of cultural appropriation to tiki, and so any attempts, even from learned sources, to try to educate "outsiders" can always be twisted into the "apologist zone" and, to be honest, it is a fine line. At issue is that tiki is a pop cultural movement born in America which is a cultural melting pot, and like 85% of all pop cultural movements born in America there is going to be an inspiration from some other society's more traditional cultural elements. Plain and simple. America is a hodge-podge culture with a WASPy elitism at our core and we have always been intrigued by the aesthetic trappings of other cultures without making the effort to educate our masses on the deeper meanings and traditions. Tiki goes much farther than other pop cultures to edify itself and cultivate a respect for its inspirations but that effort is largely lost outside of the ohana. That being said, and I don't mean this in a fatalistic way, tiki culture has endured for a long time, through ebbs and flows of popularity, by its ability to be inwardly stable. It is on a rising tide at the moment which makes it a target for the current trend of "Social Justice" finger pointers who are always on the prowl to find new "oppressors,' but it has been able to survive for a long time, I hesitate to say "underground" so let's say "privately," and I am confident that at least the core movement will weather any such backlash. (If it even comes at all. It's hot right now after a couple of articles came out, but with the current climate, there is a bit of a time limit for people to build momentum on that before the news-cycle brings a new distraction. If we don't see an immediate and massive response to this current shot, I'm confident our tiki bars won't go the way of a Pacific Northwestern burrito shop.)

It certainly is a valid concern. The media loves a scandal and you are absolutely right, they won't seek out a more educated response. It also doesn't help that there most definitely is at least an element of cultural appropriation to tiki, and so any attempts, even from learned sources, to try to educate "outsiders" can always be twisted into the "apologist zone" and, to be honest, it is a fine line.

At issue is that tiki is a pop cultural movement born in America which is a cultural melting pot, and like 85% of all pop cultural movements born in America there is going to be an inspiration from some other society's more traditional cultural elements. Plain and simple. America is a hodge-podge culture with a WASPy elitism at our core and we have always been intrigued by the aesthetic trappings of other cultures without making the effort to educate our masses on the deeper meanings and traditions. Tiki goes much farther than other pop cultures to edify itself and cultivate a respect for its inspirations but that effort is largely lost outside of the ohana.

That being said, and I don't mean this in a fatalistic way, tiki culture has endured for a long time, through ebbs and flows of popularity, by its ability to be inwardly stable. It is on a rising tide at the moment which makes it a target for the current trend of "Social Justice" finger pointers who are always on the prowl to find new "oppressors,' but it has been able to survive for a long time, I hesitate to say "underground" so let's say "privately," and I am confident that at least the core movement will weather any such backlash.

(If it even comes at all. It's hot right now after a couple of articles came out, but with the current climate, there is a bit of a time limit for people to build momentum on that before the news-cycle brings a new distraction. If we don't see an immediate and massive response to this current shot, I'm confident our tiki bars won't go the way of a Pacific Northwestern burrito shop.)

Post #776486 by CosmoReverb on Wed, May 31, 2017 9:44 AM