ABSTRACT

Through often derogatory mediated coding, the figure of the hipster has been positioned as an exemplar of Millennial privilege and a leading advocate for neoliberalism. However, such representation often elides how the Millennial generational cohort in which the hipster is embedded has been impacted by the 2008 financial crisis. For many young people this period has been marked by precarity, exorbitant student loans, unpaid internships and minimal opportunities for upward mobility. This paper argues that actor/director Greta Gerwig’s generationally-identified stardom in the post-recession period becomes a constructive site of interrogation for such anxieties. Gerwig’s representations of hipsterism are concurrent to the taste culture’s repositioning in the post-recession economy, where facets of hipster ‘cool’ and ‘taste’ are mined by urban economies to position cities as ‘global centres.’ I argue that her performance style also elicits tensions in the expected amiability associated with contemporary neoliberal subjectivity. By examining Gerwig’s star persona as well as her central roles in Frances Ha (2012) and Mistress America (2015) it becomes apparent that Gerwig’s ‘quirky’ affect renders the normative codes of contemporary work culture as farcical.

摘要

通过经常带有贬义的中介编码，潮人的形象已被定位为千禧一代特权的典范和新自由主义的主要倡导者。然而，这种代表性往往忽略了潮人所在的千禧一代群体如何受到 2008 年金融危机的影响。对于许多年轻人来说，这一时期的特点是不稳定、高昂的学生贷款、无薪实习和向上流动的机会极少。本文认为，演员/导演格蕾塔·葛韦格在后衰退时期的代际认同的明星身份成为了对这种焦虑进行审讯的建设性场所。Gerwig 对时髦主义的表现与品味文化在后衰退经济中的重新定位是同时发生的，城市经济挖掘时髦“酷”和“品味”的各个方面，将城市定位为“全球中心”。我认为，她的表演风格也引发了与当代新自由主义主体性相关的预期和蔼可亲的张力。通过考察葛韦格的明星角色以及她在电影中的核心角色Frances Ha (2012) 和Mistress America (2015) 很明显，葛韦格的“古怪”影响使当代工作文化的规范代码变得可笑。