Put a Bird on It: Hipster Culture, Memes, and Consumerism
The Urban Dictionary defines hipsters as “a subculture of men and women typically in their 20s and 30s who value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter.” Being a hipster is largely frowned upon in American society by everyone, even hipsters who oppose pop culture, which has become pop culture. Often seen as posers lacking authenticity and individuality, the hipster has almost become synonymous with the norm. Fashion, music, and lifestyle have become dominated by “hipster culture.” The sketch comedy show Portlandia slams back against “hipster culture” by mocking it.
Portland, Oregon is the whitest large city in America and is known for being weird, young, and cheap, yet cultured. Or, in other words, a hipster’s dream. Portlandia’s entire premise is to make fun of this urban creature. When the show first aired in 2011, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, the creators, portrayed two characters: “Bryce Shivers” and “Lisa Eversman.” Bryce and Lisa love to put birds on things. They enter the boutique and look around at the plain bags, pillows, and other items. Being too plain and definitely not hipster enough they proceed to “put a bird on it.” They put birds on everything in the entire store. But why?
Carrie Brownstein stated, “I had started noticing that putting a bird atop an otherwise pedestrian or utilitarian object elevated it to art — or that putting a bird on a painting made it an instant signifier for coolness.” Hipster culture is all about being unique and different and cool; however, every “hipster” person dresses and acts the exact same. It is ironic that the characters want to put a bird on everything. Hipsters value being unique, but by putting a bird on every item it is making each item the same, not unique. Decorating and making something plain exciting is one way to be individual, but, as Lisa and Bryce show in the skit, their path to originality is making everything in the store more similar. Isn’t that all hipsters are trying to do anyway, be unique and, in the process, becoming a copy of everyone around them?
“Put a bird on it” laughed at peoples absurd obsession with slapping birds on things and calling it art. So, when Brownstein and Armisen aired this skit it went viral.
The internet took this skit and ran with it creating memes and merchandise. Fans of Portlandia created comical internet memes about the skit, such as the one above, and went viral. All throughout 2011 and onward, fans everywhere sported birds on shirts, stickers, mugs, and more paying tribute to a loved joke on a loved tv show.
A simple Google search shows just how big of an impact the skit has made in internet meme culture. So many fans have gone on to create other items based off of other skits on the show after “put a bird on it” which continues to show the influence television has over pop culture and people’s interests.
In fact, during Bernie Sanders campaign rally speech for his run for President in 2016 in Portland, a bird flew up and landed on his podium. The audience loved it, tweeting out “#BirdieSanders.” The fact that the bird was in Portland was a great moment for fans and five years since the original “put a bird on it,” the meme was revived and alive.
“Put a bird on it” made such a huge impact in pop culture, but also in the hipster culture. The idea of a bird being artistically placed on something suddenly became a silly, mainstream and playful idea. After the episode aired, there was a decline in clothing and accessories with birds for arts sake, but an increase in items with ironic birds. The original trend set by hipsters of putting birds on clothes and home decor was now replaced with the bird as a satire on hipster culture.
In addition to memes and mocking hipsters, Portlandia sheds some lights on how hipster’s have influenced consumerism. Hipsters are more concerned with consuming “cool” things already in existence rather than creating their own “cool” things. They bring back old-fashioned trends and retro merchandise. Upon realizing this, companies, such as Urban Outfitters, Free People, and Nordstrom, began to recreate fashion looks from prior decades that hipsters were sporting and selling them in stores. Vintage stores also rose in popularity as hipsters thrift for something unique and different. The new stores, however, became popular among others besides hipsters. Stores like Urban Outfitters became mainstream despite originally being targeted at for the hipster culture. By letting the hipster social movement become mainstream in these stores, the hipster movement became universalized. Ironically enough, hipsters are often associated with a lack of originality despite their goal being uniqueness. Posers, although appearing to be hipsters, dress the part thanks to large corporations embracing the social movement.
Looking beyond clothes, stores like Urban Outfitters sell accessories, home decor, beauty products, and even some music and tech devices. A store with many goods and all in the style appearing to these “unique” individuals. Portlandia grasps onto this idea with their “put a bird on it” skit. The store that appears to have clothes, home decor, and more is just an average, ordinary store. However, with the help of bird stencils, stickers, and stitchings Lisa Eversman and Bryce Shivers create a hipster utopia of beautiful bird art. It’s all a mock of the movement to make everything an art form- a part of the hipster social movement. While making fun of the hipsterdom, there is also an appreciation underneath the mockery. Brownstein and Armisen might even be considered hipsters, yet they mock it. Most likely, there is a deep understanding and admiration of the urban culture that strives to be unique, different, and individual. The show nearly disrespects the culture, but it is redeemed with the creator’s creativity with the show.
Putting a bird on any random item instantly created art according to those striving to be artsy, unique individuals. Consumerism not only helped increase the art medium for these hipsters but also created ironic pieces for fans of the show and the meme. Both fans and hipsters alike can agree that claiming to be a hipster is silly, yet hipsters still thrive, keeping consumerism universal and fresh, yet openly retro. Portlandia specializes in the mockery of these people. It’s no wonder the beginning of the series holds the most iconic, most memed, most notable sketch: “Put a bird on it!”
Sources:
Weeks, Linton. “The Hipsterfication Of America.” NPR, NPR, 17 Nov. 2011, www.npr.org/2011/11/16/142387490/the-hipsterfication-of-america
“What Does ‘Put a Bird on It’ Mean?” Put a Bird on It, 1 Jan. 1970, putabirdonitblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-does-put-bird-on-it-mean.html.
“Why Birds Are Taking Flight in Hipster Culture.” The Globe and Mail, 26 Mar. 2017, www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/why-birds-are-taking-flight-in-hipster-culture/article627558/.