Woo! Another article from me... never would have thought of it.
What will I say... hmmm, this sounds like every second article in
an American ansi zine, hey? Next thing I'll be saying <w00p!>
and stuff... and I'll use "eye" instead of "I" and
bullsh*t like that...
Now that I've completely lost everyone's attention, let's get
down to some actual article stuff, huh? :)
The scene. "Oh sh*t." you say, not another damn article about
the scene. Well, unfortunately, it is. But before you hit escape
and go read a review or something, consider this :
This is an article about the scene from the eyes of that rare breed...
a writer.
Not an ansi guy.
So how can I - a lit guy - write about the scene? There
is no scene for someone who writes! Yeesh! Even *I* know that! :)
There are so few lit groups it's criminal. But it's not a "lit scene"
that I'm talking about when I say "the scene". I'm being a little
broad minded here (gosh, ANOTHER rare breed) by not classifying
"the scene" as any one particular area of the whole. The scene is
a huge amorphous mass that we just divide up to make it simpler
to organise :). It's full of different people doing their thing.
That includes lit, demos, ansi, ascii, rip, vga, music, hell you
get the idea. Why break it up into separate scenes? That's stupid!
It's like the music industry. So much time is spent deciding on
what's industrial, alternative, grunge, pop, techno, etc that the
music itself becomes secondary to its position in the social structure
of popular culture (wow, what a sociological term to throw in there).
Why not just let it rip and decide what you like on its merits?
That's how I go about music! (Seriously, I have Mozart next to NIN
next to Orphans Of Cool).
Attitudes in the scene are really f*cked, IMO. There is
no other way to describe it... and I think a lot of it stems from
the impersonal nature of it all. The flame, indispensible little
gem that it is, populates every board; vicious messages ragging
off about everything that can be used against the other because
you have time to think about it and make it as vicious as possible.
Flames also tend towards the final blow (so the sender thinks) of
condemning the other as a lamer. Which is like calling the other
guy a faggot when you can't think of anything else to say; it doesn't
really have any basis, but if you tell enough people and backstab
a lot then it may stick. So the other person responds and picks
holes in the other's "eliteness".
In the end, people are so consumed by looking for a basis for
their own eliteness to defend it or the other's weaknesses that
they lose sight of what the scene they're arguing about is, and
what it's about. Now, I can't try to definitively tell everyone
what the scene is/is about, because it's different for everyone.
But to me it should just be fun, a hobby... because let's face it,
that's what it is. So if it's not enjoyable, the scene loses its
attraction... and if everyone is trying to pay out on the lamers
to assert their eliteness, it's not exactly fun.
Maybe it's just because I'm getting older or something that
I look at the scene in this way. Let's face it, it's probably
because I've got some sort of life now :) (even if I do say so myself).
But I still enjoy using a modem, and internet, and I would hope
that the scene gets more fun because at the moment it's pretty dead.
There just isn't too much happening, at least nothing that's new
and exciting.
Remember when you called your first bbs? Woo! How exciting
it was, filling out all the questionairres and looking at all the
files. Then that got boring, and files became more a sideline. You
discovered mail, and off you went with your copy of Blue Wave. Then
that got boring too, so you went back to the files and had a look
in an area other than "GIFS: SWIMSUIT" or whatever it's called
on your local boards. "DEMOS" you say, what the f*ck are
they? So you dl one. And wasn't that exciting, boys and girls! :)
Pretty pictures, nice moving things and music. Soon after that you're
scene-based in your use of your modem, grabbing new demos/mods/ansi
packs or whatever took your fancy. [For me that meant dl'ing Revolt
packs. And uhhh... well, yeah. Revolt :). And of course the 8th
REALiTY pack, being the only one to be floating around the Brisbane
scene.]
Back then, anything at all was new and exciting. You hadn't
seen thousands of scrollies, or shadebobs, or vector stuff. You
hadn't seen ten thousand pictures of Spawn, or ansis of women
with huge breasts and a sword to match the proportion of her
bust. But now, for me it's a year later, things are a little dull.
People are too involved in how the demo was written, or how it was
entered at whatever party, or whether the ansi is ripped or original,
you know how it is. It's easy to understand why sysops get bored
and let their phone rental lapse, leaving another bbs offline and
staying there.
But then you realise something. No one is involved! Every
new guy seems to be too timid to try to join a group, or too lazy
to produce enough to stay in one. Magazines last three issues before
they fall apart. Lit groups end with a final pack containing work
from 2 different people. Ansi groups merge and dissappear or just
dissappear. Op wars. Paying sh*t into a group for their 1-800 number.
Death threats seem common too, lately. But people aren't getting
involved, and I know that because I didn't for a long time. I finally
got off my arse and applied to Revolt, so now at least I'm getting
my stuff out there. I wrote for a magazine, a 3-issue wonder called
Event Horizon. I'm writing for oOze as you can probably guess :).
They might be small contributions, but they're there.
What the scene really needs to get it going a little better
is for more people to do things. If you have a cool idea for
an article, contribute to a mag. If you can write, for heaven's
sake join a lit group! If you're good at something, use your
talent. Get together with some friends and form a group, or
join established ones (better to join established ones, unless you've
got heaps of people prepared to work for a long time).
Something that we should all keep in mind is that this is Australia,
not America. We're a separate country, we have different ideas,
we should use them! Let's show the world that Australians are
creative and, well, elite ;). Let's dispell the ocker, beer-swilling,
simple-minded image that we as a nation are getting tagged with
around the world.
Let's get involved! The scene is not dead, it's just at a low
point. We can jump start it, if we put in some effort. But don't
get too hung up about it. That'll kill it in an instant. Be broad-minded
about it. People didn't think that EDEN by Psychic Monks
was a demo, because it wasn't coded. OK, so then maybe it's not
really a demo. But think of it in the light that it's the only thing
I've seen for a while now that really made me go "wow, that is
*really* cool". I don't really understand or give two sh*ts
about how it got to my computer screen. It had a theme, a message.
That's what was interesting.
If you want to do something new... try a demo with a plot.
Or an ansi of something other than spawn. Or real lit (not gangsta
rap, if you think gangsta rap is lit then go and die or something;
don't release it.). But overall, let's get together and work on
what we can do that is new; let's not sit back and bitch because
no one else has. I'm not that old, but I'm old enough to know that
if you leave it to everyone else all the time, things won't happen.
You've got to do something yourself.
heretic [Revival]
