Shari Vaidya - Q4 Blog 14 - Woke is Dead, but Nostalgia is Revived?
Last weekend marked the beginning of the infamous and ever-exclusive two-weekend-long event of Coachella. We got to see larger-than-life celebrities, and astrohead influencers pretend to be “roughing it out” in Indio Valley for the weekend– well, their idea of “roughing it out” is staying in a mansion without a jet jacuzzi, but we’ll still give them the credit.
Now, I am not very involved in the influencer scene on social media; my pages are filled with stupid memes and media analysis, but I did enjoy seeing some of the outfits from the festival. One thing was extremely clear, though: upon watching the streams and the multitude of videos, I concluded that this year Coachella was about nostalgia. Specifically, the performative nostalgia of the late 2010s. With everyone running to get barricade for Justin Bieber and Disclosure, people decked out in flower crowns and neon minishorts (Vanessa Hudgens’ influence still seems to be looming over the festival, unfortunately), it was very clear that people were trying to live out the “good old days.”
To me, however, I saw these nostalgia-ridden festival goers as ignorant as the people trying to brand the Dimes Square art scene as the revival of indie sleaze. If you didn’t know, the Dimes Square art and party scene of New York is (allegedly) funded by tech super villain Peter Thiel. You know, the same guy who wants to implement Big-Brother-esque surveillance tech on Americans. Yes! Ding! That Peter Thiel is funding a venue located in the Dimes Square neighborhood– Sovereign House. The home of New York’s MAGA hipster crowd, who (just like the Coachella influencers) are trying to live out “the good old days” of Bushwick’s indie scene of the early 2000s.
You might be wondering how this connects to the influencers of Coachella. Well…the owner of the festival, Phillip Anschutz is a prolific MAGA donor. Between 2023 and 2024, his company donated around $1 million to the Republican super PAC called the Senate Leadership Fund. These two spaces were also originally meant to protest and reject the current world order. Coachella was originally meant to protest the high ticket prices, and the original indie sleaze movement was meant to be an all-inclusive space for society’s rejects.
While I enjoy the old aesthetics of the 2010s and late 2000s, I don’t think I would ever stoop so low to allow blood money to fund my fun. Has our society veered too far off the route? It seems that way when 95% of today’s influencers and celebrities are seen partying the night away and blowing through cash while the rest of us are living paycheck to paycheck. Then again, common people aren’t really allowed to feel nostalgia, because for us it's always been this way. Nostalgia obviously puts rose-colored lenses on everything, but the difference is that the ultra-wealthy are the only ones who can escape and relive the “paradise” that was 2016, because since then, it has only gotten better for this class that has way too much money.
Hi, Shari. I enjoyed reading this blog. I agree that Coachella and similar events are heavily exploited because it’s easy to do so. A lot of the audience is reliant on celebrity worship and excessive spending. In theory, Coachella is a very beneficial festival where artists of all types of genres and popularity can expand their reach and connect with fans, while the audience can enjoy their favorite artists and many can profit. However, as I’m sure you’ve seen, Coachella is, at its core, an abuse of late stage capitalism (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). Especially this year, the term “Bieberchella” was coined because of Justin Bieber performing, which brought a lot more attention because of the big headliner and his return to performing. As you mentioned, the festival (especially the Biberchella aspect) heavily relied on nostalgia of the 2010’s. However, with that, people can also see the massive opportunity of potential financial gain. Airbnbs that normally go for hundreds per night can easily spike to thousands and, this year, some vendors even canceled reservations made months in advance for the opportunity to list the homes at much higher prices. There is also a massive brand presence with sponsorships, partnerships, and promotions. Brands have found a way to commodify themselves to massive Coachella audiences by providing influencers with tickets in exchange for massive brand exposure. That being said, I could obviously never resist going to Coachella if I had the chance.
ReplyDeleteHello Shari! I don’t really follow that much news and music and whatnot, but it feels like this year, even I am getting stuff about Coachella. And it’s only about Justin Bieber Kinda speaks to how much marketing they’re putting into Coachella this year, and how much Coachella is reliant on nostalgia this year. I can’t really blame the people in charge though. They’re only thinking of making money, and what better way to make money than using a massive music festival? I don’t really know much about the history of Coachella and what it was created for, but surely there’s another way to keep Coachella cheap and in-line with its original goals. Since you mentioned the topic of the ultra-rich being disconnected from the rest of us, I can’t help but think back to the ending of The Great Gatsby. Perhaps that’s why it remains a classic, because even a hundred years later, the rich still just go away and hide in their mansions whenever they encounter trouble.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you added links to provide context for all of the events you mentioned! It was extremely useful again as I don’t keep track of social media. As well, I have zero idea how Coachella works or what happens at the event, so the added context you included in the blog was extremely helpful, and I give you my sincere thanks for including context.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to really be invested in this topic as well! Your writing style throughout the blog really conveys your emotions about the negatives of Coachella and the dangerous influences it may have on society. Your explanation about how nostalgia is only truly for the rich because they are the only ones who can afford to look back so happily is sadly an undoubtedly true statement that really expresses how our society has fallen.