Portlandia

When I first saw this preview clip from Portlandia, I could not stop reloading it. Carrie Brownstein from the beloved rock band Sleater-Kinney is acting? Fred Armisen knows her? The song is catchy and pretty darn funny, especially if you had friends who really did go to clown school in the recent past. It's funny to make fun of things like that. However, after the pilot episode aired, I couldn't help but feel a bit of hesitation for laughing at overly concerned hipsters, hippies and yuppies.

Basically Portlandia pokes fun at people who care about local food, feminism, biking instead of driving, crafts etc etc- which, judging from the station they're on- IFC (Independent Film Channel) is also their target viewing demographic. How will that pan out? Brownstein said something pretty telling and true on an NPR interview about why they write the show like this- "There's part of you that's cringing," she says of observing the local culture, "but at the same time, you wouldn't live anywhere else."

Having moved from 3 different hipster infested cities to where I live now (the complete opposite, I assure you), I hear where they're coming from. Lots of self aware, do gooder people can be annoying sometimes. Yet I kind of happen to be one of them myself and I live in a place were we could use a few more. I also think that those same people- hipsters and hippies who rail against driving, want to eat local food, be creative and independent are the people who are changing the world for the better. It's almost like they're making a show for the right wing of America to say "see, aren't creative, hippie, hipsters all complete douche bags?". That worries me. At the same time, I have been a big fan of Armisen and Brownstein for a while, and I think the show is really funny. There was a skit on a recent episode, about two Japanese, Harajuku-esque, anime kids who go to a coffee shop that had me giggling pretty hard.

I'm giving this show one season. Maybe two if Loren Michaels has sway at IFC and thinks it's still interesting. I think it will end after that. But we'll keep downloading it. Oh, life is ironic isn't it?

Download it: Portlandia on EZTV