I’ve talked to enough people about circle of hope’s apparant 5min of fame in the Philadelphia Hipster Media Market, so I figured I’d share a little of how I’m thinking about the recent cover story of the Philadelphia Weekly Oh, Sweet Jesus and Philebrity’s angsty diatribe vaguely about us.
A few people have actually gotten their feelings hurt by what they read, and that is sad. Both Steven Wells and Joey Sweeny take hard swipes at large groups of people and it’s easy and tempting to feel judged or hated on if you are remotely affiliated with Fundamentalism, tradional church, pro-life, mewithoutYou’s music, or body odor (from Steven’s article) as well as Jesus, Christians, Deerhoof, beards, fixed gear bikes, the rocket cat, mewithoutYou, or Frankford Ave (from Joey’s).
I think Steven is a really nice guy. He’s fun to hang out with. I like him. He doesn’t like coercive power mongers and is really flamboyant in his writing. He was telling a certain story about Christians that defied his normal view of Christians and for the sake of maintaining post-modern irony and atheist sensibilities took huge shots at the church at large. He also colored me and especially some of my friends in a certain light-one that shows how not like the others we are. I actually feel a bit flattered and sent him a nice thank-you email. How often do so many people I know get featured in something like the PW? It’s pretty cool, especially for the moment.
Joey Sweeny makes his living by being negatively opinionated. Philebrity is a gossip blog (and says so) and he is going to call out people and things that he’s got beef with. So what? He does not actually dictate what is good or cool in Philadelphia or anywhere-but it can be comical to read. I sent him a nice email to ask if he wanted to watch the Eagles’ game this Sunday together and he sent me a really kind reply.
Whatever press circle of hope gets-especially from PW or Philebrity is not going to be particularly about the heart of who we are trying to be or what we are trying to do. It is kind of fun, though, to get so much traffic just because Dane has a beard and listens to Deerhoof on his fixed gear going down Frankford Ave. At the end of the 5min, getting too worked about this stuff is like being a huge Alf fan. It’s not really worth it. These guys are writers who like getting a rise out of you. They are both probably really nice people in real life.
But Joey did get me thinking. Why do we have a splash page, anyway? I’ll look into that.
Gosh. I am genuinely amazed that anybody could take offense at the article. Unless they’re a fundie. In which case I should imagine anything that even attempts to be truthful is going to be considered offensive. And how come I don’t get invited to the Eagles? I’d love to go.
Ack. Now that I know Steven reads this I want to reply to him. But nay, I will not.
Good word, Joshua. Any press is good press?
shiv-feel free to reply to steven. i think he’s super nice and can handle critique.
one thing is that a lot of this buzz is about a very small population at circle of hope in one sense-some of the more crazy and out-there-looking people (like me?). we also have older people, children, people from about 20 different countries, grandparents, people who smell nice, republicans, etc…this was hinted at in the article. If you are one of the people who isn’t grimey and/or hip than it’s easy to feel misrepresented…like the dozens of people who have been doing this for the past dozen years who don’t fit into that mold. they are revolutionary in another sense, sans the aesthetic.
In another sense it’s about a movement that interested the author across Philadelphia and even more-and even got mentioned in the same breath as the Diggers and Levellers! What a compliment.
Steven, i might just watch the Eagles at home, but if you want to meet up that would be fun. i can’t get there until about 9, though, so we could do 3 quarters. You’re so well-adapted to your new home!
For the record:
I don’t like deerhoof.
I do like ALF.
I’ve been saying from the beginning that splash page was a bad idea.
Raincheck. Got the Zombie Prom to go to. But the next game – you’re on.
C.O.H. “fame” clock: 4.59 min. Get back to your regular business, everyone.
p.s. We have Republicans in our midst?
I’d rather watch the Phillies than the Eagles.
Thanks for writing this, Josh.
To Steven – Certain aspects of my faith and culture, when taken out of context, are really strange.
On the surface I know certain things we do or say seem extremely eccentric – but I think when you can cut through that superficiality to WHY we do/say these things, they at least make a bit more sense.
In the article you mention mewithoutYou’s veggie bus. You describe its smell, its appearance… and how the boys often have to stop to trash pick oil to fuel it. A cute aside. Painting the eccentric picture.
But you don’t mention why they have the thing in the first place… which is that it costs them on average 15 to 20 cents a gallon to run the damn thing. They save thousands and thousands of dollars using it! On top of that, its better for the environment, uses something that was going to be thrown out anyway, and makes them non participants in our countries consumption of oil.
All and all, its an extremely logical decision for them to make.
I think your article spent a lot of time describing smells, sights, and sounds. Spectacle and catch phrases. And maybe thats what you set out to do. But I wish you went deeper, and perhaps payed more attention to the why of things.
Why we think veggie buses make sense. Why we think “intentional community” makes sense. Why we think organizing in cells makes sense. Why we think living in this area of Philadelphia makes sense.
Or even why Aaron Weiss thinks believing in God makes sense.
I think you had a lot of good stuff in your article, Mr. Wells, I only wish you hung out more and went further. It is always frustrating to feel misrepresented or even stereotyped – something that happens to both Christians and atheists alike. Something we have in common. I hope this dialogue between our version of Christianity and Philadelphia’s other cultures can continue. Only with understanding can we all grow in grace!
Ditto to what Heneghan said. The article was full of “cute asides”. It wasn’t about the band (their albums and upcoming album weren’t mentioned) and it wasn’t about the underground Christian movement. It skimmed both of those things, it showed the surface level that anyone can see on their own. Like us or not, it would have been good to actually talk about what is happening here. Instead it incited people to feel… nothing. There were hints of our “hypocrisy” (ooh, the band talks about sex! ooh, Nikki threw piss at someone!) and a whole lot about how fundamentalism sucks. Yeah, we kinda think so too. Let’s talk about why.
And I’m not even going to go into the Philebrity article. Because, well, Joey is just miserable. He can rant all he wants. Steven on the other hand, seems like someone who can get down.
Also, Mr. Wells, I too have Celiac disease. Let me know if you ever want to commiserate.
Josh, i really respect your response and reaction to all this recent press. It makes sense that we should be a little misunderstood and that we should gracefully strive to be understood a little better.
Mike, I agree with your review of the article. After reading it I couldn’t quite put my finger on how it made me feel and i think you hit the nail on the head with the lack of representation of motive.
All in all i think it was a pretty well written article and the last line about the girl not needing what Aaron said to make any sense to her sent a shiver or two down my spine…i kinda used to be that kid.
You people really need to write your own article. Oh wait. That would be called a press release.
what about the hit piece current tv is doing on you guys? i hear its in black and white.
thanks for getting in the mix and for your witty remarks. bri-the republicans play baseball on WED right by your house, that’s why you never see them!
good point, steven. after all, you weren’t trying to re-write http://acircleofhope.wordpress.com in one article. you have the rest of your life!
that hot little piece for Current TV is gonna have cool fonts, too, i hear. and great grainy lo-res banners with people’s names in all lower case letters!
and btw-what splash page?