The Rise of the Creative Class Pt. 3 Reaction

In Part 3 of The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida described how the rise of a preference for more creative and engaging careers has led to an equal rise in a preference for more creative and engaging hobbies.

One of the things that really bothered me about this part was Florida’s critique of the different subcultures that have come out of the rising desire for a more creative lifestyle. His comments about members of the “clubbing” lifestyle were particularly harsh and unfounded. He critiques the “clubbers’” clothing, music, and lifestyle. He says that the music that they listen to isn’t creative because it’s all engineered to market to that specific audience in order to attain maximum profit. Because of this, he claims that the music played at the clubs isn’t true creative expression. He seems to say that because the music is made a certain way because it’s what people like, it isn’t real “art”. This claim really annoyed me. Yes, sometimes artists are forced by record companies to make music they don’t like in order to gain popularity. But what about the artists that have enough support to do what they want, but still choose to make pop music? If it’s why they like, then who’s to say it isn’t their way of expressing themselves?  People make club music because it will sell, yes. But the people who make club music know what it sounds like because they also go to the club. They write what they know. Florida also mentions that the clubbers attempts to be different and hip make them the exact opposite. By striving for nonconformity, they become the same. How does he know what their motives are? As with most subcultures that pride themselves on not conforming, they’re attempting to be different from society and the life their parents led, not from each other.

I’m randomly reminded of the fact that this book wasn’t written recently, which I find interesting. This is especially true when he make generalizations about the “younger people”.  I read his statements and wonder: “Younger people? Isn’t that me? This doesn’t sound like my generation at all”. But then I realize that when this book was written ten years ago, the younger people were who the older people are now.

This is true with Florida’s observations about the rise of technology. He talks about the novelty and sometimes fear with which people see new developments in technology, especially computers. Those days are mostly gone. The “younger people” no longer view new technology as something awe inspiring or exciting; they expect it. Florida talks about how the new technologies gave rise to the “geek” being seen as the hero. However, that trend must have only been very subtle. I have never heard of the “acclaimed” book that he cites as evidence of this new hero, and most tv shows and movies still star an action hero. Even the TV show Chuck eventually gave their geeky main character Kung Fu moves in order to survive. The Matrix, another piece of evidence used by Florida does shows the amazing possibilities of technology .The main character, however, is a man who knows how to look cool and fight, but knows nothing about the system. He is “the chosen one” while the “geeks” who built it remain unknown.