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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 8244711"><p>What I am saying is things read as a negative today, would have been a positive in some instances in the 90s (especially for Generation X). We valued being transgressive, not playing by the rules, being a drifter, being artistic and expressive. I am not saying these things are accurate. But even something like the stereotype of the 'gypsy thief' could have been a positive depending on context for us (again not defending the stereotype, I am just trying to explain the context of what the symbol of the gypsy represented to us was different: it represented a bohemian and free way of life for us). For example when I saw the image of the celebratory vistani in the black box, that is what resonated with me about it. Clearly these could also have bad connotations too (it isn't the 90s but Leonard Cohen has a line about a 'thin gypsy thief' in one of his songs that is used to paint someone negatively). I used to be a musician and in the mid-90s I wrote music with my cousin that was inspired by Gypsy music and Jewish Gypsy Music (we were both emulating the style of music because we had some records of it that we listened to, we also were inspired by classical music inspired by the music, and we were interested in what gypsies signified to us: which again probably doesn't match the reality but when you are dealing with art and literature you reference things to convey ideas, celebrate ideas, etc). This didn't go anywhere, it was used for someone's college art project. But it was about 12 minutes of music. Today it would probably be read very differently if it were still around. My point is placing intent in context matters. There is a lot about the 90s, in terms of context, I think gets lost in these discussions</p></blockquote><p></p>

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