Real Rebels

I love "rebels" but not the kind you might think -- I don't love trolls who exist to offend or traumatize others (like Trump and his vile MAGA brain dead army) nor do I like bullies or knee jerk contrarians.

A rebel for me is not someone who seeks to hurt or damage lives, or who exists to be different just to assuage their own vanity or insecurities -- I like people who look at a political/economic/social system, or at the culture, and say, "Okay, if it zigs this way, I'll zag it that way." I like people who say "What about this?" -- instead of "that." To be a rebel is someone who doesn't just fight the bad in the world but makes the world a bigger place.

Here's an example of a couple of NYC rebels who certainly made our city and our world a better place: James Baldwin, the pioneering black writer and critic, and the recently deceased Jonas Mekus, an experimental filmmaker and writer who founded the Anthology Film Archives and was a godfather of the avante-guarde. They rebelled, not by offending the society and culture they lived in, but by challenging its assumptions and showing how it could be better. They grew the world, not just fight it.

Real rebels.

Today, I don't know what it means to be a rebel but, here in NYC, if you dare not to be wealthy or gorgeous or super-careerist, you're something a rebel. If you hold onto that spirit of fun and espirit de corps you are going against the grain of greed and conspicuous consumption that rules in this city.

Currently, there are three shows on TV/streaming that are just about this kind of NYC rebel: the soon to end Broad City and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and High Maintenance. They're about people who struggle, who live lives defined not by their jobs or money but about what makes them happy in life. They are show about the kind of this city should be for -- and increasingly isn't. They challenge the consensus and make the city a bigger spirited place. 

Real rebels.