Wow, that is just a bag, is what that is.
That's a Murderbot quote, because I think I'm funny and I know Martha Wells is funny.
But it is also, paraphrased, a sentiment I am seeing a lot of lately, and look. Yes. To those of us who grew up in real life, the concept of an "analog bag" -- a bag you carry around with you, full of things to occupy you that aren't electronics -- sounds ludicrously redundant. I was lugging one of those around before these TikTok influencers were born.
And yes, the modern internet being the hypercapitalist cesspool that it is, it's always annoying to see yet another mundane hobby or habit blow up into a big old neverending stream of viral "haul" videos. Performative overconsumption sucks.
But. But.
A lot of these kids (and young adults, but same difference) literally grew up with smartphones and tablets and laptops and every other gadget under the sun. They don't know how to entertain themselves without those things, because we never taught them. They're trying to teach themselves.
I'm not trying to be patronizing, here. Myself, I grew up with IRC and MUDs and Netscape Navigator, in measured amounts, when my father wasn't using the PC. I read books and played paper dolls and got bullied at school and went for long walks unaccompanied by an adult, and then I came home and got to venture into Wonderland. As I get older it is increasingly borne in upon me that the world I grew up in has disappeared, largely without a trace. It's no more real to these younger people than the fifties were to me. Parts of that world sucked, granted. Parts were just as bad as this one, and some parts were worse. But other parts were valuable, and I think trying to reclaim them, disinter them, is worthwhile.
Sure, it's a fad. Many of these people will forget about their analog bags within a month, and that's okay too. As fads go it's pretty harmless. Even the ones buying new! bags and new! notebooks and new! colored pencils -- okay, no, they don't need to do that, buying shit is not the point. But it's also not like they're spending a fortune on specialized equipment and mildly toxic chemicals and whatever some hobby crazes have involved. It may be shallow, it certainly is naive, but I think it's a healthy impulse.
I have an analog bag. It's not functionally much different from my purse, mind you. But I think it's a fun concept, stocking your cute tote or your thrifted basket with Activities. It's childlike, in a good way. It's play, and we all need more of that.
I posted this a couple weeks ago on my other blog. I'm bringing it back because I was irritated by the uptick in "IT'S JUST CONSUMERISM FUCK YOU" backlash YouTubes.
It's not "just" consumerism. It's never just consumerism. These trends arise because of ideas that the media instantly pounces on and uses to sell people shit. And the idea behind this one is a genuinely worthwhile idea. The heavily monetized buy-all-these-things-from-my-sponsor videos are obviously going to be the loudest and most visible, but that's not how everyone is engaging with the concept. Which you'd know if you did more than surf the algorithm for things to get mad about.
Ahem. I'm going to go color in my (gifted) coloring book with my (years-old set of) colored pencils now.]