Basic is out, niche is in

By Molly Richards (she/her)

If uni was a 2009 teen movie, you niche and trendy nerds would have been ridiculed. What’s up with that? Chess club was “social suicide.” Having interests outside of sport and *Eddie Munson’s mocking voice* PARTIES wouldn’t have gotten you laid. In university, being a grade-A dork is ‘cool.’ I’m just saying, if you have a hobby, we might actually have an interesting conversation. I also think that those who have an interest that isn’t typically cool don’t really give a shit –and that’s always cool.

For decades, pop culture, especially teen movies, have had us thinking that niche interests are lame. To be socially relevant you had to meet certain requirements. You can’t break the status quo and you need to be popular. Even if that means squishing yourself and your interests into uniformed little boxes. I call bull.

Since I moved to Welly and started uni, I’ve noticed an exponential decline in Fs given. You know how I know? Clubs. If you have a look around at the clubs that you can join whilst at uni, you’ll see the options extend far beyond the limitations set by this preconceived popularity. Sure, chess club always existed, but now it’s cool. If you’ve watched The Queen’s Gambit, you’d know. This makes me wonder if any of these clubs were ever actually uncool — they weren’t. I suppose they were (uncool) if you didn’t know how to play. Whichever way you slice it, memorising over a thousand chess opening moves is damn impressive. So really, niche hobbies were uncool because they were, well, niche. So specialised and only relevant to a small part of society. When it gets to the mainstream, it can go two ways (in my experience); super trendy and popular because it is enjoyed by a vast number of people, or so popular the market becomes saturated and the people who previously enjoyed the thing resent it for what it has become. Or, in unfortunate cases, both. Think radio music. You liked it the first time but after hearing it ten times a day for months your love becomes hate. I also think there is sometimes an air of superiority around niche culture now. For example; Oh you’ve never heard of this band? Well, it’s niche so I guess you wouldn’t have. Seriously?

If you grew up watching cheesy teen drama movies, you might be familiar with the ‘clique tour’ trope, a trope featured and popularised in films such as Clueless, Mean Girls, and Lemonade Mouth to name a few. Here the main character is led on a guided tour around all the social groups. Typically, these groups range from your jocks, to the populars – beware of the plastics – to the drama, art, AV kids and the science nerds. Basically, the niche hobbies were out. Partying, sports, and social elitism were in. So here, think of me as your Janis Ian (Mean Girls; if you haven’t seen it, I can’t help you).

However, things come back and being niche and owning it is rad.

On a side note; Crocs? I remember thinking crocs were the ugliest shoes ever – honestly, still do. Now, I can respect it. Yes, they’re still just as ugly as I remembered but in a good way? It’s less a tangible factor and more of a feeling. I think because if you have Crocs, you don’t care what other people think. You liked it, you bought it. I can respect that. In a weird way it makes me think about getting a pair. You know what Batman said, “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” (The Dark Night). Those little things you can razzle-dazzle Crocs with: Jibbitz? They’re fascinating. Back to the matter. If we look at Pitch Perfect for example. In one of the first few scenes, Becca (the main character) wanders around the activities fair. The clubs at that fair were random for comedic effect but not too far off really. Besides, joining the Quidditch team sounds like a riot. The acapella club wasn’t mainstream before Pitch Perfect by all means, but none of that really mattered within the film. Acapella is niche but to those involved, it’s everything. If everyone’s a dork, or rather if everyone is uncool, what really is cool? You know that whole tree falling in the woods, who hears it business ...

That brings me to having shared interests. If you can band together enough likeminded weirdos or whatever you like to call yourselves, you might just have enough people to fight off those haters. Not that you should need the numbers, but it might be nice. Don’t be afraid to join a club. If you have YOUR interests, you are a least a little bit interesting, remember. So “why so serious?” At least you’re not boring – as if!