I still don’t think anyone who’s in the hacktivist scene really gives a shit or at least doesn’t give a shit on whole any more than any other group does.
Let me spend several months trying to identify exploits while siting at my computer but also take the time every day to coordinate a cute outfit…
Punk tends to lean towards modifying what you have with what tools are available, and shopping second-hand. As a bonus, the inherent aesthetic is harder for the fashion industry to co-opt.
For those not in the know, he was a member of a number of New York punk bands in the 70s. Malcolm McLaren nicked his style (along with that of others) and brought it over to England to sell in his clothing store Sex.
For those who aren’t familiar - CCC is the chaos computer club, they have lots of talks and events all about tech, politics, intel, hacking/security, etc.
I believe that’s the origin of “tits or GTFO” came from too, a cringey way of saying that they don’t care if your a girl if you say something dumb online. Though predictably it morphed into incel taunts and male chauvinist bullshit once the meaning was lost.
I do feel kind of simillarly betrayed. Watch Dogs were my forst point of reference into what hacker subcultures look like, and it has shaped a large part of my life - next month i's going to be 5 years I've worked as a Red Teamer in a cybersec company. I'm also mostly a poser, and the aesthetics simply makes it way more fun - making art that's tied into what you do is great, assuming you dont take it too seriously, of course. Not that I do it, but the way Watch Dogs portraied it, it was fun.
Is it neccessary? Of course not. Is it a shame there aren't many hackerspaces with cool street art, and hacktivists making over the top manifests ajd cool streetart around our town? A little bit.
I feel like he's just lamenting that the youth that are making things happen could make a statement with some distinct fashion. Style has always been important for him so I guess it's somewhat complaint adjacent, but I get the feeling it's less like "damn kids today!" and more like "it'd be better if it were this way".
That, or a fursuit! There's definitely a current aesthetic imo, but obviously it's a generalization that not everyone fits, as has always been the case.
to be fair, while not much of a hacker since the days when you could just open windows and delete the password, most of my casual wardrobe could pass for 'cozy pyjama party matrix cosplay'.
A dude in a full Fox fursuit is the face behind the string of shutdowns that slowed the nation to a halt. I can see it now, FBI dragging the poor guy out of his room, knocking over models and plushies off his desk as he struggles to get his message out to the public.
Wow, I can't believe nobody's even bothered to mention the style from the definitive hacker movie. Just absolutely gobsmacked. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like:
Notably missing from this picture: rollerblades, fingerless gloves, neon dyed hair, tons of fishnets (which I guess you could probably stylize as fish.nets or something), puffy vest, etc.
In my day, being a hacker meant dressing like a weird raver/punk and sending people a GIF of a laughing skull, and that's how we liked it
He was on my Southwest flight to LAX in 2001 and there was a palpable buzz among the pax.
Then ran into him while we were waiting for our rides at the white zone, which is for loading and unloading only.
I presented him with a super tacky giant gold coat button I had just found at a payphone as if it was an achievement award, and had a fun quick chat. Lovely and delightful guy.
When I met him, we had some absurd questions during the audience participation part. My friend asked, "suburban Baltimore is such an interesting backdrop for a movie. Both mundane and interesting. As a young black artist in America, I'd like to know what you think about lowriders."
My other friend had him sign her maxipad wrapper. This friend also happens to be the nice of Patsy from Ab Fab.
