Interesting Subcultures

As a fan of music stylized as or influenced by punk/emo/hardcore, the subculture that interests me the most would probably be punk, mainly because I participate in this generation’s version of it to an extent. I am able to witness a lot of how people participate and receive the messages of the culture, but I am always interested in seeing how people on the outside view and define things that are almost second nature to me. As far as a subculture that has always intrigued me, the first thing that comes to mind would be Juggalos. Juggalos are fans of the rap duo Insane Clown Posse who basically make their over-exuberant love of the music a lifestyle. They paint their faces like clowns, drink Faygo and listen to ICP and other horrorcore acts that stylize themselves after ICP’s example. For one thing, I never quite understood the musical aspect of the culture, so to see people so avidly following them, almost like they were the Grateful Dead confused me. Juggalos have been the target of jokes on shows as small as Workaholics to as big as Saturday Night Live. Documentaries have been made about their actions at the now yearly Calling of the Juggalos, which I must admit had a stronger entertainment lineup than both Coachella and Bonnaroo. Now that Juggalos are labeled as a gang, ICP are suing the FBI (yes, the Federal Bureau of Investigation) to retract the label because of how detrimental gang involvement could be in the lives of Juggalos. Quite honestly, I am just very interested in the culture because it is the only one I have ever heard of that is based off of one musical act and really has no defining characteristic other than a love of ICP. Also, the outlandish acts by the performers and fans always grab my attention.