I try to not be too navel gazy about the past. All generations have a period where they overstate the significance of their lived history. The greatest generation (just look at that name) dined on WWII for decades. The Baby Boomer through a mix population dominance and an undeniably turbulent 1960s really codified their generation as a golden age to be alive. Gen X has made the 1980s sound like a pop culture high point for years thanks to the weird SciFi and John Hughes. Right now we’re in a real era of Millennial nostalgia. “Only 90s kids will understand”. It feels especially toxic for Millennials, because, thanks to the timing of the internet, we’re the first generation who never had to fully let go of the things we liked when we were young. Although, I recognize that even saying that is evidence of my own myopia.
I try not to bathe in nostalgia too much, but sometimes it is nice to be reminded of a time and place that’s familiar. So, I watched White Hot. I was never an Abercrombie & Fitch kid. I’ve never owned a piece of their clothing. I honestly don’t recall ever going into one. I knew the brand though and had my associations, and they matched up with everything said in this documentary. Except the racism. I can’t say I noticed that when I was 13. I needed some hindsight on that.
Oddly, watching White Hot reminded me of watching a Studio 54 documentary. I think Studio 54 is a fascinating topic. There’s always a tone to people talking about it like I’m listening to the winners. Studio 54 sucked by most measures. It was elitist and broke so many laws. For every person who made it in and had a coke-fueled religious experience in there, there were dozens more who stayed in line for 2 hours only to be mocked and turned away. Had I been alive in the late 70s, I imagine my opinion of Studio 54 would be much lower than that of the people who get interviewed about it now. That’s how I am about A&F. I didn’t care for it at the time. I associated it with overpriced clothes that were used as a status symbol. Many of the talking heads in White Hot though came from the inside and spoke about A&F like there was some innocent time when the brand wasn’t built on elitism. There’s the part where one former employee mentions the horror of seeing the bully in Spider-Man dressed fully in A&F because it meant something had shifted in the brand. Whereas, my memory of it was that the brand was built on that.
That’s not to say this doc was generous about A&F. It got pretty brutal by the end. Even during the rise part, they weren’t that forgiving. I’m bringing a lot of my own baggage to this. I’m guessing to someone younger who didn’t live through this, the doc feels properly balanced and damning. And I really liked the parts about the queerness of it all. I’ll admit, that’s one of those things that was such a staple that I never thought deeper about it. It’s funny in hindsight to remember the stores with giant pictures of half-naked men on them and it not immediately clicking who they could be targeting.
Anyway, this was a nice little jolt of nostalgia. The doc is nothing special otherwise. Pretty boiler plate. The kind of thing I’m sad that VH1 does do anymore.
Verdict: Weakly Don’t Recommend
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