Hip to be Square

I was flipping through the channels last night looking for a Christmas movie to get myself in the holiday spirit. Much to my delight, I came across “American Psycho” on IFC. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but the first scene I caught was of Christian Bale and Reese Witherspoon wearing 80s Christmas sweaters sipping cocktails at a Christmas party, so I decided to keep it on. Soon after, I was enthralled, as I usually am with this movie. I’m not sure if it’s Bale’s impeccable portrayal of Patrick Bateman or the adapted voice of Brett Easton Ellis’s witty dialogue, but every time I see it on TV, I have to watch. A few scenes later I was able to catch Bateman and his rival Paul Allen sitting in an empty apartment listening to Huey Lewis and the News. In the scene, Patrick explains to Paul Huey’s undisputed masterpiece, “Hip to be Square”. He describes it as “a song so catchy that people probably don’t listen to the lyrics but they probably should, because it’s not just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of trend, it’s also a personal statement about the bandit self”. Well, today I looked up those lyrics:

I used to be a renegade, I used to fool around
But I couldn't take the punishment, and had to settle down
Now I'm playing it real straight, and yes I cut my hair
You might think I'm crazy, but I don't even care
Because I can tell what's going on
It's hip to be square

I like my bands in business suits, I watch them on TV
I'm working out 'most everyday and watching what I eat
They tell me that it's good for me, but I don't even care
I know that it's crazy
I know that it's nowhere
But there is no denying that
It's hip to be square

It's not too hard to figure out, you see it everyday
And those that were the farthest out have gone the other way
You see them on the freeway, It don't look like a lot of fun
But don't you try to fight it; "An idea who's time has come."

Don't tell me that I'm crazy
Don't tell me I'm nowhere
Take it from me
It's hip to be square

It’s funny I should come across this thought this week as I have been grappling over the issue of conformity. For better or worse, I’ve always carried myself with a sense of pride over my alternative look and lifestyle. I have made an earnest effort to balance this rebel appearance in the conformist world of teaching and now business. I have let my hair grow longer than ever as if to say, “I know I may act within the rules, but I don’t need to look like everyone else while doing it. The problem is that I think it conveys the wrong idea about me. I work extra hard to articulate myself to customers and others to make them think twice about judging people based on appearances alone, but I don’t know why I feel the need to make such a statement. The hair thing has been a funny experiment actually. I’ve been called a hippie, and been mistaken for an Occupy Boston participant to my face, and I can only imagine what people say behind my back. The truth is that I don’t really care what people think, but the question I ask myself is whether this is hurting or helping my business. Would people rather buy a rug from a long-haired hippie or a suited salesman? It’s funny that the length of a man’s hair has been part of our conditioning as Americans and as human beings. I coach a youth basketball team and the reaction I have received in terms of my appearance has been overwhelmingly negative. I’m no different than I was with short hair, but I am looked at as if I am so. I don’t know if it’s the look that brings the insults or just the change, but the old cliché “don’t judge a book by its cover” certainly isn’t being applied. Anyway, the experiment ends today as I am getting it cut in an hour. My feeling is that there is nothing better than a fresh cut, and I look forward to going into the new year with a clean slate. I’ll be curious to see if by going square I’ll be treated any differently, and if the rest of me will follow in conformity. I hope not.