I stole the “easiest way to add value to low culture products” definition from page 95 of Faking It.

That’s a riot :)
As usual I’ll be the one to state “cash in on authenticity”

I would love a full 52-or-so-card deck of these, a la Oblique Strategies.

Oh man, those ‘Love Is’ kids are gonna be SO pissed off when they year about this.

Cashing In? That would be inauthentic!

I feel you.

This is not universally valid.
Rich assholes can also be authentic.

i got an authenticity bingo straight down the first column…ahem…

if you made these and sold them, i would buy them.

…Mr. Schultz, I presume?

User generated content/comments is Web 2.0 authenticity?

Authenticity is being poor and or urban.

Check out “Sincerity and Authenticity” by Lionel Trilling.

yes, a deck of these would be marvellous. keeping it real has never been so grimy.

for me, authenticity is supervising a semi-formal dance on the friday before my young son’s birthday, and stealing decorations for his party. every year for two years, yo.

can there be authenticity outside a city, like on a farm? maybe on a farm without a family

So, something can only be authentic if it is of low quality, of no meaning to someone, negative or rooted in a poorer quality of life?

There’s no authenticity in happiness?

Or are joy, pleasure, comfort merely the biggest illusions that humans strive for?

Everything that exists is authentically itself — joy, pleasure, and comfort included. But not everything is Authentic.

Now everyone drop a nickel in the authenticity jar.

@sergoetgrim: people not speaking english, music coming from cars and having so many exciting things to do that you stay home are none of those things. the first is genuine submersion in a non-dominant culture, the second is a fleeting pleasure and the third is satisfaction in your own life.

Sorry, for some reason I took those as being ironic, the image of “so many exciting things” being sitting alone in front of a TV threw me.

I don’t know about cards, but a set of cheap beermats would be keen. Something to rest your PBR on while you’re working on that 8-bit/Sesame Street video mashup.

a wall of cards about to come down

You owe the jar almost $2.00

Sergoetgrim: The implied endorsement is ironic. We are meant to understand that while these experiences are touted as authentic, perhaps the conventional wisdom is incorrect. Or perhaps “authenticity” is not the ultimate goal to strive for.

j w: Of course, everything rural is authentic, except for racism and bigotry.

Authenticity should not imply an assessment.
It’s neutral.

Therefore racism is authentic, when racist are keepin’ it real…

Oh yes beer mats pretty please

Hate to say it, but every time I read the comments by people who don’t seem the be the intended audience and really don’t “get it,” it kind of ruins it for me. I should really stop reading them.

Except adding value to low culture products have allowed some bars get away with selling Pabst Blue Ribbon piss for $4. (At least that’s how it seems in the bar listings in the back of Go! magazine.)

I feel so…demographized

The frosting on this particular cake: half these commenters want a buyable variation of the strip. Authenticity, meet commodity.

My childhood was awesome.

I like all you people, but in reality, authenticity is whatever I say it is.
Actually, I have tried to determine authenticity in music, art and behavior of people for years. Dorothy has got it pretty much spot on. I think original live acoustic music in a locally owned coffee shop with art from people who live around here on the walls, now that is authentic. I hope to go there someday.
Oh, yeah, Dorothy, don’t suffer or be alone you are doing great and lots of people love you.

RANT RANT RANT
(or)
SMARMY COMMENT

I second the request for an Oblique Strategies-type deck of these cards. Perhaps they can be ironically printed on napkins.

Ah, Pabst Blue Ribbon. You won the blue ribbon 116 years ago and nothing has changed.

Or, possibly, Jon, authenticity is the manner by which you are able (or attempt to be able) to reconcile a world void of overt meaning with the subtle needs of your own emotional matrix while having a positive effect on the emotional needs of others despite their own (and your own) inability to fully articulate or comprehend these needs.

And, yeah, I vote beer mats.

@joe – “vows of austerity are for people who believe in things.” – http://catandgirl.com/?p=1700

i’m embracing my materialism, and am supported by dorothy who offers me products. or do we view these strips projected on the inside front wall of our skulls, beamed there by our own sense of smug superiority? me, i use a work computer. my *browser* is smug superiority.

or, authenticity is what i think i remember, not what i can hold in my hands, right?

I disagree most of these are authentic mainly due to the fact I see ritzy Seattle douchebags try and do it to make OTHERS feel they are authentic when really they are douchebags. In my opinion the only authentic thing is not worrying about it, you are who you are.

I like the English speaking one!

Yes! A deck!
I’ve got almost half. Collect ’em all!

I mean, I’d buy a deck of these card.

This has to be the most pointless discussion I’ve ever read. Not every piece of art is making some grand statement about society. Couldn’t it just–just maybe–be a comic for your amusement?

I have so much authenticity, it makes me cry shamefully often.

Wait, authenticity being desperately poor? Why do the well-to-do lack anything genuine?

Pfff.

Heh heh, playing the authenticity card.

Life is… Authenticity is just a word.

I’ll see your “Vow of poverty” card and raise with “Three hots ‘n a cot in a secure, warm place for 5 to 10”.