While visiting my old stomping grounds in suburban Maryland, I made a requisite trip to the local mall and to the house of commercialized angst within: Hot Topic. As I perused the faux fetish wear, rebellious bumper stickers, and racks upon racks of HIM merchandise, something Japan-esque caught my eye. On a shelf before me stood gleaming issues of Cure, a visual kei music and culture magazine from Japan. With mixed emotions, I picked out a few and headed to the counter to purchase them at $14.95 a pop. While getting my change, the experience became even stranger when I noticed a stand promoting DIR EN GREY’s first American release, Withering To Death. All of this exposure to the Japanese music I love should be a good thing, worthy of a spooky victory dance no less, but something still didn’t sit right with me.

This brings me to the question that I have often discussed with friends and foes alike over the years: Does the mass production and distribution of so-called ‘alternative’ cultural products make Hot Topic an evil empire? Does the store’s commodification of rock ‘n’ roll subcultures inhibit independent thinking by giving teens an easy one-stop-shop for rebellion?

Most answer quickly with a resounding, YES! – but I don’t think it’s all that simple. Due to my age, I have a different perspective than the “I-had-to-walk-50-miles-in-a-blizzard-to-get-my-SEX PISTOLS-EP” dude or the “I-used-green-marker-to-color-my-hair-because-there-was-no-Manic-Panic-then” chick. Not that I don’t greatly respect those people, because I do. Granted it took a lot more guts and effort in the past to be different. Today any kid can go to the mall and buy enough bondage gear to rival ROB HALFORD’s closet with the same ease that it takes to purchase a Gap cardigan.

On the other hand, there are those out there who believe in independent thought and don’t adhere to a strict uniform of non-conformity, but at the same time like to get their new issue of Drop Dead Magazine and BLOOD BROTHERS baby tee while sipping on an Orange Julius from the food court. And to me, there’s nothing wrong with that.

So after ruminating on these opposing viewpoints, I decided that my distaste for the Japanese rock paraphernalia promoted at Hot Topic stemmed not from my own beliefs, but from an old school attitude condemning any form of big business or commercialism connected to rock ‘n’ roll, an attitude to which I don’t fully adhere. Even though certain rock subcultures are exploited for profit, Hot Topic still helps more than it harms, providing easy access to a lot of quality music and ‘alternative’ cultural products for those that might not otherwise be exposed to them—not to mention giving a lot of unknown bands exposure as well.

In the Internet age, everything is easier, and young people will never have to be as resourceful as they did in the past to explore the ‘underground.’ A lot more is handed to the first generation to come of age in cyberspace. And so what? It’s just that much harder for us to create an independent identity when every possible lifestyle is at our fingertips with the touch of a button or a jaunt around the mall. And that, to me, is far more of a challenge than walking 50 miles in a blizzard to get a Sex Pistols EP.