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  • 9 years ago
On this episode of Style Out There, Connie Wang takes us to the end of the world to meet the Wastelanders. Wastelanders are a group of people located remotely living out a post-apocalyptic lifestyle. Press play to see this week's Mad Max-inspired episode!

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Transcript
00:00This is not quite what I think of when I think of a commuter vehicle.
00:03No, it's not, but it's way cooler than a Prius.
00:07Yeah, totally.
00:28It's the end of the world, or at least it feels like it.
00:32The word apocalypse comes up frequently in conversation.
00:35Whether because of global politics, environmental issues, or economic uncertainty, America is
00:42haunted by the idea of its own demise.
00:47But there are some people who relish the idea.
00:50A national movement of dystopian events is cropping up, where Mad Max enthusiasts play
00:55out the fall of man, or what comes after.
00:58The biggest?
00:59Wasteland Weekend, an annual event in the California desert that draws thousands of people from
01:04all over the world.
01:06But new post-apocalyptic parties are popping up across the country for those who never
01:11want Wasteland to end.
01:13Aries hasn't just wastelanded her clothes.
01:16She's wastelanded her life.
01:18Three years ago, she moved out to the middle of the desert to a home with no address with
01:23their husband Spud, whom she met and married at Wasteland Weekend.
01:29Where am I?
01:30Where is this place?
01:30You are at Little Chaos on the Prairie.
01:33Little Chaos on the Prairie.
01:34My happy little home.
01:41I broke Malibu Barbie.
01:43Yeah.
01:44Malibu Barbie?
01:45I married Malibu Barbie and then brought her out here and broke her.
01:48You used to be super Barbie doll with curly brown beach girl hair and like I talked about
01:54shoes a lot.
01:56Oh my god.
01:57It makes fun of me for it perpetually.
01:58There's nothing wrong with being Malibu Barbie, but Aries is clearly happy she traded in pink
02:04party dresses for combat boots.
02:06Can you tell me about what wastelanders are?
02:09Wastelanders are a surprising mix of individuals.
02:13You have the crew that are like Spud and myself, that they live off grid.
02:17You have people that work HR.
02:20It's that mindset of who would I want to be at the end of the world.
02:24You can be the best version of yourself.
02:26You can be somebody entirely different.
02:28When the world ends, you can reinvent yourself.
02:31And that's exactly what Aries and her husband Spud have done.
02:34They've become the people they've always wanted to be.
02:37Would you say you've created a utopia here?
02:39I have definitely created a utopia to move out to middle of nowhere so that I wasn't ever
02:43beholden to anybody except for Aries.
02:46Whatever she needs I give that woman.
02:47I love her to pieces, I will do anything for her without any hesitation at all.
02:52Does it ever feel lonely?
02:53Eh, not really.
02:55Um, I've gotten very good at keeping in touch with my friends and my girlfriends are all
02:58pretty good about keeping in touch.
03:00Uh-huh.
03:01Aries' friends aren't your average girls next door.
03:04Beans, Bam Bam, and Sunshine.
03:07They met years ago at Wasteland Weekend and take every excuse to get together, work on
03:12Wasteland clothes, and have a drink.
03:15So what does it mean to Wasteland something out?
03:18Think of it if, like, recycling was a sport.
03:22It's ultimate recycling.
03:23You find something, instead of throwing it away, you make it into something else.
03:28How much of this stuff do you wear on a day-to-day basis?
03:30She wears a lot of it all the time.
03:32I do.
03:33I always manage to find a little bit of my Wasteland gear to throw into an outfit.
03:37For these ladies, the end of the world didn't end.
03:41I wanted to experience the end of the world for myself.
03:44I'm in Alabama.
03:46I want to party post-apocalyptic style.
03:53Middle of nowhere seems like as good a place as any.
03:56Huh.
03:57Hey, you want to do something fun?
04:11Aftermath is kicking off at a family farm.
04:16Rather than a Mad Max metropolis, this is more like a family reunion at the end of the world.
04:22An unofficial offshoot of Wasteland Weekend, Aftermath was started by friends hoping to live
04:26out the end of days a bit closer to home.
04:29And while it seems more organized than the anarchy I was expecting, the event is drawing
04:34scores of people, some of whom drove 15 hours to be here.
04:39Aftermath is a full immersion event, which means the point is to feel like you're in another
04:44world.
04:45Within post-apocalyptic communities, there are three rules.
04:49No politics, no religion, and you have to dress up.
04:53Enter Larry, the unofficial Aftermath fashion designer.
04:57So you know how to make things, I've heard this term, like, waist-landing things.
05:00Basically what waist-landing is, is when you take a lot of junk and make it wearable and
05:03make it look good.
05:04So the shoulder pads are a hardhat I cut in half, go-kart tires, steel breastplate, chains,
05:11the whole nine yards.
05:11What if I want this umbrella waist-landed?
05:14I can smear paint all over it and make it look appropriately distressed.
05:16Yeah.
05:17Go ahead and open it for me.
05:18All right.
05:20Beat up.
05:21Okay.
05:21I'll tell you what we're going to do.
05:22Just to go ahead and get rid of some things.
05:25This is fine, right?
05:26Okay, like...
05:27I paid $3.99 for this.
05:29Oh man, now I do feel bad.
05:30This will help me survive the nuclear storm.
05:33Oh no, you're hit.
05:34You're done.
05:34I'm done with this?
05:35You're gonna die.
05:39I have my outfit, but in order to fit in at the end of the world, there's one more thing
05:44I need to finish my look.
05:46Makeup.
05:47Sora?
05:48Oh, you're the one.
05:48Hi!
05:50You are the beauty of me.
05:52Do you think you can help me out with this?
05:53I can totally help you out.
05:55All right.
05:55Well, I'm really wanting to tease your hair out and make it kind of big.
05:59It's already a little big, but I can go through here.
06:01Throw some grass and dirt in there.
06:03Grass and dirt?
06:04Yeah, yeah.
06:05So, we'll start with that.
06:07For a gathering based on the apocalypse, an idea that's so rooted in religious lore and
06:12political anxiety, to exclude the two things that the apocalypse is most often connected
06:16with feels incredibly ironic.
06:19But maybe that's part of the draw.
06:23I am, I don't want to say this because I haven't seen everyone here yet, but I might
06:27be the only one of the color here.
06:28Um, why do you think that is?
06:32Well, I feel like a lot of the people that we draw to our community are part of, like,
06:39your local punk rock scene and, um, it's kind of Caucasian too for the most part, I guess.
06:46We certainly don't mean to be that way.
06:48They all are welcome here, seriously.
06:50We would never turn anyone away.
06:52I know from Facebook that not all of Sora's friends at Aftermath share her politics.
06:56Imagining a situation where people with radically opposing viewpoints hang out together is hard
07:01for me, but it's happening here.
07:06Without the constraints of society, this is a safe place to experiment, meet people,
07:11and try something new.
07:13Got to listen to some of the old world tunes to keep us going in these dark days.
07:21So Wastelanding is all about immersing yourself all the way, and part of immersing yourself
07:25all the way, I guess, is camping, something I really, really despise, but in the spirit
07:31of community, I will set up my tent.
07:36Here we go.
07:40What's this thing?
07:45Keeps your brain flat.
07:47The what?
07:53I made a home!
07:54Yeah, I need a drink.
07:57I don't know how I'd fare if the world were to end tomorrow, but these guys seem to have
08:01to figure it out.
08:02The doomsday plan, fast friends, and the best way to escape, a stiff drink.
08:08Even I know that.
08:10Would you like a refill, miss?
08:12Well, I would like something, yeah.
08:13I brought my cup.
08:15It seems like wastelandering happens after the sun goes down.
08:19Like, this is when the good stuff happens.
08:22Yeah, unless you ask Charlie.
08:23He's back there hammering on his anvil, making shit all day.
08:28Can I make a toast?
08:29Bad decisions!
08:30Bad decisions!
08:31Bad decisions!
08:31Bad decisions!
08:33It's easy to be disillusioned by the state of the world, though there's a certain kind
08:38of relief that comes from leaving it behind, and just dancing and drinking with friends
08:42who get you.
08:43Why not celebrate being alive?
08:51After a long night, I'm going to take advantage of my tent.
08:57Good morning.
08:59Kind of.
09:00It's the end of aftermath.
09:02I'm not sure what happens after aftermath.
09:04It's 9.30am, and to my surprise, almost everyone is gone.
09:10I need to get me coffee.
09:12The impending doom that I'm feeling could be that I'm alone, and it's time to pack.
09:17Or, let's be honest, a gnarly hangover from that green stuff I was drinking last night.
09:29Good morning.
09:31How are you doing?
09:32Oh, you know.
09:34I feel great considering.
09:35Your hair's still kind of big.
09:37How does it feel to be going back to pre-apocalypse?
09:41So, we call this, like, the comedown.
09:45It's literally like a comedown, you know?
09:47Because you get high being around all these people that you love all weekend, and then
09:51you've got to go back to the real world.
09:53How are you feeling, Larry?
09:54I don't think any of us want the weekend to end.
09:56What does real life mean to you guys?
09:59What does it look like to you?
10:00From here, boring.
10:02No debauchery.
10:04Sadness.
10:05Delusion.
10:08Post-apocalyptic life.
10:09Is it a utopia or a dystopia?
10:12It's all a matter of opinion, I guess.
10:14It's my utopia.
10:16It might be your dystopia.
10:17Post-apocalyptic events are more than a great party.
10:21They're a lesson in community.
10:23Surviving the end of the world means surviving together.
10:26No one can make it alone.
10:29If these guys are right, when the world ends, value won't be measured in dollars.
10:34Things that are dirty, destroyed, and discarded will find new life and purpose.
10:39And maybe, so can people.
10:41If they're puring out all, they're perfect at all.
10:42OK.
10:55Let's keep moving today.
10:56We'll see you then...
11:05Thanks to you very much today.
11:05It's hard for me to work today.

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