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Carrie Brownstein’s Fans Are a House Divided

Carrie Brownstein, an admired woman.
Carrie Brownstein, an admired woman. Photo: Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images

There is a rivalry amongst the fans of multitalented person Carrie Brownstein, a fight that has pitted discerning indie-music connoisseurs against brain-dead TV-watching couch potatoes.

Brownstein says she sees “one-upmanship” between Sleater-Kinney fans, who were really into her old stuff, and the Johnny-come-lately Portlandia fans, who have never even heard of Sleater-Kinney probably, and even if they have heard of it, they probably wouldn’t get it, anyway. A recent scene, in Brownstein’s words:

I was sitting in a ­restaurant, and this guy comes up to me: ‘Me and my wife love Portlandia. Can we get a picture?’ Then this couple sitting next to me turned and said — as if they were admonishing the other guy — ‘We heard your new record. We love Sleater-Kinney.’ There was this sense of one-upmanship, which only exists in music. No one in TV is like, ‘I’m going to tell you about the most obscure show.’ 

Can we just agree everyone liked everyone before anyone was cool and enjoy nice restaurant meals in quiet, restful, snobby peace?

Carrie Brownstein’s Fans Are a House Divided