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The Portlandia sketch "Put A Bird On It," starring Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen as two artists whose idea of great design is slapping a picture of a bird on everything, clearly hit close to home. At Slate, writer Erin Keane admits that the sketch was so accurate that she went through her own closet, realizing that she could no longer wear or carry items with birds on them for fear of not being in on the joke. Wait, so did Portlandia help make someone less twee?
Like any great work of satire should, Portlandia skewered hipster culture in a funny yet painfully accurate way. As a Brooklyn resident, "The Dream of the '90s Is Alive in Portland" hit so close to home that I had to email the link to everyone I knew as a way of explaining why I both love and hate my neighborhood. Frankly, if a show on a little-watched network (Portlandia aired on IFC) can have a legitimate cultural impact and change the way that people buy and consume goods, that would be the show's ultimate legacy.
· Put a Bird on It: The Aftermath [Slate]