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Amazingly, I was able to find our little hero scribbling some notes of his own at Rio Rita on a warm December afternoon. After buying a few beers, our reluctant hero opened up for a quick interview:
SV: So with the publication of the Really White Vigilante comic book, how has your notoriety changed you?
RWV: Well, people seem to know who I am now, and that's a bit disconcerting. I've always enjoyed being a bit outside the limelight, but now some people see me and try to get me worked up about things. I'm happy the book put gentrification and the problems East Austin is facing in the spotlight a bit, but I never thought strangers would know who I am.
SV: How has the changes in East Austin affected you personally? Do you still get upset seeing each new loft project being built?
RWV: Well, I just think its sad. It seems there's a new loft project being built every week, and the crowds at bars on the East Side are getting worse and worse. Soon, they'll be a Starbucks somewhere on the East Side and that'll kill me. I was at a party on the East Side just last week that was filled to the brim with hipsters. Kids were outside the
bathroom lined up in twos like it was Noah's Ark, but all they wanted to do was some coke. I just think its sad there are so many people moving into the neighborhood who use it as their personal playground. So yeah, it's getting rough, you can definitely see the changes taking place and sometimes the wait for a beer is way longer than what it was.
SV: What is your current relationship with Dos Equis?
RWV: I really don't want to go into that right now, but we are talking, and she is a great girl.
SV: How do you react to all the hipsters who are now ubiquitous on the East Side?
RWV: Well, there's just an overriding blandness to them all. They seem really boring - they all look alike, think alike, and talk alike. There are a few that stick out though - I ran into my new favorite while drinking downtown with a friend last weekend. He dresses like a Hassidic Jew, with a full thick beard complete with a yamika. God Bless Him!!! I mean, he probably spent weeks trying to figure out the most obscure identity he
could co-opt and he came up with that. He walked into the bar with his parents, who were not Jewish and seemed upper middle class. Just another trust fund kid who is trying way too hard.
SV: At the end of the comic book, you walk away from your superhero identity, are you planning on ever making a comeback?
RWV: Well, I can't really talk about that either. Let's just say my mask and costume is kept in a nice, secure place, and brings back some fond memories.
SV: Have you made any new friends or enemies because of the book?
RWV: Lots of folks have come up to me and told me the book really mirrors what they're going through, and that's been flattering. But I've also heard lots of rumors of some people being upset. I don't think the guy who wheatpasted 'Stop Gentrifying East Austin' all over town is too happy with the book. Surely, there were plenty of targets, so I'm sure somebody is upset with me, but I haven't received any hate mail yet. A few weeks ago I was riding my bike, stopped at an intersection, when a Mexican drove past me and flipped me
off with an angry look on his face. I just smiled, waved, and yelled, "It's not me you should be angry at!"
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