Now this is something I have not given much thought to lately. Self expression through dress and the mass marketing of cultural icons. Sounds like a term paper. That is why I like reading your LJs, Shawna. In fact, I think I write more in your comments section than in my own LJ - ha!
I completely agree with those who said that our sub-cultural icons/images/etc have been used to market everything from clothing to lunch boxes to TV shows. Everything old is new again. Remember when 'Interview with the Vampire' came out and people started wearing 18th century frock coats with frilly shirts and press on teeth? Or when the 'The Matrix' movies first came out and suddenly everyone wanted long nehru style coats and dark glasses? Hell, even LoTR costumes showed up briefly on the runway in Paris from certain designers.
Part of the problem, if it can be called a problem, is that our society is intimately tied to marketing. We are a product of advertising. Think about it. When you watch TV you get swamped with commercials. When you attend a sports event there is advertising on the uniforms, the scoreboards, etc. Go to the theatre and buy a program and guess what is on the back pages - ads. You go to buy a soda and the machine might talk to you or flash some bit of advertising across a little LED screen. We get spam over the net. We get telemarketers calling. We still get junk mail. And it is all advertising something so that we will BUY it.
That is what it boils down to. Consumerism. Money. Make it and spend it. Is that a problem? We here would say yes, I think. However, we here must also face up to the fact that this is what our society has become. It is why other countries look upon "Americans" as naive and superficial. They can see the pressure-cooker we live in and how artificial it is. Most people in the US cannot see that. They live their comfortable lives and have little interest outside the US and Hollywood. They are not aware of how pervasive marketing and advertising has become. That said, I still like living here, warts and all.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2004-04-27 02:57 pm (UTC)I completely agree with those who said that our sub-cultural icons/images/etc have been used to market everything from clothing to lunch boxes to TV shows. Everything old is new again. Remember when 'Interview with the Vampire' came out and people started wearing 18th century frock coats with frilly shirts and press on teeth? Or when the 'The Matrix' movies first came out and suddenly everyone wanted long nehru style coats and dark glasses? Hell, even LoTR costumes showed up briefly on the runway in Paris from certain designers.
Part of the problem, if it can be called a problem, is that our society is intimately tied to marketing. We are a product of advertising. Think about it. When you watch TV you get swamped with commercials. When you attend a sports event there is advertising on the uniforms, the scoreboards, etc. Go to the theatre and buy a program and guess what is on the back pages - ads. You go to buy a soda and the machine might talk to you or flash some bit of advertising across a little LED screen. We get spam over the net. We get telemarketers calling. We still get junk mail. And it is all advertising something so that we will BUY it.
That is what it boils down to. Consumerism. Money. Make it and spend it. Is that a problem? We here would say yes, I think. However, we here must also face up to the fact that this is what our society has become. It is why other countries look upon "Americans" as naive and superficial. They can see the pressure-cooker we live in and how artificial it is. Most people in the US cannot see that. They live their comfortable lives and have little interest outside the US and Hollywood. They are not aware of how pervasive marketing and advertising has become. That said, I still like living here, warts and all.