Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Rachel Cox <rachel AT hesketh.com>]

At 05:08 PM 4/25/00 -0400, David Demers wrote:
[snip]
>ecko clothing line has a deal with porn producing company vivid for their
>porn stars to wear ecko gear before they get busy.

Well, that's pretty standard unless I'm missing something. Often
when you see a recognizable brand in the media, whether it's on
a porn flick or a soap opera or Buffy The Vampire Slayer, isn't it
due to a deal between the producer of the media and the producer of
the item?

>the point is that more
>and more, very little will remain off-limits to advertisers. personally, i
>think we often time prostitute ourselves to corporate culture at the
>expense of our own individuality,

Heh. "I'm a Pepper, he's a Pepper, she's a Pepper, we're a Pepper,
wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?" Of course we do. That's
what the ad agencies and marketing firms get paid the big bucks
for. That's why MTV is on the air. That's why no one was talking
about the *other* "Message Of Columbine" during the recent spate
of anniversary newsmag coverage. Near as I can figure, capitalism
depends heavily on our willingness to prostitute ourselves to
corporate culture at the expense of our individuality, if I
understand what you mean by that. It commodifies everything that
threatens it: it grabs it, waters it down, makes it safe for the
masses, packages it, and sells it back to us at a very tidy profit.
And the way it sells it back to us is by playing on our conflicting
desire to be unique and to fit in. They can take something that's
avante garde or belongs to a subculture that mainstream America
is either unfamiliar with or a little afraid of, and can re-
package it in such a way that we can feel both daring and
safe when we buy it - take the leather gear that goes in and
out of fashion. It's edgy, sure, but because it's also being
seen on the New York runways, it's acceptable. Or music - there
are more examples in popular culture than you can shake a stick
at. Does anyone remember the *original* Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles?

On the other hand, to play devil's advocate to my own rant, an
argument could be made that the avant garde couldn't exist if
things were otherwise. It needs boundaries to push against; it
needs for what was once experimental and bleeding edge to become
commonplace and even trite, partly to give it something to react
against or overcome or move beyond or grow from, and partly
because we see things in contrast to each other. There could be
no avante garde if everything were avante garde. There's no light
without dark, no day without night, no joy without sorrow, no
good without evil. No fresh and new without old and stale.
Without the contrast, many things become something else. Or
become nothing at all.

> giving up power over our own destinies to
>those who use money to monitor and control our habits.

But once we've noticed the ludicrousness of an individuality
predicated on being just like everybody else, we can decide
which pieces of consumer culture we want to buy into or have
fun with, and which pieces we want to try to armor ourselves
against or change.

Cheers!
-Rachel
_____________________________________________________________________
tired of being an underappreciated functionary in a soulless machine?
          hesketh.com is hiring:  http://hesketh.com/careers/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
    Rachel Cox | voice: 919.834.2552 x16 | http://www.hesketh.com