#8

Culture Jam:

1. I absolutely loved a quote at the beginning of the reading, “Eating is a complex act. It’s loaded with moral, psychological, social, and sexual freight…Food is sin. It’s guilt. It’s joy. We overeat, then we undereat.” (p. 79). I began to think about all the negative ideas and images surrounding food in the United States, it is odd that something that should be considered so amazing has become disgusting for the majority of our country. Lasn goes on to say, “We’ve lost the sacred joy of the feast.” To begin with we are fat, over thirty percent of Americans are obese, the highest rates of any country by far. Our food is often processed, loaded with chemicals and fat, and lacking significant nutritional value.
Overeating is a serious crisis in our country and leads to huge health problems, and while not nearly equal in magnitude under eating is also a problem seen throughout the U.S. Americans are estimated to have the highest rate of eating disorders of any country. As we can see Americans clearly are dealing with many social, emotional and psychological issues around food.
It seems that Americans rarely think of the moral issues surrounding the foods they consume. For example consuming produce grown using pesticides. It is clear from sales that most American citizens do not consider themselves to have a moral responsibility to the earth. Another large moral question surrounding food is whether it is ok to eat meat. Americans eat the most meat per capita of any country. This meat-based diet is contributing to huge amounts of environmental degradation, human hunger and suffering, and of course animal cruelty.
2. “Everything human beings once experienced directly has been turned into a show put on by someone else. Real living had been replaced by prepackaged experiences and media-created events” (p. 101). This quote scares me, partially because it is so true already and because it seems we are headed in this direction faster than ever. People spend obscene amounts of time in front of the screen. It seems we are forgetting how to live in the real world and are increasingly trying to mimic the actions of those on the screen.
“One of the juiciest human target groups is…the ‘emulator.’ Emulators look for products that make them feel like somebody else-someone more important. Since no product can help you fully escape your old identity frustration mounts…” (p. 102). After reading this I began to wonder, why is our country so full of “emulators?” Although I have no knowledge of the subject I came up with a few ideas while considering it. Many people are putting huge amounts of pressure on themselves and their families to be “perfect,” or at least this strange media idea of it. Is it possible that we are always trying to be somebody else because we are not meeting these ideas of perfect? Why is it that so many of us are trying to escape ourselves? I think if people really looked at themselves and figured out what aspects they were trying to escape and why, they could also learn who they are. Rather than continuing to try to escape themselves and become someone else they could finally become who they really are.
3. I found the section on “cool” very interesting. The section starts with the author saying how cool used to be the person who was an individual, nowadays marketers have changed the idea of cool, it is those who are all alike, “that bear the unmistakable stamp of American” who are cool, and not the individual. It is sad that we have made so many people feel that they can only be “cool” if they look and act a certain way.
What is even sadder is that (in my opinion anyway) this idea of cool that dominates our society is NOT COOL. Girls are encouraged to be beautiful above all, we are not encouraged to be nice, or smart or opinionated in any way. Men are often shown that cool is aggressive, loud, and unemotional. “Legitimately cool people instinctively understand that the psychology of subservience-getting corporately seduced-is a chicken-ass way to live.” (p. 114).
4. In the section “We’re Not Academic” the author criticizes “Most academics just ramble. Far too few raise a fist or a voice.” (p. 117). I both agree and disagree with the author here. We certainly cannot underestimate the value of our own consciousness on issues as well as raising awareness in others. Professors should help us understand the various issues and points of view, not tell us exactly what to think or how to act. However, as a student I often find myself frustrated with all the information I am given but I am rarely awarded an answer. We learn about so many things that are wrong but never told how to change them or even pointed in the direction of action.

My question is how can our country change? Is it possible to reverse what has already been done? And if so, how do we begin?


The Corporation:
Everything about this movie is disturbing, fascinating, and truly frightening. Many people are unaware that a corporation has the same legal rights as a person. It was interesting to see how precisely many corporations fit the definition of a psychopath. The movie informed us that corporations are legally obligated to try to make money for their investors. We all know that most corporations are selfish, but this shows that they are literally legally required to be selfish.
One thing that was really interesting to me was the idea that while a company may be doing terrible things and considered evil, those who work for it are not necessarily on the same side. While it is counterintuitive to think someone would work for what they are against it actually makes perfect sense. Corporations hold enormous power, and effect things on a large scale. Therefore by working for this corporation if employees, specifically high up employees can influence small areas of policy it can have an enormous effect. We cannot get rid of corporations so we must work to change them for the better.