Lasn seems to be talking about many different sub issues to an overarching dilemma: That the consumerist, capitalist, materialist tendencies of "American" culture are unhealthy.
What do you think he means by unhealthy?
Given that he wrote this in 1999, choose at least one point/example of his that you think is relevant to 2009 and explain why. Then choose at least one point/ example which is not accurate/ too generalized/ or irrelevant to 2009 society and of course explain why.
Include examples/ observations from your own lives concerning his theme and indicate whether or not you've been able to observe a change in the past 10 years or not.
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Alyssa Olson
ReplyDeleteResponse #6
Lasn & Consumerism
When Lasn uses the word “unhealthy” I believe he means literally that it is not good towards our health. These systems are unhealthy, mostly for our own mental health, but also for our physical health. Consumerism and capitalism have detached us from nature. This led to our dependence on fast food and processed food, which has led to health issues and obesity. Consumerism and capitalism have made us much busier and greedier than before, where we now have no time for a work out or a walk, we must drive everywhere and have everything brought to us, which perpetuates our physical unhealthiness. Mentally this is unhealthy because it has driven a rise in the mass media, which has flooded our minds with advertisements and messages. Overall Lasn is claiming that the rise of these systems has essentially stripped the human race of what made it human: its attachment to nature.
Of his many points one that is still relevant in 2009 is that of the emulator (102). The emulator is one who buys to try and be someone else. Seeing as it is never really possible to change your identity these people keep buying and buying, never actually feeling satisfied with themselves or with who they are identified as. The emulator is still very prominent in our current culture. We see it every time we walk into the mall or a shopping center. Credit card debt keeps rising, showing that people keep buying, and buying, and buying. Our current fashions are based off shabby chic looks; thrift store-like clothes that don’t match each other and that are worn-out. These items could easily be found at a thrift store for a couple dollars each, yet people go to trendy stores and pay $50 for a flannel shirt, just because it came from that particular store. The emulator is thriving in our current society due to our lack of financial responsibility and our want to be trendy and hip.
One of Lasn’s points that I find not to be relevant in our society is that of the “jolt”(15). The jolt usually occurs while watching TV and there is some interruption in sound or visual. This can come from a loud noise, a commercial, or a change in camera angle. I believe that this is no longer relevant in our society because he have become so accustom to the change. In the past decade we have adapted a new relationship with technology. We now all own cell phones and expect them to tell us what we need to know when we need to know it. We have the invention of TiVo and other programs that record your TV while your gone. We can also fast forward our TV’s so that we don’t have to watch commercials. We have become so numb to this constant change and influx of our lives that I believe we are no longer affected by these “jolts”. I believe that these “jolts” are really just a normal part of our lives and that they are not anymore significant than any other aspect.
Response #6
ReplyDeleteLasn talked about to how we are living in an unrealistic world when the media constantly surrounds us. There is “unreality” when we are always using technology to the point were we are no longer in reality and forget that there is a whole living world outside of it all. According to Lasn, the fact of the matter is we are addicted to the media and we just can’t get enough of it. The second we are away from it, we feel a sort of disconnect with the world when really it is doing just the opposite.
This whole theory of “unreality” reminds me of two different situations that I find myself in almost everyday. One is when I watch TV and I become too engulfed in a show that not only do I lose a sense of time but also I forget about everything else going on in my life or so to speak I forget about reality. Another example is when I am on the Internet. When I am on the Internet, searching through facebook or anything else of that matter, I completely lose track of time and spend an hour doing it without even noticing. And then when I am no longer on the Internet, I am constantly wondering if there is anything I am missing out on and I feel the need to go back on.
In the past ten years, the Internet and technology have only become better and better, so our dependency has definitely increased. Our sense of “unreality” has only gotten worse because new distractions such as facebook and myspace consume our lives. We are addicted, addicted to an unrealistic world. We are more interested in what the media has to offer us and so we gear towards it for entertainment. It is unhealthy because we are becoming more and more dependent on technology and always feel the need especially when we are bored to use it. We shouldn’t have to depend on something that puts us into an unrealistic
Rebecca Tulis
Paul
ReplyDeleteWR 6
I completely agree with Lasn when he talks about our American culture being “unhealthy.” I believe that when he says this, he is saying that it is truly unhealthy for our bodies to be living this way, but I also believe he is saying that it also unhealthy for our planet. Our American culture is all about consuming and being materialistic. Constantly our technology is improving and everyone has to have the next best thing. But as we improve and consume, we are growing further and further away from nature, which is hurting earth as well as ourselves.
Lasn talks about us being part of a cult that we don’t know were in. That we are told what to wear, listen to, do, and think. Not literally, but by our need for brand name materials. All of the advertisements we see everyday consciously and subconsciously, are meant to brainwash us into thinking that what we see is what is cool and what we want. That we will not fit in unless we have these things. Lasn says the only way we can break free of this curse is to think freely. We have to believe what we want to believe, wear what we want to wear, and do what we want to do. Not because advertisements are telling us to do them, or because most “cool” people are doing them. We are never really happy as apart of this cult. Lasn says that the cult promises us “moments of bliss” in order to keep us happy, or at least to make us think were happy. But the cycle never ends. You will get that new pair of Nikes and think your happy, but your not because you are giving in to what everyone wants you to think, and pretty soon you will be buying the next new fad in order to feel happy again.
Lasn also talks about how today our American dream is greater than ever. Everyone is dream the same thing, and that is having the biggest house, the best cars, and the most stuff. It’s about having a lot of cash and spending a lot of cash. We grow away from nature, ourselves, and it’s killing all of us little by little. Our cities are growing, the green in our pockets is growing, but the green outside is not. If we can learn to think for ourselves and be happy naturally and not just “fill the void,” we will save our planet and better yet, save ourselves.
Response_6
ReplyDeleteLasn's take on Consumerist America
Lasn critiques the American culture as being unhealthy in terms of our routines. We spend our time in front of the TV, obsessing over our appearance and body image, eating our way into obesity, identifying ourselves by the car we drive, and throwing out our weight in trash daily. This takes a toll on the environment and us. Advertising can take a negative effect on an individual mentally. They may become over-stimulated by images and messages that they begin to think that they need to “improve”. Lasn uses an analogy to describe the sense of security a prostitute will receive from her pimp (pg 76) to the security we feel by having items that will camouflage us into the societal norm. We begin to blend in as a defense mechanism and our time is spent on improving into what we hope to be perceived as.
Just as this takes a heavy blow to us mentally, it also affects us on a physical level. Our time at the gym is constant, and our need to be thin is ever present (pg 73-74). After making statements about this, Lasn turns around and points out that America is the most obese country in the world (pg 75). I found this to be highly defeating of the point he had previously made. In conclusion, I found that the mixed signals we receive on a daily basis from ads were no different than the mixed messages I was receiving from this book. I asked myself, can we really blame society for breaking under pressure or are we conditioned to just roll it off, and who then is ready to judge our reactions?
I believe that it is necessary to judge in order to make progress, but I find Lasn’s judgment identical to the institution he is so passionate about stopping.
I noticed that between the years of 1999 (when Culture Jam was written) to 2009, little of the issues that Lasn presented have changed. We still focus on cars, appearance, and we have consequently endangered our environments. Post WWII, American society seemed to be at it’s best. However, the dreams that society had hoped for turned into future nightmares. Television had taken over households and people began to be laid off with expanding/merging corporations. The following years and on have altered the way we all function as a whole. This period had not changed. Something that I did not think was relevant as of today was the way Lasn blames big corporations for all the problems stated. He claims that we beg for corporations to do the right thing, to stop cutting forest, and to stop pollution… etc. (pg 71). However, I have seen that companies and corporations have taken paths to improve these things, even if that accounts through labeling and division of sales. Money is put aside to organizations that help the environment. It may not be perfect, but our problems do not just come from one source.
Response #6
ReplyDeleteConsumerism is a practice of one way marketing. Consumers do nothing but buy, any businessman will tell you that this is not an intelligent practice. It is unhealthy because it builds in peoples minds an idea that they must always have 'more' and this belief begins to expand to other areas of life even beyond material possession. People want to have more than others. They want to look better, perform better at work or school, be seen as more intelligent than their peers.
While these desires may be natural the manner in which we pursue them has gotten out of hand. The nature of consumerism makes people live beyond their means. People take out loans to pay for cars and houses that they won't be able to repay. We buy unnecessary items and stockpile them when they are no longer useful or 'new' to us. Businesses take advantage of this and aim to milk consumers for every penny they have got and more. While the nature of capitalism has forced us into a loop of perpetual buying, communism wouldn't be any more successful.
Even though the book was written in the 90s very much of it still applies as the effect of consumerism has only grown since then. His example of slogans and how we are quickly indoctrinated into the control of large corporations. When we are hungry we think "McDonald's" drowsy, we think "Starbucks" etc. That sort of connection is still made today the only things that change are the names of the brands and the slogans that bind us.
I don't believe very much of this has changed, however coming from a developing or 2nd (now 3rd) world country. I was exposed to the beginning stages of this process by which consumerism takes over. In zimbabwe most produce is farmed locally, I know that within 10 miles of my house were multiple farms from which we got most of our basic foods. And at my house we farmed things like cabbage, tomatoes, carrots and mango. However I myself since moving to America have become indoctrinated into the system created by consumerism. If I need food I go for convenience. Any time I'm hungry and don't want to cook (most of the time) I'll simply pick up the phone and call Jimmy Johns to have a sandwich delivered. It tastes fine and does the job. All i need to do is fork over some cash.
It is unfortunate and I am well aware, however in my situation there is not very much I can do to change it. One thing Lasn doesn't seem to mention is the cost of some of these changes one such as myself would need to pay. Money is required to be able to obtain organic produce, and time is needed to be able to cook a dinner and sit down and enjoy it. Not everyone has the time or the money to do so, the change has to come from the Top down.
Kristen Zelenka
ReplyDelete2 November 2009
Response Week 6
Culture Jam
Kalle Lasn’s entire thesis in his book Culture Jam is that our cultures current daily routines and way of life are unhealthy to us physically, mentally, and socially. He explains that our species has developed over the past few thousand years to adapt to the outdoors and all the hard physical work and mental creativity that it entailed. However, today our society is devoid of these challenges and environment that we used to find innate (pg 12). We are one of the first few generations to grow up in a completely digitized and technological world—something, which Lasn believes, is wreaking havoc on our wellbeing.
I think that what he means by “unhealthy” is that we have lost touch with our roots—both in the sense of who we used to be as a people, how we interacted as a group or held ourselves individually, and in the sense of how we lost touch with nature. I agree with him that technology is a dominant force in our lives, however I do not believe it is the end all evil.
A lot of Lasn’s general ideas about technology have held true over the past decade despite the exponential growth in that area. For example, his ideas about how dependent we are brand names and logos. As advertising has become more and more incorporated into our culture, we find ourselves buying brand names and eventually branding ourselves with a type of style. Everything we see now has a logo boldly imprinted on it somewhere and from personal experience I know it can be hard to find something that does not flaunt a brand name. On of the things Lasn said that struck me the most was, “Would an anthropologist, given all of your material possessions, be able to assemble an accurate portrait of your personality? Would that portrait reflect a true original or a ‘type’? “ (40).
However, Lasn was a little off when he predicted the use of the Internet, though I can imagine that it would be a difficult thing to predict given how new it was. When the Internet was first invented, it was also intended to be mainly used for government intelligence databases, to connect researchers around the country and educational purposes. Though, when it was introduced into the public sector, it became extremely commercialized, something that Lasn did not touch on. He did discuss how online chat rooms were replacing face-to-face interactions but he did not predict how commercialized the entire Internet would become.
Since I have grown up in this atmosphere and do not know what it is like not to have computers or cell phones in my life, I do not believe that I can really have an opinion on how much it has changed me. As a child I was always outside and playing sports and I believe that I am still outside quite a bit compared to my peers. However, I know that I do not understand nature and the environment as much as my grandparents do but I think that I appreciate its beauty as much as they do. I am also reliant on the Internet as a main means of communication and for finding information but I do not believe that it is necessarily bad. Information is more accessible today then it used to be.
In the book Culture Jam, Lasn talks about the different roles that play into consumerism. He refers to these roles or tendencies of “American” culture as unhealthy. When describing these aspects of our culture as unhealthy I think he means in general rather than specifically catered to our health. By the term unhealthy I believe Lasn is referring to our need to act without thinking about possible consequences. Everything in our society revolves around what works best and is the easiest solution for right now having no regard for the ways in which we will later be affected. No thought is put into what disasters are being created for generations to come and this speed and carelessness in turn is unhealthy.
ReplyDeleteThis book was written ten years ago, yet most of the examples Lasn uses are still true. One issue Lasn stresses that I believe is extremely relevant to our society today is the idea of our physical appearance and beauty. As advertising became more and more popular so did the influence of the media. We as American’s tend to harshly judge people based on their appearance and beauty. This holds true not only with celebrities but everyday people as well. With magazines like US Weekly and In Touch, our culture is being told judging is okay. These magazines have headlines such as “look at Jessica’s cellulite!” Or “Jenifer lost 40 pounds and is finally looking good.” All of this media attention and advertising focuses provide a context for what Americans now view as beauty and good weights and many other physical aspects. Though most of Lasn’s points are very true to our society some are a little behind time since the book was written ten years ago. The amount of intangible advertising and time spent using technology has gotten much more widespread than he might have expected when writing this. Though he mentions the idea of being in a world of “unreality” completely engaged in the computer and nothing else, he believed that this was a huge deal even though now it happens all the time and is the least of our issues when engaging in technology.
Personally, I believe that the themes he’s trying to get across are very important ones that need to be addressed and clearly have needed to be addressed for years now. When I was little I remember we would only have certain fruits during each part of the year and though I loved blueberries I would only get to eat them for the time they were in season. As I got older they started to become available more often and after time I only wanted blueberries during the real season since the others tasted like plastic to me. I always would complain that I wished I could have blueberries year round but now that I could I didn’t even want them, as they were not the kind of blueberries I loved—they were unnatural.
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ReplyDeleteIn the first chapter of Culture Jam., Kalle Lasn calls the state of our American civilization unhealthy. “When you cut off arterial blood to an organ, the organ dies” (6). This is not only a metaphor for issues we need to fix, the people of our country and the world literally becoming ill from many of the day-to-day activities of a consumerist society. According to the National Institute of Mental Health: 77% of Americans have some sort of mental illness. Our nation’s people are sick, or at least that’s what we want to hear, or what we’re told. America has one of the highest rates of depression in the world, while Americanized countries follow similar trends as mental illnesses increase. We have a suffering caused by an exceeding plenitude of stuff. The cause of the growing symptoms of ADHD could very well be from a lifetime of flashy, eye catching, “jolts,” which bombard our minds every second. Have a look at a commercial for a child’s toy. The first Japanese ad in this series has around 13 frame changes in it’s 14 second run time. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNSg8vUp3RU) And they say we have trouble concentrating? Toys, in general, have see a huge shift from analog to digital, as have most tools we use daily. Perhaps all of these fast moving parts are attributing to our condition; as our brains were meant to see things like plants, animals, and humans...not flashing pictures changing (literally every second).
ReplyDeleteLasn says we are in the midst of an information overload. I think today, 10 years after Lasn wrote this book, we have more means and tools to organize this endless information. Social networking sites, and open sources have helped connect people to people, rather than companies to people, and people to products. Most of these are free services; though they have advertisements on them most of integrated neatly into the interface of the site, thus making interaction between people the center of attention, not the consumption of products. Furthermore the founders of sites like Wikipedia.org, with absolutely no advertisements, have found ways to collectively compile the “sum of all human knowledge” into a convenient location without any deformation from advertisers or consumerist-idealists, keeping the useful separated from the subliminal.
Lasn talks about our American culture being “unhealthy” and I agree with him. I believe that Lasn feels that the consumerism of America is not only unhealthy for our bodies but also unhealthy for our environment. Our culture of consuming material goods harms our environment through ever more prevalent and quicker use of our resources. The planned obsolescence of many designed consumer objects in particular is harmful. Part of our American culture is constantly moving forward and innovating, while innovation is in itself not necessarily a harmful action, it by design renders the object, machine or process that preceded it obsolete. Lasn talks at length about being part of a cult which we are not aware we are in. A cult in which we are told what to do, what to wear, where to go, what to think, etc. This is of course not a literal command but through advertising and branding and the social need for these brands. Lasn contends that all of the advertisements we see both consciously and sub consciously are tools meant to brainwash American consumers into buying certain products. He states that they manipulate what is cool and what we want; socially we may not fit in with out these products. Lasn says that the only way to break free of the consumerist cult is to think freely and make your own decisions. Wear what you want, do what you want, listen to what you want, be who you want, etc. Do things not because advertisements are telling you to do so, but because you want to do them.
ReplyDeleteIn the 10 years since this book was published I would say that the problems that Lasn lamented about have really only evolved into larger issues. We still consume veraciously, still buy the hot new Apple item (or at least covet the newest shiny aluminum bit), and still pick convenience over patience. I think it would be interesting to get Lasn’s take on what the Internet has morphed into. It is such a part of our lives that Microsoft Word even informed me that the word ‘internet’ is actually capitalized, like it’s a real place that you could physically visit. I personally don’t mind being connected to my peers and friends almost all the time, I feel that I have better relationships with other people that I may not see face to face often because of the Internet, mainly Facebook.
I said that it would be interesting to get Lasn’s take on the Internet now in 2009, but I really think I could predict his response. It’s simply another way to get us to buy things, except instead of print and television ads, a company sponsors videos on Hulu that its target demographic has been shown to largely watch. Like Gladware sponsoring Top Chef for example. I imagine he could lament this at length, good luck to him. If he couldn’t get people to stop buying, much less buying less, he would have little chance of convincing people to give up the Internet. Sometimes people are ok with the cult of consumerism, I think most people are very much aware of the role advertising plays and Lasn treats Americans like fat dumb robots. I think this is where his status as a foreigner hurts him and his message, he is to easily simply written off as a know-it all foreigner who believes that America is all that is wrong with the world. I know that is how his book struck me, perhaps I am just to far into the cult to really listen to him.