In the section “Spring” Lasn provides an alternative to “living in the mediacy,” showing that there is a revolutionary legacy from which contemporary culture jammers, Situationalists, Meme Warriors, and other dissident groups have drawn both strength and example. The driving force to live as not the “object but as the subject of the story” may seem counteractive, ridiculous, and even hypocritical to some of you. To others these spontaneous acts of defiance represent courageous, righteous, and necessary mentality.
1) Present me with two examples of these authentic acts: one that you agree with, support, or could even imagine taking part in; another that you oppose, that doesn’t seem worth it to you, or are even offended by. Present each of these, referencing the page or section that discusses it, and give a thorough explanation of your choices. Support your arguments (your feelings) with evidence, (past examples from Lasn, or any other material from lecture, Diamond, Leopold, discussion, or your own lives).
2) Is there an authentic act you could imagine taking part of? What context/ issue/ conditions would you agree to and, more importantly, what outcome would you be aiming for?
3) Finally discuss briefly the need (if any) for defiant/ revolutionary/ protesting forces in society (whether or not it is you personally rebelling). What does these whistle blowers accomplish? Do we think more critically because of them? Do they contribute to our ‘education’? (Informing people of the ecological footprint of their consumer habits). Do they achieve justice? (uncovering or bringing to justice wrongs of the government, corporations, or other powerful entities)?
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Alyssa Olson
ReplyDeleteResponse #9
From page 113 the act that I cannot agree with is that of being “cool”. The book is dead on when they exclaim that to be “cool” now in our society that you must not be unique, yet be carbon copies of all of your friends. I agree with this statement and believe that the average person follows whatever current fashion trends or what their favorite celebrities wear instead of wearing what they like or what they are comfortable in. Corporations have us trained to want what everyone else has. I personally cannot agree with this for many reasons. First because of the wastefulness that this instills within us. When we have to keep up with trends we are constantly buying new things and throwing away the old. This only adds to the environmental and financial problems of our society. Second I enjoy sticking out in a crowd. I do not want to look like anyone else but myself and if only everyone thought this then there would be no judgments and hatred towards people based on their looks. Lastly this idea of being “cool” perpetuates the loss of identity. As I have mentioned before most people believe they are what they wear, drive, and do for a living, instead of believing that their identity is based off of intangible items, such as personality, humor, and opinions.
The act that I agree with and can see myself participating in would be that from page 101 about the Situationists. When the book was referencing Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols is when I felt that this is the kind of movement that I could get involved in. The Situationists spoke of the “spectacle” of modern times. This referred to how everything that used to be about daily life has been turned into such a huge thing. One example they used was that of the art gallery. An artist is going to make art regardless if there is an art gallery to display the work in, so why must these things exist, let alone hold such presence? The Situationists brought up these question and others years before the mass media had such a strong hold on our society which is a large reason why I agree a lot with these ideas.
I could participate in any of the Situationist actions. The context, which it would be under, would be that it would have to do with a large part of the media. I would not want to participate in anything that would be too extreme or would push the boundaries too much. I think this because I know that the media is always going to be present in my life, so I would rather take on the large issues of it rather than try and eliminate it because that is very unlikely to happen.
It is very necessary to have defiant and revolutionary forces in our society so that life does not become too mundane. Also when these forces happen it helps inform others of more and different views, which is good to allow for an educated society. As the people these acts really are the only way we have inform the government or media of our views on their practices. Without these defiant acts we would have no voice.
Rebecca Tulis- Response #9
ReplyDeleteOn page 124, Lasn talks about how people can build their own meme factories in which they “put out a better product and beat the corporations at their own game.” I found this to be very interesting because of how effective it can be with getting the word out into the world. For instance, If a were to see an ad for a product that seems rather comical and then were to see an ad that was anti the product and it was a lot funnier, I would pay more attention to the anti one. The fact of the matter is as artists, we have the ability to beat out these corporations and create something more intriguing. I could see myself partaking in “building our own meme factories” because I truly believe it can make a difference push people to really think.
One authentic act I do not agree with is cyberjamming (page 132). My reason being is that cyberjamming isn’t as persuasive as it could be because people don’t so much pay attention to the messages on their computers as they do in their environments. The messages we are presented with everyday can be easily dismissed online. In order for something to get through to us, it has to be shoved in our face and not easily avoidable. Another reason why the Internet can be ineffective is because of the overload of information it has, some true and some not. Who knows whether or not the information people read online is totally true and for that reason the Internet is not the best place to inform others.
I see myself partaking in any authentic acts that I know can have an effect on people. Acts liking beating out corporations have the ability to do this while cyberjamming may not be so effective. I’m not one to take part in protests or riots but I believe in anything that simply requires me to inform the world. We don’t need to directly confront these corporations rather we should fight them by communicating the truth to the public. Informing the world is extremely important because makes people think and reconsider how they are living their lives. For instance, how would anyone know of ways to protect the environment if it wasn’t for the jammers who put the information out there? When we need to start making changes in our lives, these authentic acts give us a direction and a way to make that change for the better.
Lasn, Kalle. Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America. New York: Eagle Brook, 1999
One authentic act that I support is the ability to use the opposing system’s medium as your own to put messages out for your own side. He obviously uses this tactic in Adbusters. Although I have some issues with the points in the book, I do believe that the way the uncommercials are integrated into our everyday system is effective. On page 124, he defines a meme as “Media Carta.” It basically says that every human being has the right to communicate their information through any media that they want (or have access to). I believe in this point strongly. Recently there was issue with the Fairness doctrine attempting to be passed as law for another time. I strongly disagree with the regulations on certain media, unless it is completely offensive and vulgar. This mainly dealt with talk radio. The Fairness doctrine had strong ties to the Equal-time rule where the candidate or opposing party was suppose to be brought into speak on such radio shows. Even though the intention of the latter seems like a good idea, it is still limiting the freedom of speech for the host (unless of course, they are willing to have a opposing member on the show.)
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with the passive aggressive acts that Lasn promotes, such as the jamming of the store cart in the introduction. In the following section (summer) he even resorts to attacking telemarketer and interrogating them about their jobs. I feel this is an unnecessary take of action. The thought that conjures up in my mind is that of the difficult customer that everyone dreads; the one that holds up store lines for an hour because the item they wanted is out of stock, or throws the fast food sandwich at the employee because the grill team made it wrong. I may be thinking stereotypically but those kinds of people never do any good than offending the individual they take their anger out against on a personal level. It does not change the corporation’s ways.
If I could take part in an act, it would be to protest the building of a Meijer in my hometown. They are in the process of tearing out the wooded area on Telegraph. My main concern and frustration comes from the abandoned Kmart building that has been vacant since I was 7. There is no reason that they can’t expand that area if it’s too “small” for them. The section of land has been used for nothing since Kmart went bankrupt and it’s covered in vandilization and overgrowth. I would petition and take it to city hall or someone who would listen.
I’m not sure what it is about this book that makes me dislike it. I have a hard time taking Lasn seriously for some reason and I will be happy to be done with this book. I know Lasn is passionate and is trying to ‘save’ the earth and ‘save’ us from ourselves, but still for some reason I’m not totally sure of why I feel aggravated when I read Culture Jam. It’s interesting to me because I do not feel as if I am “living in the mediacy”, and I feel as if I am an individual who does not bend easily to trends. But on the flip side, I do feel the need to be accepted by my peers, which I would assume that most people feel, even Lasn, but is my need to be accepted based on consumerist culture? I do not know, certainly there are parts of my life where I buy into a brand. I do it everyday at the bike shop where I work. The brands we sell are fine bicycles, but sometime there is sometime, honestly, little difference between a bicycle we sell and a bicycle a competitor across town sells. When I am selling a bicycle however, my job is to convince the customer that this bike before them is better than the competitors. Is this falling to consumerist culture is or is simply pointing out the benefits of a certain bicycle without pointing out that the competition has very similar points?
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, I agree on most points with Lasn. We are killing our environment, and by and large, we do follow the trends, we do the mass marketed mass produced lifestyle. What I think is the issue for me, is that damn it, we are America. There is something to me about being American that lets you live life as you see fit, so hey it you want to look like the latest celebrity, do all your shopping at the mall, get your ideas from one ideologue and live in a McMansion, well you can. You live in America, where you can do what you want to. If you want to live in a commune, not shower and make experimental films, well you can do that to. There is nothing stopping you except your own views on who you are.
Now the actual assigned response,
I found interesting the (brief) section in Spring on “No Corporate ‘I” (page 124) and the “Media Carta”. Corporations being defined as legal persons with rights and freedoms is ridiculous and gets me upset that they have the same rights as individuals do with a budget a billion times larger. Also, every person should be able to communicate. Personally, I find the Internet to be the savior here. Old media (newspapers, television) is dying in its current format. Here lies a chance for regular people to communicate. I agree with the meme wars in this respect, marketing is amazing powerful and humans are often open to suggestion. Here much advancement can be made.
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ReplyDelete“Demarketing” and “the Doomsday Meme” (both on page 124 as well) however seem utterly useless and contradictory to the culture jammers other metamemes outlined in this book. For demarketing Lasn states “The marketing enterprise has now come full circle. The time has come to un-sell the product and turn the incredible power of marketing against itself.” This leads directly into the doomsday meme of “The global economy is a doomsday machine that must be stopped and reprogrammed.” I find these aims to be outlandish and a slight waste of time. End the global economy? Seriously? Not going to happen because of an ad campaign (which it seems all that Lasn knows how to do). Also, how do you stop the global economy through marketing if you also aim to destroy marketing through demarketing?
If I was to ever take part in what someone else has decided is a “real” act, I would go into it very realistic of the outcomes. You’re not going to take down Nike with a protest and an ad campaign. Perhaps I’m a pessimist, but I like Nike’s chances. There will always be the need for revolutionaries. They force a culture to look at itself and think more critically if done right. However, I think the defiant/punk type of revolutionaries achieve little but a more pessimistic society. On page 129, Lasn says he is going leave packaging at the store or complain about long wait times at the bank. To me, I see a difficult individual. He is trying to get me to think, but I simply end of writing him off as some crazy who gets off on being difficult. Being a jerk is different than being a revolutionary.
Kristen Zelenka
ReplyDeleteWorld Changing Response #9
Culture Jam by Kalle Lasn
One authentic act that I do not agree with is taking out your anger for the company by yelling at their telemarketers. Yes, I agree that you should ask for your number to be taken off the list and if that doesn’t happen ask to speak to a manager about it but do not yell at the person whose job it is to call you. They don’t really want to call you and most likely that is the only job they could currently find to pay the bills they need to. If you have an issue with the company take a more respectable approach and start higher on the chain otherwise, besides getting your number off the call list, you are relatively ineffective.
One act that I do agree with and marginally participate in is uncooling fast food. Food is something that is very personal to us, however, “the average pound of food in America travels 1,300 mils before it reaches a kitchen table” (174). I agree with Frances M. Lappe when he states, “Every decision we make about food is a vote for the kind of world we want to live in” (172). I am a pescaterian and I have also cut out almost all of my fast-food consumption. I believe that they do hurt local restaurants and serve as greasy non-nutritional supplements for what we should really be eating. I also agree with Lasn when he says that we need to reframe the context of what we are protesting against, however I do not think it is unique to culture jamming but rather a debating and mediating tool generally. It makes sense to frame opposition to fast food as having more of a concern about what is going on and have ideas for possible solutions instead of the attitude of pissed off and angry with no further direction. This approach can be carried on with any dispute because it takes the spotlight off of the protesters and refocuses it upon what is being protested against to supply justifications.
As artists we have a huge impact on people by manipulating what they see which can effect people’s thought processes. Exposing people to the truth of a company or getting to the heart of a problem that everybody else dances around is something that we, as creative thinkers, should do. It is also something that many people have been doing; just more needs to be done. Local food markets and shops need help advertising themselves to be seen above their national chain competitor. If anything were to be done, it needs to be articulate and well planned.
Lasn, Kalle. Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America. New York: Eagle Brook, 1999
An example of an authentic act that Lasn provides in this book is the section in which he talks about how to not be unique and truly individual is considered cool on page 113. I could see myself participating in this unconsciously and unknowingly because of the media and today’s fads that the media and people around us are supporting. For instance, I found that in my own observation, a group of friends all tended to have something in common such as in the way they dress, the way they acted, and etc. Each person in that group of friends, especially the “popular group” in high school, did not seem to possess any individual, unique quality to them, but just copies of each other and the celebrities that are supporting the fads in our media. I, myself, like being an unique individual, but unconsciously, I can see myself being swept up by the different influences because I think I too want a sense of change in my life once in a while, even if it does mean wasting materials and resources by throwing out constant items.
ReplyDeleteAn act that I do not agree with is the section in which Lasn talks about corporations on page 124, in which corporations are represented as a person with legal rights. I strongly do not agree with this because this will enable corporations to have the same rights that individuals have and also enable them to continue to pollute the environment with their production. For instance, recently, there was a coal-fired power plant in Philadelphia that polluted the water system after it tried to limit it gas emissions into the air using water chemicals to trap the emissions in the cylinders. However, the result of the polluting of the water systems and as people in that area tried to gain legal action against this corporation, they were not able to due to the influence and rights that the corporations had with political institutions (mainly because of the mass amount of money that they donated).
I had already stated an act that I could imagine myself taking part in such as following the current fads to be, I guess, considered “cool.” However, for me it is not to be part of the “in” crowd, or being “cool” that is the reason I can see myself taking part of this act but because of my interest and liking of the current fads. I personally do not try to purposely follow the media in terms of identifying myself as “cool” but rather by what I like and want, which then I can transform into my own personal identity. Therefore, that is the outcome that I would aim for.
Finally for the last part, I believe that we should protest the amount of rights a corporation is allowed to have in our society. Due to their influence in political social institutions such as the government as a result of the budget that they have, I do not think that the government and those people who are being corrupted by the corporations really care about the consequences of the affects of mass production, and the pollution of the environment around them. I think this is because they feel that it does not affect them directly, and when it does, that is when they will start taking action, which might be too late and affect future generations or in other words intergenerational tyranny.