| Subject: Re: Interesting view on commodities |
Author:
Dustin
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Date Posted: 13:19:48 11/10/02 Sun
In reply to:
Matt
's message, "Interesting view on commodities" on 11:47:26 11/07/02 Thu
Matt and company,
Disclaimer: the following is more a meditation than anything.
I think this journal entry, apart from being a very astute observation to come out of composition journal, is indeed very relevant to some of the concepts we've been engaged with. (Of course, there always remains, atleast in my mind, this moment of hesitation in which I ask myself: am I about to try to FIND theory in this student's journal entry? is the student merely corroborating existing theory? (certainly not) were it not for the theory class I'm currently taking, would that student's entry have been so profoundly provocative?)
That said, I find WHAT APPEARS TO ME TO BE her self-affirmation through the ability to purchase to be remarkable: "In other words, I did not want to lost the ability to buy it [the DVD]."
Indeed, with Attali and others, we talked extensively about what an economy of representation and repetition can do: help to create a sense of individuality, even if a false one (anybody who's anybody has this or that DVD). In other words, the student need not get embroiled in the latest tour of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on Ice over at the Bryce-Jordan Center, along with anybody who's anybody, to have access to its magic. She can watch the DVD. But, she can only do so until she "loses the ability to buy it."
But then there is always our good friend, the reductio of consumption, in which one proves his manhood by pointing to the small size of his opponent's, um, DVD collection. (Recall Chris and Professor Youngquist's c.d. collections and hypothetical brawls outside E.E. West...)
Dustin
>Here is a paragraph from one of my student's journal
>entries. I thought it was an interesting take on the
>power of the commodity and, of course, advertising.
>I'm not sure what to do with this from here or where
>to go, but maybe some one else will be able to relate
>this to theory in some way. I suppose it can
>definitely relate to _Noise_ in that she talks about
>stockpiling commodities just in case she wants them in
>the future. Anyway, here it is:
snip, snip
Another reason why I wanted
>to buy it was that the commercial made it sound like
>it was only going to be around for a limited time. If
>I didn't buy it now, I might never have the chance too
>since they will 'lock it up in the Disney vault.'
>They built up scarcity, or at least they made it sound
>like there was scarcity, with the hope to increase
>demand. This worked for me; better to have the movie
>and not watch it then to not have it and want it
>later. In other words, I did not want to lose the
>ability to buy it. One more aspect as to why I wanted
>to buy this DVD was the repetition. The commercial
>was played repeatedly throughout a show I was
>watching. Even though I hated the movie, I still
>considered buying it because of these aspects of the
>advertisement."
>
>PS. She ended up resisting the urge to buy it and thus
>escaped mastication in the foul jaws of capitalism.
>(Or something like that . . .)
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