Ah, Merchants of Cool. I battled revulsion on several fronts while viewing this documentary.
Revulsion one: The disingenuousness of Dee Dee Gordon and to a (only slightly) lesser extent, Jimmy Iovine while they justified their careers. But I felt very vindicated and relived when I read the teen transcript. They quoted my thoughts which smelt down to this: Just admit you do this because it pays a lot of money!
Then, go ahead and prattle on about Dylan and Lennon and how Eminem is just a continuation of their legacy. I would actually be in a more receptive frame of mind to their insights once this very real fact was aired and addressed. Please don't hide behind phony pragmatism. It just makes you look like a clueless a**hole, instead of just a garden-variety corporate tool a**hole.
Revulsion Two: I hated seeing how other Americans place their priorities --choosing to spend their precious time on such ultimately useless pursuits as screaming in the streets while snotlicking drunk or making sure they have on the right outfit and makeup before stepping outside. I'm not saying we should be spending every weekend on a habitat for humanity project, but clearly, many of the young folks filmed in MOC spend most of their time and efforts on activities that don't support the positive development of their character.
This to me was the most insidious revelation about MOC. Everyone knows teens are so vulnerable--playing up on their fears about beauty or sexual attractiveness--just so you can sell sneakers and carbonated corn syrup. To Todd Cunningham of MTV I ask, Sir, have you no sense of decency, at long last?
I once read some musing by Jack Keroac--can't recall the title it came from, but the general idea has stayed with me. It's another example of the feedback loop Rushkoff identified in MOC. To paraphrase, he wrote about laying in bed one morning, hearing all these other people rushing off to their jobs, so they could get money to buy more doodads.
It's our love of possessions, and doodadery that's crippling our society right now. We have what me and an old friend long ago identified as "poverty of the soul". Many Americans seem convinced that they need a lot more money than they actually do. Most paychecks are allocated to buying more crap. More. Useless. Crap.
If I end up working in a High School library, I truly hope I can offer Adbusters to the periodicals collection. Because after watching MOC one is left with a "well, what now?" frame of mind. Is this acceptable, to allow big companies to dictate teenage behavior --encouraging that behavior to constantly be acting out its basest desires? Reading Adbusters will allow teens to truly deconstruct the intricate maze marketers have created and perhaps get themselves extricated from the feedback loop that currently has many of them entwined.
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Here's what I wonder. How much is manipulation without teen knowledge and how much of it is teens choosing to be manipulated because it's cool? And, does it matter?
Oh, I think it matters very much. Like I said when I spoke of weak character(s) -- Teens are always, no matter the era, at a vunerable precipice. I know that might sound a bit dramatic. All I'm saying is, why take years to flush out all the garbage these marketers are pressing upon this segment of society.
Because (hopefully)college or gainful employment will do just that. Or simply getting older, growing up.
But what a waste of time. Time that could have been spent figuring out what *you* individually find important and interesting. Not what Dee Dee Gordon and co. say *you* like.
Folks in their teens and twenties are lost enough--marketers manipulating their emotions to sell objects and lousy food do nothing to help them find their way,or their true values.
Whether a teen is being manipulated and knows it or not, they are being robbed of their right to dignity when they participate in this feedback loop of trends.
Uh, Linda, remember when I said I was an idealistic teenager? I guess I still am.
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