How Popular Culture Came to Desire...Socks

Socks: you don't think of them as an artifact. Well, as a commodity, they have been constructed to be an artifact of popular culture.

We went from

to

and even

Socks have become more colorful and fashionable. They have become more desirable because they are more fashionable. They are no longer a necessity; they make a statement!

Why is James Bond So Appealing?

James Bond has been featured in 22 films. The film series has grossed over $4 billion (£2 Billion) (nearly $11 billion when adjusted for inflation) worldwide, making it the highest grossing film series ever. Why has it been so successful?

You have guns and hot babes. You have the guy that kicks all of the other guys' butts and looks sexy while doing so. You have the chase scenes in expensive cars. Women desire James Bond and men desire to be like James Bond who get all of the ladies.




Bond is depicted as a member of a higher class because of his exclusive job and the nice cuts suits he always wears. He's smooth: he always knows what to say whether is be to his enemy or the "Bond girl." He can total cars and live. He can be poisoned and live. He can be tortured and live. And he can face every imaginable bad guy, kill them, and live. James Bond= invincible. Everybody wants to live forever when they're young. James Bond is the embodiment of that vision.

James Bond is one of the most commodified characters in the history of popular culture. Bond is a part of movies, books, posters, clothing, cars, everything. Anything depicted in his movies are automatically connected to Bond's appeal and will sell because of that connection. The Bond movies are instant hits when they come out, the reason being nothing more than because they ARE Bond movies.

With all of the sexy men playing Bond and all of the sexy "Bond girls", who isn't turned on by these movies? The culture industry really knows what they're doing when they pic the next characters for the bond movies, let me tell you. If the Bond movies don't shape and reflect consumer desires, I don't know what does. It reflects our desires for eye candy and shapes what we see that eye candy as: girls with accents or the latest Aston Martin they every Bond fan would die to drive.

How Our Senior Year is Commodified

Senior year: last year of high school. It signifies the last year we get acceptably leech off of our parents. It signifies our transition into the "real" world. Well, even a year of our life cannot resist the lure of commodification. Senior year used to mean getting your diploma. Now, it's just another reason to party.



Recently, senior year has been commodified into a movie, "High School Musical: Senior Year."


There are also senior pictures. Seniors pay anywhere from $50 to over $1000 for pictures of themselves. Actually, the parents of the seniors pay for the pictures that are a glamorized version (in most cases) of their "kids." The only other time these seniors actually look like the person in the picture is before prom (not after or during because at that point they're too sweaty and their makeup/hair is no longer fresh) or other important gathering. Most seniors don't look like their glamorized version on a daily basis.


Other areas that companies can make money off of a senior year includes graduation parties (decorations, food, rental of a hall), caps and gowns, announcements, and that new pair of shoes that HAVE to be worn with the cap and gown.


It is a part of American ideology to have senior pictures and a graduation party, even if the party is just close friends and relatives. Graduation and Graduation parties have arguably become a suture, even. When you think "graduation", most people think "kegger." So next time you go to a graduation party or talk with someone who is in their senior year of high school, just remember all of the commodities and the reason they have been incorporated into our American traditions: it's another way to make money.

Why do we desire Juicy Couture?

With a line like "Made in the Glamorous U.S.A.", who wouldn't want a Juicy Couture bag? If you want to be glamorous, you have to own something Juicy. Right? Juicy constructs their preppy image to make out consumer culture desire their products. The Juicy logo signifies a glam lifestyle so owning Juicy means that you too are glam.

Juicy Couture is known for their hip colors and eye-catching glitter. They have sophistication. Everything to your black punk with silver accents to hot pink and lime green can be found in the Juicy Couture line.

All of the bright colors and shiny "bling bling" only makes us desire Juicy more. The question is why? Why do we desire this label? What makes this label different from other labels? The answer is in the construcion. The Juicy line is part of high culture. The average person can't afford a Juicy bag when they average at around $200. Having a bag then, shows that you come from money. In America, there is the ideology that being rich is desirable. Buying a Juicy bag is one way to convey that you are among that desirable group even if your not.

Obama as an Artifact

Barack Obama was a member of one of America's subcultures up until the point were he became the Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America. At that point, Barack Obama, as a symbol, was obsorbed into the dominant culture. He was no longer only a part of the senetorial elite that the average person never hears of nor just a member of the African American community. Everyone in the country knows his name, whether they were for or against him.

After becoming President-Elect, he made his appearance in such places as the cover of Times magazine, in every newspaper in the country, and all of the major news stations announce fun facts and bio's. These newscasts and articles construct Barack Obama. We take their facts at face value because that's all we know; that's all we've been told. The culture industry controls how the dominant culture sees Obama.

With Obama being relatively new to the political scene, we only know what is presented to us through the different forms of media. Obama is becoming more and more "hyperreal." I don't know anybody who knows Obama personally who can describe what Obama is like. Instead, popular culture is becoming familiar with Obama through a simulation. Because we "know" Obama due to simulations, he can be constructed as more than the average person, making him "hyperreal." We don't see Obama's down time, his personal time where he isn't talking to cheering crowds or shaking hands with diplomats. We are only presented with images of Obama delivering his eloquent speeches and discussing his new policies. He is contstructed to appear that he's always busy, always doing something. He's more real than real. Get it?

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving: what is it really? According to dictionary.com, Thanksgiving Day is "a national holiday celebrated as a day of feasting and giving thanks for divine favors or goodness, observed on the fourth Thursday of November in the U.S. and in Canada on the second Monday of October."

Thanksgiving: how is it celebrated?

Holidays and commodities go hand and hand. Holidays offer the perfect excuses to commodify anything and everything that can be remotely associated with that Holiday. Every holiday has its suture: Halloween- pumpkins; Easter- bunnies; Christmas- Christmas trees; Birthdays- birthday cakes; Thanksgiving- turkey; etc. Every year, homes are decorated according to the sutures of that holiday/time of year. By decorating homes, these sutures are made into commodities. See the connection?

Here's something else to think about:

How many of the commodities actually have anything to do with the reason the holiday is being held?