So did you watch the superbowl? Maybe just the ads huh? The whole superbowl spectacle is just a celebration of living in the past. A big money event groomed for the most wealthy and tailored to make the rest of us pine for Doritos. "Let them eat chips"!
Face up to it football should hardly be called a game. It is a concussion inducing bunch of widely scattered moments in between which nothing happens. The greatest thing in football is the no huddle offense. It will be stopped though because it reduces the amount of time for ads. I have a lot against ads, but have been known to be persuaded by clever ones. Hmmm, none of those this year. I mean the whole idea behind advertising is to make us spend money on things we do not need to keep our economy alive. Oh yes and to help the rich get richer as we go further in debt.
When the world feels they have deluged us with enough ads, they give us celebrity. Madonna! The sound was awful and the performance akin to a badly made spaghetti gladiator film. Madonna is over and living on her laurels. I also bet we could have probably fed a few million people a nice meal for what that show cost. Priorities should endure through time and we cannot let media corrupt them.
So am I a curmudgeon of the highest order? Perhaps. Stop wasting money, stop living in the past, and stop exploiting every last second of time in an effort to persuade me that I too am living the good life. I am not. Are you?
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Toby,
ReplyDeleteCurious: What do you spend your money on? And on those things you do spend your money on, how did you find out they existed if they weren't advertised? Do you realize that those companies DID provide "nice" meals for millions of people (i.e., the millions of people benefiting from the companies success)? How many people were employed to make those costumes for the halftime show? Which city in which country produced the fabrics? Who made all those fancy boots and hats? How many meals did the welders who made the stage safe and secure get to provide for their family because of your badly made spaghetti gladiator film?
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm hungry for a Cliff bar (I don't eat Doritos).
You are indeed correct that those who worked to create the spectacle bowl made some money - as they should. My concern is more the mind management of the corporate entities behind the spectacle and how such spectacles disguise underlying reality. The fact is those who cannot afford but desire a product are inculcated with an angst such that at some point priorities are lost. Individualism and thinking are lost. Advertising defines too much of what is right and wrong in the world - but only through the eyes of the biggest companies who can afford to advertise on such a big occasion. It is mind management. That is what I mind.
ReplyDeleteYes monies do trickle down from bad art to support some workers. I would not argue that. (Though I would never employ those sound engineers again). I also appreciate spaghetti films of the sixties. I admittedly also do prefer fresh clean approaches to artistic endeavors. Something the eighties was not known for. I also happen to like a message and meaning in my art. Madonna is none of these and her efforts at art reflect the past, not the future.
Unfortunately I seem to be often saddled with a perpetual empty wallet syndrome. Also I rarely if ever see advertising for carrots and unprocessed food which I prefer to spend my money on.