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Bob Dylan and the Ethics of Market Fascism
The Culture of Spectacle
On Sunday, February 2, 2014, according to most reliable news sources, 111.5 million people (mostly US residents) participated in viewing the imperial spectacle known as the Super Bowl XLVIII. To be sure, this Super Bowl was not dissimilar to its predecessors; a made-for-television event of commodification, showcasing a package of mediocrity with a mind-numbing violent team sport to be utilized for selling useless junk. According to Bill Wanger, executive vice president for programming and research at Fox Sports, "Big-event television is a great way for people to have a communal event, to talk about it socially and to talk about it as a group."
Wagner presupposes viewers are ready-made consumers who have lost the ability to think, or perhaps had never developed that ability in the first place. Therefore, if Fox Sports and their free market economy coconspirators set the agenda, people longing for community and communal experiences will simply follow it.
What sets apart this spectacle from the previous ones is not so much the record-setting viewership, despite the noncompetitiveness of the game, but the de-imaginative commercials and the mediocre musical performances of pop artists. One single commercial separates this spectacle from its counterparts of the past: The two-minute drivel of mythologizing patriotism featuring Bob Dylan is the culprit.
The Big Sellout
When corporatism manages to buy the soul of an icon, the poet of the American civil rights movement, we are witnessing a clear sign of the market becoming an Ethics in itself. This is the man who, in May of 1963, walked out of "The Ed Sullivan Show" after CBS executives asked him not to sing "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," because it would offend the racist right-wing John Birch Society. Bob Dylan inspired many Americans then. But he must have broken many a liberal and progressive heart with his awfully scripted Chrysler commercial, which is filled with jingoistic lines about American pride and a seriously proto-fascist undertone.
The commercial starts with, "Is there anything more American than America?" The ad closes with Dylan's voice over a montage of images of a man's arm pouring beer in medium shot, emphasizing the beer; a closeup of two hands making a precision watch; and finally, a wide-open overhead tracking long shot of many, mostly women, anonymous Asian assembly workers in facemasks putting together cellphones that resemble the ubiquitous (iconic) iPhones. These aesthetic choices are deliberate, to be sure. Advertising is an intentional medium. What do we hear him say?
"So let Germany brew your beer. Let Switzerland make your watch. Let Asia assemble your phone. We . . . will build . . . your car."
As American philosopher Harry Frankfurt, in his book, On Bullshit, puts it, "One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his [or her] share. But we tend to take the situation for granted."
On Sunday, February 2, 2014, according to most reliable news sources, 111.5 million people (mostly US residents) participated in viewing the imperial spectacle known as the Super Bowl XLVIII. To be sure, this Super Bowl was not dissimilar to its predecessors; a made-for-television event of commodification, showcasing a package of mediocrity with a mind-numbing violent team sport to be utilized for selling useless junk. According to Bill Wanger, executive vice president for programming and research at Fox Sports, "Big-event television is a great way for people to have a communal event, to talk about it socially and to talk about it as a group."
Wagner presupposes viewers are ready-made consumers who have lost the ability to think, or perhaps had never developed that ability in the first place. Therefore, if Fox Sports and their free market economy coconspirators set the agenda, people longing for community and communal experiences will simply follow it.
What sets apart this spectacle from the previous ones is not so much the record-setting viewership, despite the noncompetitiveness of the game, but the de-imaginative commercials and the mediocre musical performances of pop artists. One single commercial separates this spectacle from its counterparts of the past: The two-minute drivel of mythologizing patriotism featuring Bob Dylan is the culprit.
The Big Sellout
When corporatism manages to buy the soul of an icon, the poet of the American civil rights movement, we are witnessing a clear sign of the market becoming an Ethics in itself. This is the man who, in May of 1963, walked out of "The Ed Sullivan Show" after CBS executives asked him not to sing "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," because it would offend the racist right-wing John Birch Society. Bob Dylan inspired many Americans then. But he must have broken many a liberal and progressive heart with his awfully scripted Chrysler commercial, which is filled with jingoistic lines about American pride and a seriously proto-fascist undertone.
The commercial starts with, "Is there anything more American than America?" The ad closes with Dylan's voice over a montage of images of a man's arm pouring beer in medium shot, emphasizing the beer; a closeup of two hands making a precision watch; and finally, a wide-open overhead tracking long shot of many, mostly women, anonymous Asian assembly workers in facemasks putting together cellphones that resemble the ubiquitous (iconic) iPhones. These aesthetic choices are deliberate, to be sure. Advertising is an intentional medium. What do we hear him say?
"So let Germany brew your beer. Let Switzerland make your watch. Let Asia assemble your phone. We . . . will build . . . your car."
As American philosopher Harry Frankfurt, in his book, On Bullshit, puts it, "One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his [or her] share. But we tend to take the situation for granted."
Not the best written piece, but there's some truth here.
More - http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21853-bob-dylan-and-the-ethics-of-market-fascism
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