1984, Culture Jamming, and ability to project "Bush is a Poopy-Head" in public places ...
I just finished watching the movie 1984 a few nights ago (again), based on Orwell's book. For those of you who have never seen the movie or read the book, I highly recommend it. Among other means of control, it addresses the issue of manipulation of language, to the point where the government is creating new official dictionaries constantly, to remove words from the language that would cause people to conceive of certain "subversive" ideas, like "love" and "family".
Obviously, this general concept can be used to introduce words as well.
I was recently involved in a culture-jamming listserv discussion, and the use of the word "sheeple", came up as an example of a word that can be introduced into the mainstream to heighten awareness of one's own spending habits.
I can probably think of 10 co-workers of mine right now who don't and wouldn't think about their spending habits until they heard "sheeple" used on the morning show on Y100 a few times.
I witnessed this phenomenon with the word "metrosexual" quite a bit. It's also obvious in the way the media spreads African American slang to white suburban kids and even their parents. Anyone hear the word "pimp" or "shizzle" lately? Drop it like it's hot, folks.
I think the challenge is to make the words stay and maintain their integrity. Once a word is perceived to be a "buzzword",or "buzz-concept" (?) it is dismissed as pop culture, and thrown on the heap with "phat", "poser", and "hippie". It becomes trite, and people end up owning it proudly. Imagine a mom in Walmart with an overflowing shopping cart saying "I can't believe I bought all this stuff for the kids! I'm just a hopeless sheeple! Ha,ha,ha!". Ugh.
I would LOVE to hear other people's thoughts on this.
On another note, for anyone who's even remotely interested in culture jamming, I suggest you check out the Adbusters publication. Some think it's a paradox, others, a guide, and probably to some, I suppose, it's the bible.
On the same note, I found disposable camera/projector instructions online. It's an excellent jammer tool, and I'll probably end up making one soon just because. The possibilities make me giddy.
http://www.hactivist.com/flashpoint/
Obviously, this general concept can be used to introduce words as well.
I was recently involved in a culture-jamming listserv discussion, and the use of the word "sheeple", came up as an example of a word that can be introduced into the mainstream to heighten awareness of one's own spending habits.
I can probably think of 10 co-workers of mine right now who don't and wouldn't think about their spending habits until they heard "sheeple" used on the morning show on Y100 a few times.
I witnessed this phenomenon with the word "metrosexual" quite a bit. It's also obvious in the way the media spreads African American slang to white suburban kids and even their parents. Anyone hear the word "pimp" or "shizzle" lately? Drop it like it's hot, folks.
I think the challenge is to make the words stay and maintain their integrity. Once a word is perceived to be a "buzzword",or "buzz-concept" (?) it is dismissed as pop culture, and thrown on the heap with "phat", "poser", and "hippie". It becomes trite, and people end up owning it proudly. Imagine a mom in Walmart with an overflowing shopping cart saying "I can't believe I bought all this stuff for the kids! I'm just a hopeless sheeple! Ha,ha,ha!". Ugh.
I would LOVE to hear other people's thoughts on this.
On another note, for anyone who's even remotely interested in culture jamming, I suggest you check out the Adbusters publication. Some think it's a paradox, others, a guide, and probably to some, I suppose, it's the bible.
On the same note, I found disposable camera/projector instructions online. It's an excellent jammer tool, and I'll probably end up making one soon just because. The possibilities make me giddy.
http://www.hactivist.com/flashpoint/
posted by Dead Mouse Girl at 10:17 AM
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