End of Week Jamesone

Jameson has been one of the more understandable theorists to date. He is very relatable to other theorists we have previously discussed in this class. Like Zizeck, Jameson explore the role of fear in our society today. Both theorists agree that fear is used as a type of control over the populace of a society. Jameson specifically looks into the fears of the millennium which he as termed, millenarianism. These fears include the rapture, Y2K, and the avian flu. The concept rapture is the notion of apocalypse. Our society seems to be obsessed with this notion. Zizeck talked about this as well in relation to movies such as the Day After Tomorrow, and Apocalypse. We are fascinated by disaster. It has become a form of entertainment. Jameson continues to explore the darker side of culture when he states, “the underside of culture is blood-torture- death and horror”. This declaration is a very serious one, and it relates to topics such as sweatshops, genocides, and slave labor. When we buy a product, its history has been erased. This process is call privation of history, meaning we do not think about how the product was made or who made it. The cult of the new promotes consumption within our culture, but as our culture consumes they do not think about the creation of the products. For example, blood diamonds. Diamonds are seen as valuable objects in our culture. They can represent commitment, love, romance, and many other positive feelings. However, these diamonds are the source of war, kidnaps, and slave labor in some African countries. People starve, die, and mourn loved ones all for the sake of what we Americans consider a luxury item. Same can be said for clothing. When we purchase our new favorite shirt, we do not consider the horrible conditions in which it was made. We do not consider the working condition and the long hours endured by the employees of the sweat shop that produces our clothing. In reality, our culture does not realize that its roots lie in literal blood, torture, death, and horror. This lack of knowledge allows the cult of the new to survive and for people to continue to consume without a second thought.