Ease back, Poncho, let me finish.
At first the commercial didn’t register, as it was just another blur in an already blurry background. But, a few moments after it passed, some odd subliminal ohrworm awoke, snapping me back into this reality, and causing me to sit up.
The commercial was for Hamburger Helper, and after seeing it for a second time, I know why it caused me to snap into consciousness. It was more chilling than anything I’ve seen on TV in a long while.
No, I don’t mean that the concept of HH is chilling (well, it is, but for different sulfite, sodium, and preservative filled reasons), but the semiotics of the commercial itself caused me to genuflect for protection.
It featured a typical working-class, god-fearing, salt-of-the-earth, patriotic American family. You knew this for several reasons:
- They spoke with a slight, undefined but noticeable accent that can only be described as a vague amalgam of Appalacian, Southern, and
- They wore the sort of “regular” clothes one stereotypically associates with Red States (think ill-fitting off-brand jeans, frumpy blouse, generic plaid work shirt, and other things you would typically find at a Wal*Mart)
- They were all a few steps past portly, as we all expect Red State Americans to be
- The kids had fucked-up haircuts that can only be described as unprofessional, likely given by mom or some other close relative
- They were white
Anyway, the script for the commercial went on about how great HH is, and mentioned that since both mom and dad work (mom on day shift and dad on night shift), and with a passel of hungry boys, dinner was the only time the entire family could spend together. Luckily, HH not only was something they all loved to eat (yum yum, gimme some!), but it was easy as hell to prepare, was ready lickety-split, filled all of their already distended stomachs with a sickly paste of carbohydrates and gristle, and helped stretch their dollar!
Okay, nothing bad there, right? Gross, maybe, but certainly not frightening.
The images for the commercial were the typical montage of a happy family working, playing, and loving really hard. There were shots of mom fiddling around in her tiny kitchen, of dad and junior playing basketball, of dad hard at work in a fiercely industrial setting, and of the entire family smiling the saccharine smiles of ignorant contentment in the belief that they sleep under a blanket of freedom provided by George W Bush, the General Mills corporation, and God (in that order, by the way).
“So,” you ask, “what is so chilling about that?”
Here it comes.
And that is what is chilling. That this is the face of contemporary American society. Be happy you're working, Cletus ... the alternative is worse. And don't bother to strive for more, because you sure as hell won't ever reach it. Now shut up, eat your HH, and just count the days til your inevitable heart-attack sends you to the local Free Clinic for some aspirin and a pamphlet on planning a bargain funeral.
At this rate, you have to wonder what is next? A retro-commercial showing scenes lifted from Birth of a Nation meant to placate the nation regarding the plight of black people? Or, possibly (in the not too distant future), a new version of this pseudo-food called Soylent Helper. After all, if American corporations aren’t seeing windfall profits from all that oil, maybe they can squeeze a few pennies out of all them dead Iraqis.
Ook ook
12 comments:
Um, so what exactly are you disenchanted by? The fact that they finally nailed their demographic and are in fact, being truthful? That it tears down the Cleaver joke of what American families are and/or should be? Or maybe that they shouldn't show unattractive, unsuccessful ppl on tv? Just wondering.
In my travels, outside of metropolitan areas--what you described is more common than in just the red states.
In other babble, the Soylent Helper not only made me laugh, but cringe. Egads, the thought of it makes my skin crawl (memories of that movie comes flooding back on torrents.)
You're a posting maniac this week!
beelers: Are you flirting with me?
Rager: My appalledness (yeah, I can use fake words) comes from the fact that we, as a society, have now accepted a bleak and hopeless future as normal. In the past, even those at the bottom could at least conceive of improvement, as companies still offered benefits and pansions, and the cost of living wasn't impossible to maintain. That aint the case no more, and it seems we, as a society, have meekly accepted it. Hence, the chill.
Indeed, the American Dream appears to be in reverse...
Back off Beelers, he's mine. MINE, I say.
I'm fine, really I am...? (Just an outburst.)
Ok, Fezmeister I gotcha. The reality check displayed thusly, striking chords on more than one level ordealio.
I don't know what's worse, seeing the reality or living in a haze of plasticine facades.
Another thought on that family you described--I've met many people like that, and they are happy, and feel successful. Whether they've come from worse situations as kids, I'm not sure. To them, they have made it and are proud of it. The grander scheme of things doesn't enter their mind for a number of reasons. They don't care for one, too busy maintaining using the tools they have (physical, contacts, mental), they are satisfied with their position on the ladder, and when asked why they don't strive for more--they seriously believe they don't qualify, won't ever qualify and respond with: Not everyone 'should' be doctors and lawyers' we need a certain number of people to do the grunt work. Or no one eats, no one has cars to drive or newspapers to read, no roads to drive on or houses to live in, etc.
So it's mostly a case of knowing one's limitations, I think and not wasting energy on image and 'what should be' when this 'works just fine for me'.
(The above addressed their mentality, not the companies that treat their workers like chattel...don't get me going on that.)
In essence I don't see that commercial in the same light as you, but more so that's there nothing wrong with it, nor should there be. It's the way is man, for a whole helluva of a lot of us there, and what we don't need is advertising or others hammering us that we suck because of whatever.
Know what I'm saying, Tulip?
And I do realize that I'm taking a different angle than you on this, but to me it's a more concrete view--mostly because I can relate to it.
(And NO, this isn't me flinging a match you in an attempt to start a flame war. Just a couple of ppl talking out loud.)
More towards your society accepting it: How do you change that? When for years we've watched ppl try and fail. Being out of work for a lot of ppl for more than a week will land them under a bridge. Complaining to the EEOC, IF they take your case, comes to fruition or not, many many months down the road. And the in the meantime?
The ppl that are able to take on the system are those that don't need to. And that, is where I believe the problem lies.
I could go on for hours about workplace bullshit, hours. Those that really the help or policy changes don't have the energy or cushion to fight in order to affect change. It's really as simple as that, mon frere.
"Being out of work for a lot of ppl for more than a week will land them under a bridge."
I'm NOT housing these people. Let them go stay with relatives.
Oh come on, Mr. Troll,
Look at it as free labor---cleaning, landscaping, dredging the river, cooking, manicures.
Well, yeah.
That goes without saying.
It IS the new millenium.
ew. Hamburger Helper. I had no idea that stuff still existed (and that people still ate it).
What is it exactly? Is it a dried substance made up of... what ?
Why can't people just eat more potatos? I think I'd rather have a small amount of meat and more cheaper vegetables...
Then again, I thought meat WAS ridiculously cheap nowadays (especially hamburger mince... which, I already thought was bad seeing as it is mostly ground up gristle, fat and offal anyway - imagining something that is even cheaper than that particular mix is churning my stomach)
Hamburger Helper is an amalagalm of inert materials suspended in a glutenous matrix of starches, artificially flavored petroleum-based goo, and binders.
It seems to me people would be better off eating dirt.
Ook ook
PS: I am very glad I know how to cook.
Umm... f_m?
I wear plaid flannel shirts.
Comfy cozy and stuff.
I even wear plaid flannel pjs during the three cold days we get down here every year, whether we need it or not.
Leeeeyun
That's Lyn with a southern accent.
Ook! Ook!
hrmph.
Love ya anyhow.
Careful Monkey, you display your own ignorance in this post lambasting the ignorance of "Red State America." Have you left your own little hive of unreality? Are you afraid to face the reality of life outside your cushy, pseudo-intellectual, high-n-mighty post atop the social tower? While you're busy bashing anyone who doesn't fit your view of socially "acceptable," you miss the important things...like the fact that they tend to focus on family, community, and the little things that make life great, while you sit at home with your lard-ass in a swivel chair, bashing everyone and everything because, well, you don't really HAVE a life, do you? Walk outside once in a while. You might gain some perspective. Oh and, by the way, I think that commercial is somewhat refreshing, considering that the former Ham. Helper ads featured a giggling claymation version of a four-digit hand counseling mom on the joys of salty prepacked food. Hell, at least this one celebrates the unity of a real family.
Post a Comment