on 5/12/00 8:07 pm, Marvin Long, Jr. at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> As for the needfulness of the symbol: yes, the existence of the mock
> apple pie asks the question, "why make a fake apple pie instead of a real
> something else?" And one answer is, "to participate in the act of
> consuming a cultural symbol of wholesomeness, even if the object consumed
> isn't itself all that wholesome." Another answer is, "You can't always
> get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might get what you
> need." Better yet, a mixture of the two, for how do you deny someone the
> right to participate in the little rituals and symbols of culture, even if
> sometimes you have to employ imitation symbols to do so?
Thus the mock democracy of the USA - people get to play with the machines,
wear funny hats and shout at the tv, and feel democratically empowered.
Probably less rigged than WWF but *maybe* more rigged than American
'football' or American rounders.
>
> So, to me the mock apple pie is not an ironic symbol but a touching one.
> The problem with using it as an example of the insidious bogusness of the
> things we're often taught, I think, is that it's a much more powerful
> symbol in it's sincere mode. It's not as though the mother baking
> it doesn't love her son and wouldn't make something better if she could.
> It's not as though the son, if he suspected something were amiss, wouldn't
> smile anyway and tell his mom it's wonderful because he loves her too and
> doesn't want her to be disappointed.
As touching as the Flag, Constitution, God and the American Way...
--
William T Goodall
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
