Third Post (random thoughts)

I'm bored as hell atm so I decided to write in another entry today.

So, I was watching 500 Days of Summer yesterday, and I was somewhat disappointed with how real and un-Hollywood its message was (that's what I get for watching indie flicks). After all, people don't watch romance movies to see reality, they watch them to get the hell away from reality (like pretty much anything else they do). One particularly memorable quote was "It's love, not Santa Claus" as a response to Summer's question of whether or not Tom believed in love.


Love is an interesting topic because of what importance it plays in today's advertising industry. Entire corporations and businesses are built on this ever mythologized concept of "love". I bet I can't find a single person who isn't a sucker for the whole "true love", "love at first sight", "soulmate" loveosphere of buzzwords and catchphrases that keeps growing and growing, just like divorce rates. Is this a bad thing? On the surface, yes. Love is simply being exploited to sell diamonds, cards, roses, rings, shoes, scarves, and anything else money can buy. As well, we are now being told that we need to dress and look a certain way if we are to ever possess any sliver of hope of falling in love. People (well, okay, mostly women) are being made unbelievably insecure about their looks through the power of the media.

*Mini-rant: Most people have absolutely no idea of the effect of media and advertising on their minds throughout their lifetime (because it is a very subconscious effect). And it's only getting worse now that we live in such technologically globalized times. Anyone who watches Mad Men (awesome show btw), is at least slightly aware of the control the media holds, and it is rigid enough to support a billion dollar advertising industry. **side note: coolest commercial ever *End-Rant

However, this exploitation isn't news, love has been the topic of stories, ballads, anecdotes, and jokes for a long ass time (well, not cosmically I suppose), so maybe this concept of love really does exist in breathing, living, writhing form. However, is it now being cheapened and almost hidden behind a facade of comical charades played between the two sexes? A biological analysis of love provides some interesting insights as to how attraction and relationships function, which I won't go into right now because it's lunch time and love is getting boring.

(Back from lunch) Another thing I came across today was an article explaining why Apple is evil. I have never had a problem with Apple (I have several of their products), it's their fan club I sometimes can't stand (kind of like with religion). I have no issue with po-mo hipster culture with their fancy hats and vests (I understand this is an overblown stereotype, I just wanted to be hip and say "po-mo"), in fact I know many people like that and they are quite entertaining, but when it comes to defending their tech-joy provider, Apple, most will fight tooth and nail to protect this user-friendly giant. Once again, tying into advertising, brand loyalty is very interesting. It should be impossible to say that any large corporation is "good" or even "nice" (watch the 2003 documentary "The Corporation" to understand why), so this seems to me just like another case of a perfectly evil corporation being able to mask its visage using media marketing. And not only that, but they somehow manage to spread their message through their consumers as well. Anyways, here's the link to the article: Why Apple is Evil

*Side-note: corporation=evil is exactly why they should not have first amendment rights, but that's a story for another day.



One last thing, to anyone who enjoys pondering about the human condition, this article says it all.
On Being Human: Within the Limits of Understanding

Okay that's it for today, I think I wrote too much (even I wouldn't want to read all this lol).
-Murday

PS. This is kinda cool
Old School Medicine Ads