'The Corrections' Corrected

The previous link is a portion of the book I am currently reading, 'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen.

Now I do not claim to be a cultural theorist or a person who necessarily is adept at philosophy or anything. However, I opine that a few people in this country feel the same way as the main speaker of this passage. The what-good-is-it-to-attack-everything crowd. And I think that she has a point. Is there a stopping point for 'unpacking' things? Well, yes. And no.

The first day of my undergraduate Engl 380 class we critiqued a song by Hannah Montana. I have included the song lyrics now to aide this discussion:

Don't let no small frustration
Ever bring you down
No, no, no, no
Just take a situation
And turn it all around

With a new attitude everything can change
Make it how you want it to be
Stay mad, why do that? Give yourself a break
Laugh about it and you'll see

Life's what you make it
So let's make it rock
Life's what you make it
So come on, come on, come on, everybody now

Why be sad broken hearted?
There's so much to do
Life is hard or it's a party
The choice is up to you

With a new attitude everything can change
Make it how you want it to be
Stay sad, why do that? Give yourself a break
I know you want to party with me

Life's what you make it
[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/h/hannah-montana-lyrics/life_s-what-you-make-it-lyrics.html]
So let's make it rock
Life's what you make it
So come on, come on, come on, everybody now

Let's celebrate it, join in everyone
You decide 'cause life's what you make it

Things are looking up anytime you want
All you gotta do is realize that
It's under your control
So let the good times rock and roll!

C'mon everybody
Do it now
All right, let's get the party started
Yeah, yeah, yeah, now that's a party
Yeah, yeah, put your hands together

Life's what you make it
So let's make it rock, let's make it rock
Life's what you make it
So come on, come on, come on, everybody now

Let's celebrate it, join in everyone
You decide 'cause life's what you make it, aww yeah
Life is what you make it

And now that we have the contribution from the Gospel According to Hannah Montana (or Miley Cyrus, I never know which, this is so confusing) let's think about what this song says. I mean to boil it down to the root, I suppose it says 'Why the hell are you so sad? Be happy. Life's not that bad. Stop this messing around. Life is what you make it' Of course, it has been Disney Channel-ified. But here is where I think the character in the book, perhaps as a point. Is Miley Cyrus using this song as call-to-arms against all people with depression, bipolar disorder, or other mental issues? No. Probably not. But is this is a song that could challenge the abstruse idea that you can do anything in the world that you want as long as you work hard enough...maybe. But then, is that bad?

I had the benefit of having a professor who was good about accepting other ideas. And gave us free-reign as far as these frustrating, fascinating topics/theories/etc is concerned. But I am struck with a simple sentence in this passage:

'It is so typical and perfect you hate those ads!'

So I thought then, why do I hate the ads I hate? Sometimes I think it simply because they are 'below' me and I'm feeling esoteric that day. Sometimes I think it is because they are just poorly made. But is it because sometimes that in my heart of hearts I have some unknown creature of white-male-succesful-itis. And I really do dislike people who are different than me. Well, no. I'm pretty open about other places, cultures, etc. But it is interesting to think about. Why do you hate the ads you hate? Again, what do you CHOOSE to pay attention to? And do you CHOOSE it? Our programming is chosen by someone in some office somewhere who bases 'what is on' by statistics of who is watching. So, then, do we choose what we pay attention to? That is to say, if we- the general we- stop watching certain things and stopped consuming certain products (both nutritionally and entertainment) would the cigar-chomping big wigs change their tune?

Now, to connect the book passage to this previous paragraph. The word 'corporate' and what that signifies. The passage says: They all know 'corporate' is a dirty word.

Interesting, yes? Does corporate mean evil and is it a dirty word? No. But there are plenty of words that go along with corporate nowadays: sell-out, big business (that's interesting in and of itself, 'big' business), global economy, CAPITALISM, etc etc etc. I wish I could use this example from a book I have somewhere, but alas, I am in the midst of packing, so I can only speak in generalities. But the book contains a table of what kind of music is used to advertise certain products. Generally speaking, classical music seems to be used for 'elite' products. But why is that? Couldn't Mozart just as easily sell McDonald's Fries as it is paired with Lexus or Mercedes? Again, to the point of the passage about 'stupid, lame problem with signifiers and signifieds.' Apparently classical music is used for elite, whilst cheeky jingles are attributed to fast food.

I feel as though I'm one of those people who are 'wringing their hands' about problems in this culture. Though, I'm not exactly sure what the problems are. OR who causes them. OR better yet, how to solve them.

I think it is important to pay attention to and to critique things. However, I think there must be a stopping point somewhere. Perhaps it is a point just before we all become xenophobic and all build cellars and hide from everything.

I'll think I'll leave it here for now. I hope you're swell.