Jameson and the "Impulse of Capitalism'

Hobby

Tuesday, December 2nd class

Our discussion from Tuesday sparked my interest and really had me thinking for the rest of the week and weekend. Jameson’s interest in the "impulse in capitalism" is significant to today's society and media. Our society and media really emphasize this impulse in order to continue the conventional wisdom of the American Dream that is orchestrated through all media outlets in American society. People consume, consume, and continue to consume in order to continue this conventional wisdom and to keep up in this materialism crazed society. In particular, we discussed in class advertising and the role it has on consumers. The example posed in class was Victoria's secret fashion show. This sexually charged program utilizes sexuality as a business means to capture attention and reel in money. Some people watch the show and therefore have an impulse to buy Victoria Secret lingerie. Seeing the lingerie as well as the reactions on the men’s faces I’m sure is recognized by many women and therefore they will have the urge to go out and purchase this lingerie to produce the same effect demonstrated in the fashion show. Victoria’s secret has become such a huge conglomeration thanks to their extremely eye catching, sexually provocative advertising. It makes the women look dominant and targets female audiences as well as male audiences. Women want to buy this type of lingerie in order to project these images that are advertised. This impulse in capitalism is prevalent everywhere since we lived in such a image and status conscious society. Also, our discussion of nostalgia really captured my attention in terms of movies and TV shows. Many movies depict the Americans past like Pearl Harbor, or Titanic. By making these movies really can spark nostalgic moments and memories in people’s lives. Therefore, this idea of nostalgia really has been prevalent in our media and still plays a role in major communication outlets. Bringing people back to the past really emotional and somewhat satisfying. Our media understands this and therefore uses this idea of nostalgia for movies and TV shows.