November 24, 2007...8:49 pm
Dharma-Burger fans: read this book! “Unmarketable,” by Anne Elizabeth Moore
While I don’t generally want to comment on books — there are enough people doing that, especially when it comes to Dharma books — I did want to let you know my thoughts about “Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity,” by Anne Elizabeth Moore.
Got this book to pass the time while visiting with relatives in a particularly slow (and conservative!) corner of the world — and I couldn’t be more glad that I did. A.E.M. is an excellent writer (I knew her from the late great mag Punk Planet), and what she’s talking about — how independent and punk culture is being co-opted by the advertising and marketing industries — is totally fascinating.
It’s fascinating in and of itself, but also, the implications of what she’s talking about are crucial in terms of what The Worst Horse examines via our “Dharma-Burgers
,” which are of course our looks at “Buddhist imagery and ideas in the marketing of goods, services, and schlocky crap.” (You may also want to read the Horse’s article touching on co-optation, here).
Reading “Unmarketable,” you can pretty easily extrapolate from the original subject matter, and form a clear vision of just how deep and insidious the marketing-world’s influence really is (or at least could be) becoming in the Buddhist world — and even, vice-versa.
But the book is also just a great read. It might be a little depressing for all its Orwellian revelation, if Moore wasn’t such a good and fun and honest writer. But she is.
Anyway… just had to tell y’all.
1 Comment
January 3, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I’m curious what there is to say about this anymore. What is the underground anymore? Having been obsessed with ‘underground’ culture in my youth I came to find it pretty stuck and superficial eventually. It seemed to be a bunch of empty signifiers (clothes, music, party-line opinions) that could mean something or could be nothing. Perfect for advertising. The ideology was also very simplistic. Often it was very reactive - condemnation for a standard list of things, a very narrow perspective, and few solutions.
That isn’t to say the onslaught of advertising, corporate practice and how it affects us isn’t a concern, but protecting punk rock? I dunno. When I still held on to subcultures I wanted to think you can find substantial, valuable qualities in people/things represented superficially. But then you hate when you can’t do it anymore (ie. when corporations take it over). Why not just stop looking there? Then you won’t get disappointed.
Besides, the subculture co-opt debate dates back to at least the 60’s and was covered pretty well by ‘Conquest of Cool’ about 10 years ago, probably in less black and white terms too - heh, how Buddhist!
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