When someone says “Marxism”, I automatically think “badass”, “rebel”, and “hipster”. Those are just the words that pop into my head. Sure, when I was in fifth grade learning about how communism equals bad and capitalism equals good, I thought of Communism/ Marxism as a sac religious kind of lifestyle. How horrible that people in Cuba had to be oppressed by this odd style of government and way of thinking!
Now, I am not entirely sure how the thought of a “cool badass” pops into my head when I start to think about Marxism. I know that I have learned more about the woes of a capitalist society, and how it leaves the working class in the dust. I know that, as being part of that class, I do not totally love the idea that the rich are getting richer at the expense of us regular Joe’s. However, I’m not so completely enraged and I do not wish to move to North Korea.
When reading Chris Craig’s blog about the copy of Communist’s Manifesto being positioned on a table to offset some jeans, I completely knew what he was describing. Every hip store you go into, they are silently trying to get you to rise against the authority. Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Forever 21, and even Target all seem to have these T-Shirts that by buying, suggest that you would love to live in a Marxist community, or even just rebel against whatever is holding you back. I think that this idea of breaking free is definitely aimed more towards women and teenagers. Out clothes make a bigger impression on us. If I were to wear a shirt that said, “I’m So Green”, I would probably really believe that for the day, and so would a bunch of people that saw me wearing it. It’s kind of frightening how a statement in fashion makes us believe more than we should.
Chris Craig hit the nail on the head when he said that I imagine myself to be someone of a “fashion revolutionary” by buying that Che Guevara t-shirt. But I really shouldn’t. I totally agree with this idea of “cultural capital”. When I see people who are wearing the best clothes, that have been bought exclusively from one of these hipster, rebellious stores, I do think of them as having a level of distinction and authority. When I can afford to buy one of those pairs of jeans from the table with the Communist Manifesto on it, I feel better about myself and making a conscious decision to buy these crazy, not your average person jeans.
So, who makes all of these trendy t-shirts? That’s right, the people who are one hundred percent against anything that is not Capitalism. Actually, some kids in Guatemala probably actually made the shirts. But I am just feeding the giant, capitalist machine. I think I’m being crazy and rebelling, but I’m not. The authority, or ruling class has instilled the ideology in me, without me even noticing it. They think that if I can feel rebellious buying a t-shirt linked to Marxism, I’ll be satisfied with all of my rebellious urges. This is scarily true. This ideology is embedded so deep in my mind, it took an English class blog for me to realize it!
In response to Chris Craig’s point about the news and how it really is geared for the upper class moneymakers, not the wage earners, I have an anecdote. My roommate and I decided to watch the original Wall Street movie the other day. At first it was cool, seeing Charlie Sheen having a tough time as a buyer on Wall Street. Then, he went to see Gordon Gekko, and they started talking money, business, and stocks. That was right around the time we lost interest in the movie. Two twenty year olds in college could really care less about buying and trading, and watching this millionaire guy get even richer. We stopped watching, and discussed how irrelevant all of that stuff seemed to us, average wage-makers.
I agree that literature is absolutely full of ideological ideals, whether intentionally or unintentionally placed in the text. How can text really not be? We are all impressed upon by the society, and where we are positioned in the society. If I was a billionaire, or even just higher up in society than most, almost every element of my life and the way I write would probably be different than that of a factory worker who makes $8.00 per hour.
The last book I read was Eat, Pray, Love. While this book is not really a huge social commentary, it did provide the author’s point of view and she did include her own, privileged ideological ideas. Elizabeth Gilbert is a wealthy New Yorker in her thirties, and she has a lot of money to throw around. With this status, she clearly has her own set of rules and sets up the rules expected of someone like herself. In a novel like Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, where social commentary is evident and busting at the seams, it still appears that he is influenced by the social standards and the environment and ideological values instill upon him.
Thinking about how Shakespeare is taught in school was enlightening for me. I’ve taken a class about Shakespeare for almost six years straight. Even at a college level, I would always think of William Shakespeare as a privileged author who wrote privileged text. Even in college courses, we would talk about how he captures “human nature” more than anything. I’ve always known he was somewhat putting ideological ideas into the subtext, but have never really considered that in terms of Marxism. It’s exciting to see the subtext in a whole new way.
