Inspired by Sammi Cox Weekend Writing prompt #362

As a born traditionalist, some say reactionary, I favour the classic sort, for example in Whiskies, shaving, cars, and of course clothing. If one wishes to mention literature (is it right to talk about “brands” then?) and omit economics and political writing, then anything written before the 50’s rarely passes my doorway. I can’t say more!

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What people choose

In this non-classic world, what people choose, in what they wear, drink, eat, visit, dream, watch, listen to, read… makes them/us what they/we are. A form of the ancient seventeenth century quarrel, of the “Anciens et les Modernes”, is still alive and well. It may sound quaint, but it is. In part this is due to the enormous capital investment in advertising, in the past one hundred and fifty odd years, the onslaught of television, the more recent insidious impact of the net and “smart” phones. But we are willing. We accept the constant brainwashing, with unbelievable claims that logic alone cannot defeat, let alone the law. Moreover we identify ourselves with brands and logos.

We wear these commercial logos

What does this mean for our societies? We wear these commercial logos on our clothes, shoes, heads, shirts… We participate enthusiastically to the general advertising and brainwashing cloud. We cannot dissociate ourselves from it. Or can we? Well, mostly not, but we still can be choosy, opt for the “Anciens”, rather than the “Modernes”. As young soldier, during my two years of conscription, my fellow conscripts instinctively called me “l’ancien”, in a friendly, half-joking manner. Was I more meticulous in my dressing, the way I choose to tie my boots, wear my cap, tidy my cubicle? I have no idea. I then continued with these habits during the following five years as a professional. I still smile about it.

I love the classic way of doing things

I love the classic way of doing things, the style, the old fashion way of printing, writing – ink! – from the garden to the gym. Have you ever paid attention to the fashions in the gym? The world of fashion, modelling, and the art of surviving therein is fascinating.

I learned much about it in Glamorama, the Bret Easton Ellis’ novel. Bret is an interesting blend of classic and modern, although he would object to be called a “blend”. The story is that of a successful and attractive male model, who lives in two separate worlds, one that may be called “modern”, and “normal”, and the other far more sinister, in a classic manner, a doppelgänger, who eventually takes over from him, and destroys his life.

Jekyll and Hyde

There are many examples of these “Jekyll and Hyde” characters in modern American literature, but also European. Think of Kafka, of Arthur Schnitzler, even of Proust. The world of “brands” is also one of shadows, the obverse of the glamorous, standing between reality and illusions. We love our brands because we live in fear, fear to be “unglamorous”, left behind, grey creature in an undifferentiated world. Brands give us the illusion of colour, of brightness, as the song goes, of city lights. The most successful brands are persistent: Coca-Cola, the swastika (black sun seen everywhere in the opposite camps you know where), Mercedes star, Nike, many runes I won’t mention…

Brands are light chains that keep us tied to a world of shadows, from which we cannot escape. Plato’s cave.

Victor Ward: “the better you look, the more you see”