The presidential inauguration allowed for the consumption of food and drink to be mythicized, following Barthes’ notion of inoculation. The consumption of food and drink as a ritual is a comparatively fleeting experience in the realm of of the inauguration itself. However, judging by the amount of food and drink that was consumed throughout inauguration, we can say that not too many people resisted to the idea. Food became part of the culture, part of the experience and inoculation from any counter-logic allowed for the masses to justify out of the ordinary spending habits and commemorative purchases in way that was largely unquestioned.
Examples:
1.) PEPSI PRODUCTS: The Pepsi company has so obviously manipulated their logo to look like that of the Obama campaign (the “faux-bama” logo). Also, the company has gone so far as to put the Obama campaign slogans and put them on pins, replacing all of the “o’s” with their "faux-bama" logo. If you couldn't read, you'd probably think that the can was made by Obama himself.
2.) FIXED PRICE MENUS: $44 dollar three course menus and $44 bottles of wine in honor of our 44th president. In this instance, the swipe of a credit card is the end of your patriotic experience.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Does the inauguration mythicize the food itself or does the food and its adoption of Obama as a means of promotion further mythify Obama or change him in some way? Another angle would be to address how this might feed (no pun intended) a sense of national identity.
ReplyDeleteMake sure that your evidence supports your argument. Do the "faux-bama" and the $44 menus support the same argument?