Clichés: How We Interact With Popular Notions
How Influence of Media and Society is a two way control game.
by Klawdya Rothschild

What do we know about the term clichés? It is a stronger term than motto, or "saying". It can denote a state of being, and it is so reinforced that it can go without saying. Clichés represent the extreme, archetypal people, places, or things and they exemplify one of two areas of cognition: the general psyche of the culture that coined it, or it can influence the character of the culture it is introduced to.

Which came first, the tradition or the cliché? Why are there still punks, and why are they rebellious? Why are there still mopey goths? Why do we all know famous catch phrases, and share similar paranoia, and precautions? Clichés take many forms, from racial profiling, to speech patterns, genres, decor, style, behavior...pretty much all aspects of the human condition.

Just like other shared concepts, such as law, taboo, and mores, clichés are established within a society in an attempt to have a degree of slap-dash awareness. This also works to try and keep everyone homogenous, because clichés help to form those prejudices and concepts that lead to taboo, law, mores etc. Acceptance of "normality" and ultimately compliance with these clichés is the most beneficial to a society, because it can classify you for appropriate use. 2.5 kids, home owning/mortgage, rebellious teens: all of these things play a part in supporting our system, and validate its laws and safety checks; giving rise to insurance corporations, police departments etc. Why did the city pump crack into the ghettoes? To help assign a need for NavyÍs little war, make the government look effective. Why is it ok that we think our delegates are fucking up? Because now it is a cliché to dislike members of our government. It is no longer, which candidate is better, but which one isn't worst. It is only when enough people have a specific dislike for a candidate that he/she is in trouble. This generalized common dislike allows more breathing room for them to do what they want, since no firm opposition will be raised.

The government often employs clichés for their own gains. Once the system has its plastic fantastic leaders overemphasize some movement, or phrase they lose their meaning, or overwhelm it with narrowed disinformation. This makes genuine protests meaningless, and trivial government issues popular. Take United We Stand. While it came about in reaction to a serious crisis of onslaught against the US, this terrorism thing is not new, but this new mandatory patriotism is. I have seen more ridiculous flag stickers and t-shirts displayed now than in a lifetime of July 4ths only because you are almost considered subversive if you aren't actively working for patriot brainwashing. What if we still want to exercise our constitutional right to burn our own flag? We are then promoting terrorism, we are now treasonists. Are we returning to McCarthyism? Kill a commie for mommy, in the new millennium? This is not just a trend, this spurred legislative actions.

Free thinking is often misconstrued as subversion. It questions clichés, but does not necessarily discount them. Clichés are valid to a point, but taken beyond novelty they typically are negative uses. Saying C'est la vie is not an excuse to act horribly. C'est la vie should not be a way to live, but only something to say when there is no other explanation for the occurrence of something, if someone needs reassurance.

Clichés can be true, and they can also be exaggerated truth, or half-truth. Do not let them influence your outlook. Acknowledge why the cliché exists, and how it became a cliché, and always control your own thoughts. DECREASE MEDIA MIND CONTROL!

Klawdya Rothschild is a writer, multimedia artist and professional dominatrix. She currently lives in Pittsburg PA, where she runs an artist organization called Property Project. If you would like to learn more about her, you can go to her website at: www.propertyproject.org