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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
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