Fantasy sells. I've never read a book that so blatantly calls out our national philosophy: believe what you want, even if it isn't true, because everyone else is. Like many Americans, I was a victim of this philosophy when I was growing up, and still am in some respects. I was all aboard the New Age train and fell for some conspiracy theories. I listened to Coast to Coast AM, preached the Theosophists, drank some left wing kool-aid, which I admit still tastes good. I never saw an alien, but firmly believed they'd visited Earth. Worst of all, I was so immersed in video games, books, music, and movies that one could argue they became my reality.
But don't blame me, I'm just a product of my culture. In America there are all kinds of wacky fantasies jostling for our attention; all the billboards trying to reshape our lifestyles, the missionaries trying to convert us, the appeal of the occult for people who want to be different, the escapism of our wild entertainments- more extreme and artificial than anywhere else in the world. That is the goal of a consumerist culture. It strips you bear and reinvents a life for you.
Living in America, it's hard to see how the rest of the world is more firmly based in reality than we are. Our versions of the truth are usually based on what our media feeds us, media we unobjectively choose for our own liking. And the internet has given a jolt to this madness. I'm pretty sure Donald Trump would not have been elected without it. No other country in the world could have elected such a fantastic showman. That is what Fantasyland is about; how we got to this point in our weird story. I highly encourage every American to read it.
No comments:
Post a Comment