Talking about the darkness of American consumerism reminded me of the song "Wing$" by Macklemore. The current heart of darkness lies in our society's fascination with new Nike products, despite the damage their fame can cause.
The song sets up the binary of Nike to Adidas, with Nike being the dominant brand. Macklemore raps that his "friends couldn't afford [Nikes]. Four stripes on their Adidas" when talking about his new Nike shoes as a child. Macklemore also talks about wanting Nikes to be cool and have friends at school, even though he wasn't the best at basketball.
As the song progresses, Macklemore adds "And then my friend Carlos's brother got murdered for his Fours, woah." The heart of darkness surrounding the consumption of basketball shoes becomes more apparent here. In addition to his friend's brother being killed for Air Jordan IVs, the main character in the music video gets his Nike shoes stolen by a group of older boys.
However, the damage of the industry is hidden behind the idolization of famous basketball players, like Michael Jordan, who endorse Nike products. People are ignorant to the damage of the consumerism because of the popularity and exclusivity of Nike. Macklemore's realization of the problem is similar to Marlow's discovery of the insidious devil of greed and foolishness in Heart of Darkness. Ignorance and the desire to follow trends allow people to buy Nike without seeing the problem in its consumption. Macklemore ultimately sees the darkness in American consumerism and Nike, and he stops letting Nike products determine his worth.
Wow, great post. Its a very good connection and one that's different. I would've never realized that Macklemore and Heart of Darkness were related, but your post has convinced me. Nice.
ReplyDeleteI think this is really cool and a multilevel because the darkness is visible on the level in the post but also there's darkness in the Nike production. They often use child labor and unconventional ways to get their materials and people buy these expensive shoes while the people who made them can barely rub pennies together.
ReplyDeleteI think this is really cool and a multilevel because the darkness is visible on the level in the post but also there's darkness in the Nike production. They often use child labor and unconventional ways to get their materials and people buy these expensive shoes while the people who made them can barely rub pennies together.
ReplyDelete