Gary--Jameson

The reading assignment on Fredric Jameson was an incredible amount of material to digest. After a second reading, I felt that Jameson might also suffer from a breakdown in the same "Signifying Chain" that he dwelled upon on page 499-501.
Jameson's work was separated into many different sections, with the last few attempting to connect everything together. I was able to comprehend enough to at least draw some conclusions from his theories. (I think!)

Jameson's section titled "The Nostalgia Mode" made some very significant arguments. He said that "the eclecticism of postmodern architecture, which randomly and without principle but with gusto cannibalizes all the architectural styles of the past and combines them into overstimulating ensembles" (pg. 494-495). This is prevalent in many of our buildings, houses, and restaurants that attempt to capture the "good old days" of the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's and serve them in a frozen space along with all of the techno goods of the 21st century. We have restaurants that try to mimic the architecture and the idealism of this past era. Sonic Drive Inn, with its drive-in roller skating service (but you can use your debit card right from your car). Steak and Shake with its nostalgic design and soda fountain drinks (put some vanilla in a coke and whoosh....1950 re-visited). Johnny Rockets, where you get a thin, greasy cheeseburger served wrapped in a frosted sheet of wax paper (but you can flip the menu over to find out fat content and carbs so you can stay on your South Beach Diet). Why do we have to live in the past? Remember it, use it, IMPROVE it and move on. The auto industry is finally grasping this idea. The new Mustang with body lines from 1966, but 2006 technology. GM soon to follow with the re-release of the Camaro with body lines from 1969, but technological improvements and comfort of the 21st century.

Jameson says that "American Graffiti set out to recapture, as so many films have attempted since, the henceforth mesmerizing lost reality of the Eisenhower era: and one tends to feel that for Americans at least, the 1950's remain the privileged lost object of desire" (Pg 495). The 1950’s through the 1970’ have been portrayed to the newer generations of a period when times were at their best. Although I cannot speak for the fifties, I can think back to my teenage years of the late sixties and early seventies. Although I have few complaints regarding my adolescent years, I would rather be a teenager today then the late sixties. Why is this a "lost object of desire? Its desirable because of the way our current society portrays it, mimics it (in their own may) and presents it to us in a neatly wrapped package. The current technology alone makes the sixties appear stone age. The American Graffiti images of the 1950's do not reflect the truth. Although the cars and styles are accurate representations, it was a society that suffered with its own world problems similar to our current situation. Many of these issues are conveniently left out of the media that portrays these times as "Happy Days".

The current craze, i.e. "The 70's Show" puts teenagers from Wisconsin without a care in the world as they stumble through relationships, attend rock concerts, and get stoned in their parent’s basement. We will just forget about Viet Nam, Kent State, Watergate....and that little detail where our President was forced to resign. But those were the happy days that we try to emulate in our architecture, communities, and lifestyle. My world of the late sixties had gas prices higher than today (adjusted for inflation), Higher unemployment, more health issues, 18% mortgage rates, and limited access to student loans, but I could drive my big block Camaro over to Dog n Suds and get a texas burger, and a frosty mug of Root Beer while listening to Jimi Hendrix scream about purple haze across the loud speakers. Try to get that experience at Celebration Disney or Johnny Rockets :)

I spent my teenage years reading daily articles in the Chicago Today newspaper about the horrors and atrocities that our troops were going through in Viet Nam. How ironic.......thirty six years later and I'm reading about the similar atrocities, except its on CNN.com and now I'm able to watch streaming video of a 100,000 pound bunker buster bomb decimate an al Qaeda safehouse. Great.....just what I've always wanted.