Abishai100
VIP Member
- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,957
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This is a modernism vignette inspired by the film The Player.
Cheers,
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James Dean and Farah Fawcett were luminous offbeat media celebrities (actors) who died but left the legacy of a Hollywood and TV industry more or less 'enriched' by the gold-foil Dean and Fawcett left behind. The 'gold-foil' of course is an allusory reference to the 'aesthetics-oriented' modern trend in film-making and media, one that caters to a social demand more for conversational pizazz than philosophical calculations. Was this the legacy of Jack Kerouac or Alfred Hitchcock? Who knows? What is certain is that entertainment was changing...and so were toys!
The 1980s was a boom in consumerism-consciousness and the controversial Reaganomics altered the way society pundits talked about mass-mobilization of moneys in a developed civilization that was nevertheless democratic-capitalist (not socialist-communist). The various media 'gadgets and toys' sold during the 'Big '80s' included JVC/Aiwa stereos, RadioShack batteries, laser-disc cinema, and of course, compact audio cassettes (for Sony Walkmans!). Stockbrokers carried Walkmans like Prozac/Tylenol. There were two 'aesthetics-trends' in compact audio cassette design --- clear/transparent and laminated/colored. Some called this the 'Mechanical vs. Cosmetics' division-bell.
Fans of James Dean leaned towards the classical-mechanical clear/transparent aesthetic in compact audio cassette design, while fans of Farah Fawcett leaned towards the fashion-cosmetic laminated/colored aesthetic in compact audio cassette design. This became known as the Great Dean-Fawcett Media War, and the ironic 'players' in the debate-discussion included Sydney Pollack, Tom Cruise, Steve Jobs, Ralph Lauren, and Gore Vidal. There were editorials in People Magazine, the New Yorker, and even MAD Magazine about the value of differentiating between aesthetics contours in media-toy design. Everyone genuinely cared about glamour.
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Cheers,
====
James Dean and Farah Fawcett were luminous offbeat media celebrities (actors) who died but left the legacy of a Hollywood and TV industry more or less 'enriched' by the gold-foil Dean and Fawcett left behind. The 'gold-foil' of course is an allusory reference to the 'aesthetics-oriented' modern trend in film-making and media, one that caters to a social demand more for conversational pizazz than philosophical calculations. Was this the legacy of Jack Kerouac or Alfred Hitchcock? Who knows? What is certain is that entertainment was changing...and so were toys!
The 1980s was a boom in consumerism-consciousness and the controversial Reaganomics altered the way society pundits talked about mass-mobilization of moneys in a developed civilization that was nevertheless democratic-capitalist (not socialist-communist). The various media 'gadgets and toys' sold during the 'Big '80s' included JVC/Aiwa stereos, RadioShack batteries, laser-disc cinema, and of course, compact audio cassettes (for Sony Walkmans!). Stockbrokers carried Walkmans like Prozac/Tylenol. There were two 'aesthetics-trends' in compact audio cassette design --- clear/transparent and laminated/colored. Some called this the 'Mechanical vs. Cosmetics' division-bell.
Fans of James Dean leaned towards the classical-mechanical clear/transparent aesthetic in compact audio cassette design, while fans of Farah Fawcett leaned towards the fashion-cosmetic laminated/colored aesthetic in compact audio cassette design. This became known as the Great Dean-Fawcett Media War, and the ironic 'players' in the debate-discussion included Sydney Pollack, Tom Cruise, Steve Jobs, Ralph Lauren, and Gore Vidal. There were editorials in People Magazine, the New Yorker, and even MAD Magazine about the value of differentiating between aesthetics contours in media-toy design. Everyone genuinely cared about glamour.
====
