Jameson and the Wizard of Oz

Since we're talking about Jameson in class again tomorrow, I thought I'd write about him. When reviewing my section in class, pages 425-433, Jameson spoke a lot about Bonaventura and how it's this hotel that is representative of something bigger. It has glass mirrors on the exterior to repel whats outside and it hides what is going on inside. "A repulsion for which we have analogies in those reflector sunglasses which make it impossible for your interlocutor to see your own eyes and thereby achieve a certain aggressivity towards and power over the Other." Then he talks about the elevators inside. "Here the narrative stroll has been underscored, symbolized, reified and replaced by a transportation machine which becomes the allegorical signifier of that older promenade we are no longer allowed to conduct on our own..." 

After trying to dissect what Jameson said, I believe that he's paralleling the Bonaventura with capitalism and how greatly it impacts our world without us even being conscious of it. We don't really know what goes on behind the scenes, but we are active consumers that help capitalism thrive and that is what our world has become. 

This made me think of The Wizard of Oz.

In the movie, the Emerald City contains this shiny green building where the great and powerful Oz works. No one has ever seen the wizard of Oz, and no one really knows what he does, but he controls those around him and they actively and passively obey without question. That's how capitalism works. We are programmed to be consumers, regardless of if we know exactly what is going on behind the scenes or not, and it runs our world. It has power and control over us. It practically makes our decisions before we even have a chance to make them ourselves.

Sorry Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.