University of Virginia Library

Walter Bardenwerper

Kitsch And Capitalism

There is a difference between
hyperbole and gaudy trash. Parson
Weems' adulation of George
Washington prompted his story of
little George and the cherry tree.
While the story was all part of a
great mythology, at least it
manifested good taste. A local
restaurant puts its strawberry pie
on sale in order to attract
consumers' dollars. As advertising,
that gimmick is designed to have
popular appeal. It also reeks with
poor taste. It is a classic of kitsch.

Kitsch is an increasingly familiar
ingredient of advertising. One needs
only to drive along Tennessee
highways or watch television
commercials directed at the
housewife to recognize the extent
to which kitsch has proliferated.
One of the most intense kitsch
campaigns of all times occurred
right here in Charlottesville last
week.

The occasion, was George
Washington's neobirthday. Even the
most sporadic radio listener had the
opportunity to hear the ghost of
our founding father plug a store,
his dear wife endorse a restaurant,
or an anonymous voice announce
the reduction in the price of
deodorant in honor of our great
first president. Judging by the
patronage some of the merchants
received that day, it would be
utterly fallacious to say that this
superfluity of gaudy trash was
futile. Dollars were made, and no
doubt the advertising was the
reason.

Commercial Hypocrisy

There are three reasons why this
is all so depressing. The first is the
susceptibility of the modern
American mind to any method to
save or earn a dollar, even at the
price of insulting each other's
intelligence. For, the only reason
the propagation of this vacuous,
popularized rubbish is perpetuated,
is that we are willing to buy the
products it displays. This is, in
itself, a reason to despair. It is hard
to believe in the integrity of minds
that create and employ this drivel,
but harder to accept the fact that
we have fallen prey to it.

The second reason for our
remorse is even more disastrous to
the society. The appalling truth is
that the very people who
disseminate this kitsch are those
who cry, "disrespectful little
bastard!" when they see a
motorcycle helmet decorated in the
American Flag motif, or a 'Would
You Buy A Used Car From This
Man?" poster of Richard Nixon.
The hypocrisy is blatant, but
somehow they manage to justify
the double-standard. It is
acceptable to plaster tasteless
billboards advertising. "Big Tex's
Monster Farm" along beautiful
countryside or tell our mother to
follow the advice of a "white
tornado" or "Man from Glad"
when they go shopping because
these things keep the wheels of
commerce in action. But the
destruction of a few acres of
donated farm land for a rock
concert in New York or Wisconsin
is the work of a degenerate
generation.

Tasteless Use of Names

Now, either George Washington
is a revered name in American
history or he is not. If main street
merchants, in the search for more
consumers' dollars can tastelessly
employ his name to further their
objective, it is unfair to say that it
is any more un-American to wear
the flag on one's motorcycle
helmet. That is not to laud either.
It is to classify both with other
hopelessly entrenched American
kitsch like Miss America pageants,
plastic statues of Jesus, or metal
plaques of President Kennedy with
price tags plastered on his face.

Kitsch, especially for profit, is
the product of a sick mentality. But
the acceptance of it without protest
is no less sick. The really
unfortunate thing is that so many
once imaginative minds, and so
much money needed elsewhere is
devoted to the production of this
kind of unwanted debris. The
supposed guardians of the
American economy devote millions
to the amusement of the public
who can afford to enjoy such
affluence, while the economic
benefits of creating more
purchasing power for those who
need essentials are secondary
considerations at best. How an
allegedly well-educated citizenry
can tolerate this revolution of poor
taste is incredible.

The technology of the electronic
and computer age has created ever
more sophisticated forms of visual
and audio trash. It is time to melt
the wax museums, to ignore the
neon monstrosities, to boycott
beauty contests, and to inform
merchants in plain language ($) of
just how inane and disgusting most
of their advertising is.