- Joined
- Oct 11, 2020
Maybe describe how the thing looks like? Don't even know what simulacra is
Consoomers / Consoomer Culture - Because if it has a recogniseable brand on it, I’d buy it!
- Thread starter Spez
- Start date
-
🏰 The Fediverse is up. If you know, you know.
-
Want to keep track of this thread?
Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
Create account
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
It's an idea from sociologist Jean Baudrillard. You can read his writeup on it online (Simulacra and Simulations) but the TL;DR is there's this concept called "hyperreality" which is about the generation of shit that isn't actually real, and how that not-real shit ends up replacing reality and/or gaining its own existence.
When he originally wrote about all of this we didn't have things like the internet, so it was hard to provide concrete examples, but now we can summarize the entire concept surprisingly well with dumb memes:
When he originally wrote about all of this we didn't have things like the internet, so it was hard to provide concrete examples, but now we can summarize the entire concept surprisingly well with dumb memes:
First example that always comes to mind for me is "Disney Food". The stuff that's created just so you can take that photo for Instagram or make that TikTok video, then you toss the rest in the garbage, eat it out of guilt for spending money, or just hoover it up because you're an undiscerning hamplanet who lost the ability to properly taste sugar during the Bush administration.
The following are all from the official Disney Parks account:
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2020
Maybe uncanny valley or just that it looks out of place?
I get what you're talking about but I don't really know anything beyond all the simulacra stuff you've already posted, which was very interesting by the way. I have heard people talk about "fake" cities like Las Vegas or Dubai in this way, or tourist traps. Las Vegas doesn't bother me but the other examples you provided and theme parks do.
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2020
It's because all of these places, these things, they're generated purely to sate human vices rather than made over time through the buildup of culture. If you reject places like Vegas, Disney, then you are able to discern between actual reality and the manufactured one. I'd say I would agree with Vingle about the uncanny valley effect, but it's not entirely that. You know that these places are trying to sell you on an experience. They're made to look perfect, be perfect, stimulate you constantly with sights and sounds. More grounded places tend to not move at such a pace as these areas full of tourists coming in for a short while and then they're gone, as well.
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2021
I feel the same feeling of alienation in some shopping centers, especially in the larger one with several galleries, corridors, food courts, etc.
surely the uncanny valley factor and the overstimulation affect our perception, but I would go even further by saying that the discomfort comes from the fact that these are fundamentally unnatural places. they are communities without a community, designed to aggregate as many people as possible without, however, real contact between them.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2019
The real annoying consoomer boutique bluray posting is still a month away, a product of the July B&N 50% Criterion sale, but it's still unfortunately common to see posts like this where the person doesn't even bother showing the actual films they bought (it's listed somewhere in the comments) and rather flex the big $$$ amount.
Surprisingly, it's been met with some actual negative response considering it's being posted on r/boutiquebluray where big hauls are commonly posted and praised.
Surprisingly, it's been met with some actual negative response considering it's being posted on r/boutiquebluray where big hauls are commonly posted and praised.
Jimjamflimflam
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2020
It all feels fake. Everything is fake to make one big illusion.
Take the metaphysics pill and reject the illusionary world.
It's hard to talk about at times because it can make one sound like an elitist asshole but it's really not it. It's a dissatisfaction with the fakeness of everything
I posted earlier in this thread about waking up to my consumerism habits.
Take the metaphysics pill and reject the illusionary world.
It's hard to talk about at times because it can make one sound like an elitist asshole but it's really not it. It's a dissatisfaction with the fakeness of everything
I posted earlier in this thread about waking up to my consumerism habits.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2018
I think the concept you're looking for is simply "authenticity". That pot wasn't made on a potter's wheel and fired in a kiln - it's manufactured, not authentic. Those branded cafés aren't authentic cuisine, they're a manufactured and branded experience (unlike, for example, that little family-run restaurant in a small town in Italy that's not very expensive, where all the locals eat, and serves the freshest gnocchi you've ever tasted.) The tourist traps aren't authentic cultural exchange. The theme park isn't an authentic experience of an exotic location. The church in the strip mall doesn't give you the authentic and awe-inspiring experience of walking into a cathedral - it feels shallow and uninspiring, maybe even consumerist, like you're shopping for god along with your deli meats. They're all manufactured, artificial, flattened, superficial, knockoffs, and thin experiences - poor substitutes for the real thing.
Mepsi Pax
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2020
Funny what a difference a decade makes here. The old heads in 2012 couldn't even conceive of using LEDs to feeb your grow along. Nowadays, LED is king shit, and I'd theorize that you could get an "OK" growth rate for sprouts if you had enough battery-operated LEDs. Flashlights wouldn't be the best choice, it'd make more sense to use car batteries wired to higher output LED, but still.
Flashlights are good (not bad) but being a lightfag is definitely consoomer format shit. Flashlights are tools, it serves absolutely no purpose to have a bunch of them as an individual. You have a long-life one, an all-around, and a bitchin' high power motherfucker (pretty cool actually), and that's about it. Anything beyond that is just clutter. As gay as it is for these guys to wave the things around with other weirdos I do have fond memories of bringing a huge quadruple D-cell maglite with me to festival raves. You can tape a water bottle onto the end, put a few drops of dye in, and voila! High power portable rave lantern with manual strobe mode.
- Joined
- May 3, 2018
There was an essay that was going around a few years ago that coined the term "premium mediocre." (Archive) It isn't an exact match for what you're talking about, but it's not a totally dissimilar thing. Here's a brief excerpt that introduces the concept.
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2021
I have that same feeling too. You have large gatherings of people who don’t know each other showing off “look at my new expensive purse” when they think its some social status thing or something. I may not be rich or poor, but when I see a car, wither its a Mercedes, Lamborgini, Tesla, Toyoda, Honda, or a GAZ truck I just think that: If its a car, and it works and get me places, I dont care about anything else. Recently I had someone tell me that I’m wrong for thinking that all cars are just cars and serve a purpose. They claimed that back when they are young, they were ashamed to drive an old beat up car, while their friends drive newer cars.
When you ask everyone what is their dream car, They would ask Camero, Mustang, Lamborghini; I want a tank, or some ex-military vehicle like a Humvee.
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
Shit, "premium mediocre" really does get close to it. This is the closest I've seen.
This bit from the "Avocado Toast Paradox" section really brought it home for me.
Thanks, man!
You have a very good point for most of this, but a factor that gets to me and is why I have a hard time talking about it is that it's this step beyond just a lack of authenticity (or maybe less a "step beyond" than a "step to the side" or something.) Going back to the simulacrum thing, there is this a sublimation or replacement of the "real version" with these things; an unspoken "This is what you get, take it or leave it."
With the Disney restaurants[1], for example, that's it. That plastic "wonderland" is what you get. There is no "real" version of anything at those parks. Instead it's this weird half-creature between a fast-casual restaurant and a theme park attraction. I don't get the feeling I mentioned earlier when I see something like "The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast"[2], however, because that's clear about what it is; a ride with some cool animatronics and illusions.
With the Disney restaurants[1], for example, that's it. That plastic "wonderland" is what you get. There is no "real" version of anything at those parks. Instead it's this weird half-creature between a fast-casual restaurant and a theme park attraction. I don't get the feeling I mentioned earlier when I see something like "The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast"[2], however, because that's clear about what it is; a ride with some cool animatronics and illusions.
Thread content from the above
1. "Be Our Guest" Restaurant
General thread content: Having a cohesive "aesthetic" and lots of things that fit that aesthetic is an aspirational goal and a sign of wealth and class. Let's see what that looks like on TikTok.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2020
If #1 wasn't the same person as #3, I'd have said that just going for the "aesthetic" and having a reasonable amount of games for the switch isn't really consoomer behavior as much as an obsession with the theme, but then they had to come back in clip 3 with early onset consumption behavior plastered all over their room. The collection of anime figures is not a good sign, for sure. #2 is not as bad (as cluttered) but the amount of boots they're starting to acquire especially knowing how expensive they probably all are is concerning. This kind of nonsense is what is being normalized in gen zed's minds.
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2020
When people have Original Joycons it tells me something about them. They really only play docked or they don't play as much as they advertise. Those thing break so fast and there are numerous alternatives out there. My favorite are the gamecube joycons for like 40 bucks.
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
Third one is:
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2020
Here I am perfectly fine with the flashlight on my phone
It's just a bunch of cheap stuff that are bunched up together. I guess you can call it wealth, since the sum of cheap stuff adds up too. But class, not at all and you can see all the Ikea shit even thought it's covered in shit. Not all Ikea is bad, but most of it. You can see whether it's Ikea or not from a mile away.
To be fair, she's Asian. They are better at not making stuff not cringe.
Bitch's room look like your typical basic bitch's room, with a failed try to be quirky.
It looks like she has thrown in fake plants with the belief of that, it automatically becomes nice when you get plants.
AngeryBeans
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2018
Are those the PowerA ones? I'm looking for replacements but official joycons are 
. I only play handheld tho and a separate controller annoys me.
. I only play handheld tho and a separate controller annoys me.
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2020
This girl and the others in the extras perfectly showcase the difference between associating your identity with something and becoming overtly obsessed with it. They could just have a few things relating to their 'hobby', but instead make their entire rooms dedicated to nonsense they've probably barely read and plastering everything with popular nonsense. The first girl is about the worst of it here, especially with their obvious obsessive need to justify it to themselves. The "fake gamer girl" video, which I'm sure barely anybody even said to her, has her trying to justify her purchase of a massive gaming desktop by showing... what I assume is the 'game' Dream Daddy, a visual novel that you could run on a potato, and dead by daylight, which while I'm sure is unoptimized doesn't require a rig that probably includes a 3080 and a top tier cpu. There is for sure no reason to spend thousands of dollars on such a setup. Though looking at the shit she's got in it it's probably mostly cost due to aesthetic with all the expensive RGB nonsense up to and including an actual screen on her cpu cooler that probably costs 200 dollars alone. And when was the movie theatre one recorded to the point that her and all her friends are still wearing the mask? Her annoyance with the anti vax protesters is palpable as well. The amount of figures she's collecting is insane too. If you need little drawers just to organize the amount of parts you have left over from what are essentially plastic statues maybe you should consider slowing down. Going away from her stuff the video that includes funko pops as part of an 'anime room' thing is funny. I wonder how much money from those hell demons actually goes back to the studios that got paid for the license rather than the western side like Crunchyroll that barely helps the industry if not actively hurting it. And then the "LGBT shelf" which mangas actually have trannies in them? Guessing this is more identity projecting where they see a character that isn't actively insanely feminine as a girl or is just androgynous as either sex and thus they're somehow trans or non binary. Like Japanese companies are actually pandering to your tiny minority.
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2015
I do like how they're embracing the tacky 90's aesthetic with the decor and the Sonny Eclipse show. I thought a lot of things at Disney World looked outdated when I was there but after seeing the excesses of modern corporate friendly minimalist hell over the years I'd take the outdated decor any day.
If she needs makeup she could at least have made sure it matches her skin's undertone.
That first girl in the extras...there's no way any girls actually like Zero Two, she's a character for lonely horny weebs. That's why these girls come off as fake, their pink weeb aesthetic looks manufactured as hell. Contrast that with the first one under the spoiler who I can buy as being a legit weeb thanks to all the BL stuff she has and the interest in characters/manga that get a lot of fangirls (but she's not a problematic fujo she has a LGBT shelf!)