Thread by @owenbroadcast

as this is the most epically boring thing everyone is trotting out to beat with a stick now ill happily take a contrarian position. past a certain point in the history of visual culture you cant really fully dismiss things as being “just commercial” or meant to sell something.

https://twitter.com/datingsims/status/1409175591450906629

suppose the most solid position to take here for an online discourse would be that all video game art is also meant to sell something (the video game), so, in order for this to be a cohesive position u have to say that any emotional reaction to art meant to sell something is bad

you could even take it further back and say, so, any art commissioned to put forth something is dumb now? or is it just bad to see it as embodying a vibe that youd like to partake of. because i dont smoke cigarettes but this image rules. qualitatively its in the same department:

in fact most (or at least many many) things mucha did were essentially ads. people still hang them up in their room though because of the vibe.

ofc none of this matters because the “muh 1950s ads trads” thing is basically made up, theres almost no one actually like that, its just the safest thing for people to trot out + make fun of, but if thats the case then purely in the interest of being contrarian ill defend it sure

also in the interest of being contrarian ill say that this caricature of a person doesnt exist. not real. been on weirdo internet forever + i cant think of anyone whose worldview is derived from 1950s ads. if they “like” them its bc of what it signals as part of something larger

no BAD nostalgia
[1940s / 1950s ads, women in classic clothes, black and white stuff]

only GOOD nostalgia
[ads and tv shows from my childhood, retro video games, the 1980s and 1990s]

“actually uh, you probably never even thought about this at all, ever, but, no one historical era is totally perfect”

oh also as long as we are on this topic the same people performatively trotting out a caricature of people saying the 1950s etc were good to flagellate will also turn on a dime when it comes to how easy boomers had it and how cheap college was etc, its a purely signaling position

thank you for coming to my morning conference on the semiotics of faux outrage at imagined 1950s ad obsession in the current very online discourse, on your way out be sure to grab a free toaster, skinny tie, or one of those hats women used to wear, its a weird shape, u know (gm)

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 woaaaaaah there buddy, was someone in this car using commercial media to enshrine and obsess over an imagined socio-cultural situation that has nothing to do with their real life??

“sorry officer, its not 1950s ads, its modern pop culture”

oh alright, move along then