More Than What We See

John Jung

1/14/13

DCM

More Than What We See

          On a Saturday morning, my friends and I decided to walk to Woodland Mall to look around and I needed to get some lotions for my dry skin. The weather was really cold outside so walking to the mall was devastating, but as soon as we got it the weather was really warm just how Jon Pahl stated in his book, Shopping Malls and Other Sacred Spaces: Putting God into Place, how it was a "climate-controlled indoor shopping centers." Almost gave me the feeling of being at home and excitement and curiosity started to feel up inside me like entering a castle. You would never know what to expect to see or come out. I kept in mind that I had to observe around the mall, for different signs that the video Persuaders and the book talked about. 

          The first thing I see as soon as I enter the mall is a huge hallway leading to the center of the mall. On the floor there are white tiles, as if it was giving an illusion of "Stairway to Heaven," and in the middle there are huge four pillars, as if it was a sacred temple. There are also trees inside the mall and everything is really bright as if nothing can go wrong. I personally love shopping for my clothes so I would come to the mall quite frequently, but never have I ever before noticed such things in the mall. That's when I realized how I am so accustomed to this things that I don't even realize what's inside the mall.

          While I started to observer the mall more closely, I started to get sick in my stomach. I started to realize how much I was lured into different shops just by looking at the signs even though I didn't need anything in the shops. Some of the example signs said, "Ask about the 7's for EXTRA SAVINGS!" This sign especially brought me curiosity toward the shop, and another I realized was that they were using the number 7. In the book Rahl talks states that mall, "disorient us, by using natural and religious symbols and spatial patterns in an enclosed indoor setting, and then reorient us toward one or another of the purveyors of goods." This sign matched exactly what he said, and using the number seven represented the day of God's rest.   

  

      From today's experience I have a whole different perspective on things that are on the malls. As if I was blind from love, I didn't realize this signs were all disorienting us. Some things that I bought were face lotion and facial wash from Macy's, and the reason I bought them were because I needed them for my acne and dry skin from the weather, nothing special. 

Sonder

In all honesty - as much as fell like a slave to advertisements - I love the mall. I love finding shoes at journeys for 75% off, I love finding "ill" bro-tanks at pac-sun and pretending I can pull them off, I love walking into the north face and imagining how nice it would be to wear a six hundred dollar coat during that trip to the summit of K2 that I'll (probably) never go on. But by far the most intriguing part of the mall is the people. I love watching parents who bring their children to Chuck-E-Cheese either because it's their child's birthday, or because they - for some reason - feel it's okay for a giant mouse in desperate need of dental work to do their parenting for them (maybe that's a bit harsh, but that mouse was the embodiment of nightmares for a young me). I love watching elderly gentlemen enter stores like Nordstrom Rack, to buy yet another Italian-leather belt, because the according to the store's advertisements it's a wise way to spend your dwindling retirement funds. And then there's horde of middle aged women seeking ways to stay young crowded the fancy tea-shop in the mall that sells tea of a obviously much higher quality than that of Tazo or Bigelow - I mean there's unlimited free samples, and it's packed full of anti-oxidants and other words randomly chosen from a medical dictionary, how could it not be the best tea possible? But perhaps no store is more intriguing for me than stores such as Hot Topic. For me, I see Hot Topic as nothing more than a way for teenagers to rebel against the man, large business, wall street, and advertisement, by giving in to advertisement. Again, maybe that's a bit cynical, but it bothers me when people walk out of the store wearing shirts with blatantly obvious sexual innuendos or unnecessary swear words, or a picture of a completely naked woman across the front of it. Like I said, I see it as a sad way for people to feel as if they are rebelling against society.

But then, I couldn't help feel the weight of each and every person that passed by me. All of them were living lives. Lives with the same curiosities, strife, anger, joy, and blandness as mine. Each of them lived a deeply intricate and complex life with their own reasons for buying what they buy, and in awe of this amazing and weighty fact, I couldn't help but sit on a bench and smile in amazement. 

Trip to the Mall

On the trip to Woodland Mall this weekend, I remembered how John Pahl describes malls as "disorienting." The "enclosed indoor setting" is full of signs, colors, and sights to distract you and grab your attention.  Like in The Persuaders movie, I would agree that the mall is cluttered; there is so much surrounding you, you do not even know what to look at. Not only are the storefronts crowded next to each other, but the stands in the middle of the walkway take up every available space, so you are always looking at something new. As if it is a religion, the mall competes for consumers’ loyalty. By portraying joyful or suave picture of people, it promises that you will look better and feel good about yourself if you buy that brand. The mall offers to provide for all your needs: stylish clothes, delicious food, and of course, the essential accessories. Chairs and couches invite you to sit and rest, so you can stay as long as you would like.

I noticed the vegetation like Pahl talked about: there were trees in vases or green bushes on top of dividing walls. Most of the plants were fake though, which only added to the uneasy, surreal feeling of the shopping place. I did not see any water in this particular mall but I definitely saw lights. Neon signs were very prominent, sometimes within the store as well. I even noticed that some shelves/ tables had lights on the surface as a backdrop for the clothes that were on top. Looking at the many stores and signs, I thought about the Persuaders movie and wondered how much thought and careful planning was put into the design and setup in order to capture people’s attention. The only thing I purchased was food, because my friend and I had planned to eat dinner there. 

Woodland Mall

I'm personally not a big fan of malls because I find online shopping more convenient and usually cheaper. When I do go, I find myself not paying attention to anything else other than my phone or ipod while I follow my companions around. But this time, I left them in my pocket and “explored” Woodland mall. The mall did seem like a church, especially those newly renovated mega churches with bright lightings, glossy tiles and very welcoming people. I didn't know what to do, so I just walked into the apple store and immediately a guy with a blue t-shirt approached me. He asked how I was doing and if I was looking for something particular. I told the guy I was just looking around and he lead me to the latest iPad mini and began talking about the specifics and the reasons why it was awesome. I realized that this guy seemed like those new comer's ushers at church who don't tell new comers to “believe God” right away the same way the guy didn't say “buy the iPad” the moment we met. Instead, the two asks about their guests and gradually talked them into why the iPad or faith was awesome. Both had the same way of approaching with their “products”. Another similarity is that although the mall seems secularized, according to Loy in Jon Pahl's reading, both the modern world and church have the “identical future-oriented hope...[just as the] sixteenth-century Protestants trusted in grace to get them to heaven; modern capitalists trust in the market to get them prosperity” (68). 
Something that I have not noticed before was the amount of advertisements posted all around the mall. From the Persuaders, the question asking about the amount of advertisements and what it would seem like if somethingelse replaced them struck me. So I paid particular attention to the ads as I eye shopped the many stores. Very quickly, I was surprised by how much room ads took up at each store and I couldn't imagine what the area would look like without ads. And really, these ads may be helpful in that “they show you what's out there” as one of our classmates stated, but it can also be harmful in seducing the consumers to buy their products which are on “sale”. Most people react to sale advertisements by thinking, “I need to buy something because it's cheaper” when really you don't need them and the advertisers are still making good profit. Pahl also writes that, “Their(the malls') primary damage is to the human heart and mind. But of course these negative features of malls are all maksed by their promises of prosperity” (67). I ended up leaving Woodland mall without buying anything as usual, but I did have a whole different experience. 

Mall Trip

In visiting the mall after watching the Persuaders and reading John Pahl, I noticed new things. I’ve worked at The Gap for several years so I know how most clothing stores work. Visiting my work after watching the Persuaders, I noticed some of the ideals that the Gap tries to associate with their clothing. The Gap has been around forever so they advertise and sell their products by creating the idea that these clothes are reliable, all-American clothes. Working there, I know that this isn’t true. The clothing is over-priced, rips easily, and never made in America.

A newer trend that I’ve noticed in younger stores than the Gap is overwhelming the costumer with myriads of clothing, which aren’t organized into any meaningful order. Forever 21, H&M, and Rue 21 all have this method of confusing customers. There is not possible way to walk into these stores looking for something specific without bumping into twenty other items of clothing that you at least want to try on.

The only thing I purchased during this trip to the mall was a polish change at a nail salon. The main reason I didn’t buy anything else is because I was focused on studying the mall, not looking for clothing or other things. Also I had just purchased a pair of loafers from Salvation Army so I wasn’t looking to buy anything else.

One way I saw the mall functioning as a church or belief-system was the facade that the stores are just looking out for your best interest. They just want to sell you the best product at the best price. Victoria Secret and other stores had signs advertising deals where you have to spend more to save more. They don’t care if you go into debt “saving” money. They just want you to buy their product. 

Visiting the woodland mall after reading the John Pahl reading and watching the Persuaders was interesting. The first few things I concentrated on as I walked through the mall were the spiritual elements, water, light, trees, and music, which Pahl mentioned in the reading. The lighting in Macy’s were similar to the lighting described by Pahl; representing energy by shedding bright light. What was interesting was that products directly off the side of the passageways were beamed with much brighter light which drew the attention of even a “just passing by” customers. Similar light were used in the Apple store as well. The lighting made the atmosphere which was bright and energetic.

One interesting thing I noticed in the Apple store though was that the workers in the Apple store were all wearing the same cloths, each possessing some kind of a communication device attached to their ears. This reminded me of the agents in the movie Matrix. The three agents communicated with each other through the same communication device in their ears which they used to keep control of the matrix and to keep/trap people in the matrix. The Apple workers also used the ear pieces to communicate to each other to occupy each and every customer’s mind in the store and to advertise their products, which could also explain why there are so many people in the Apple store all the time.

I also noticed that there were trees grown in the Starbucks café area and in some resting spots in the mall. Pahl suggests that growing things represent the human desire to experience growth and new life. Although I do agree with this statement, I felt like the trees made me more comfortable isolated from all the marketing that is going around me. Like mentioned in class before, the more plugged in we are, the more unplugged we want to be. Because there are so many advertisements and the mall had materialized environment, I felt more unplugged and distant from it when I was surrounded by trees and plants. I felt like people find rest in nature since we did come from the nature.

The things I noticed in the mall after watching the Persuaders was the use of languages on some of the exterior of many stores which drew me into the store. The sign “SALE! UP TO %50 OFF!” or “BUY ONE GET ONE FREE” always seems to get people’s attention. As one of the experts who studied language in advertisement said, the careful choices of language in the advertisement of products and news articles can drastically affect the people who are confronted with it. Signs that stores put out was one of the main things that always gets my attention. I visited at least five stores because if the signs put out by the stores.

Another element I noticed in the mall from the Persuaders is the human desire to belong and be accepted in a group. I visited a hat store because of the sign sale sign put out by the store. However, I saw people purchasing the hats because they liked the sports team which was on the hat. As mentioned in the movie the Persuaders about people wanting to be a part of the “Saturn Family,” people in the hat store wanted to only buy hats with certain team’s logo on it. The want to belong in a team and become a part of the team affected largely on which hat product a customer purchased. The design of other team’s hats didn’t matter. For many, it only has to be a Lakers hat or the Michigan State hat.

The sense of belonging also exists in other stores was well. Personally, I realized that I have only bought Adidas or Nike shoes. I don’t buy from GAP and all my V-necks are from American Eagle. Like myself, I was able to notice that although there are many stores selling similar products, people choose to go to certain stores for the sake of the brand.

The hands on experience of visiting the woodland mall made me realize many faults in how people shop for products and how people are getting manipulated by the advertisement and the spiritual surrounding that the mall portrays. 

Incredible Efficiency... For a Price

In the movie "King Corn" two city-boys from Boston decide to find out where their food comes from.  Upon finding that an incredible amount of food comes from corn they decide to see where it comes from.  The documentary portrays their journey to Iowa where they have decided to plant an acre of the product.  They are aided by local farmers in the tending of their crop as it grows.  While waiting for the harvest the partners, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis follow the trail of corn to see where it goes. They find that most corn used as animal feed.  For this reason they visit a large beef operation.  The cattle there are kept in feed lots to restrict their movements and aid in the fattening process.  They are also fed a diet consisting of  sixty percent corn, and corn products, which helps them attain market weight in a third of the time.  After this adventure Ian and Curt attempt to see how corn syrup is made.  They are not allowed into the plant, but they are able to make some of their own at home.  It displays the irony that although farmers produce more cops than ever before, many cannot feed themselves with what they grow, because it needs to be processed first.  Another trend shown in the movie was the consolidation of farmland under the largest farmers.  The smaller farmers were being squeezed out.  I have noticed this trend myself as the little farm I have worked for in past summers struggles to turn a profit each year.

This movie shows the startling, yet unsurprising revelation that people don't care where "it" comes from so long as it is cheap and it works, no matter what "it" is.  This is a bit frightening in the food industry.  No one seems to care what they consume, even if it is bad for them.  This is a problem considering that there is no incentive for farmers to switch crops, as they can make money much more easily on corn than anything else they could grow, especially in the plains states. Yet even with corn the farmers would loose money if not for the government subsidies that augment their profits.  Because of this system people can feed themselves more inexpensively than anyone else in history.  It must then be weighed: is it worth the cost.

Woodland Mall

Going to the Woodland Mall was both an endeavor and an ordeal. It was quiet out when I walked in, and immediately was introduced by the noisy music from the stores, the waxed marble flooring, and the middle-aged women brushing past with their name-plated brands clutched in their fists. Macy's was especially kitschy, gaudy, and all the workers wore their best heels and dangly earrings, ready to show me the path to the clothing rack that was most appeasing to me. I looked at the advertising concepts that the store offered. "50-75% off!" on a red tag glacially swooped its way across the store.

Being from a small town in Texas, I'm not used to big city complications; when I was a child I wandered off from my mother in a shopping mall and the whole building had to shut down just to find me, who was oblivious of ever roaming off. Malls have always been a memory of crying mothers trying to find their children and shopping racks as unintentional, fun places to stow away. This weekend, I honestly got lost trying to find my way out - I knew where I parked my car and I knew where I came in. Regardless, after 15 minutes of going in circles, I embarrassingly asked a man at an information desk to point me the way. This reminds me of being in a mega church, with completely no idea which parking lot your car is in or where to sit. I left being exhausted by the amount of energy given to simply trying to find someone I knew to answer questions. There was only the lull of celebrity-driven culture, and the movement to be more if you have more. It was reflected in Paul's assertion on page 71 that, "Malls communicate the 'spirit' of the market through a comm formula. They disorient us by using natural and religious symbols and spatial patterns in an enclosed indoor setting, and then reorient us toward one or another of the purveyors of goods."

Giving Dignity back to the Native Americans

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-06-08/film/reel-injun-dances-with-wolves-and-other-stereotypes/

                “Reel Injun” shares an apocalyptic view of how Indians are portrayed in the films. It reveals the stereotypes that are covering up the identity of the Native American people portrayed in all the films that have come out in the past century. What is the first idea that comes to most people’s heads when they think about the Indians? Free spirited? Drunkards? A group of brown skinned people hooting and hollering around a fire? All these stereotypes deny the true character of these people. This movie opens up the idea that Indians aren’t what we see on the movie screens, that they are a people just like us that have a culture and traditions. I saw this movies as an eye opening experience that helped break stereotypes that I had stuck in my brain. Other people see this movie in other, less flattering terms. Andrew Schenker of The Village Voice critiques the movie by saying that it “lacks the faintest idea of how to pack it all into 85 minutes of screen time.” He goes on to critique the length of time spent on each of the topics inside the video. He does give credit to the movie or unearthing a few tidbits of trivia, but that is about all the credit he gives the movie. I do not agree with Schenker because I believe the movie spent ample time on each segment and had it spent any more time on the segments it would have become lengthy and drawn out. The movie, in my opinion, hit the points it wanted to hit with enough clarity as to leave the audience with a newfound idea of the terrible nature in which Indians are portrayed in cinema.

                This movie did an excellent job at opening up the conversation on how we treat minorities in the U.S. In almost every movie that portrays Indians, they are the villain; they get in the way of the American dream. The extent to which American have portrayed Indians as the bad guys is shown through a bugs bunny cartoon in which bugs is shooting Indians as he sing, “One little, two little, three little injuns, five little six lit…woops, that was a half breed…” Americans need to stop seeing Native Americans as dark skinned, animal skin wearing foresters and realize that they are a culture just like the Dutch are a culture, and deserve as much respect as we demand.  

You R Us

During my trip to the mall, the most striking element was its busyness. Everyone was constantly moving unless pondering some object for sale in which case your pause is excusable and the sin of stopping is forgiven. Even as I tried to take an occasional photo from my phone I got suspicious looks from people wondering why I would be taking photos of a mall.  In this way I could relate to the liberation that Jon Pahl referred to when he finally walked out of the mall and the noise ceased.
    Inside the mall I could see the work of advertisers that took similar approaches to marketing as the people on “The Persuaders” did.

This photo of a wall demonstrates the appeal to improving yourself. By saying that you will teach others with this product, the product thus makes you the better person.

In “The Persuaders” they mentioned marketing a “code” for every object. This car is meant to be displayed as a big and dominant in order to attract its male buyers. Also the  antlers in the male clothing section is meant to play on the outdoors as a masculine trait and thus appeal to men shopping in that store.

These two photos demonstrate the noise that the mall produced in order to confuse and disorientate to shopper. Everywhere you looked there would be signs for advertising, even right in front of the escalator you take to find new products.

This sign demonstrates what “The Persuaders” refer to as an appeal to belong. These marketers are trying to persuade people that buying from their store makes you a part of a group.

Woodland mallpost

“There, under a skylight and high ceiling, were trees – indoors, with a small foundation and reflecting pool – where I enjoyed playing while my parents sat and rested on nearby benches, in a scene of blissful consumer contentment.” (Pahl, “The Shopping Mall as ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ Leading Nowhere”). As Jon Pahl has described in his article, the description above illustrates what is frequently called a mega-church or shopping mall. This weekend, I had a chance to revisit the Woodland mall, a shopping complex with more than a hundred shops, but with the purpose other than shopping. I paid closer attention to the mall’s structure and its persuasive and religious qualities.

In The Persuaders, the audience is being warned of the advertisements and persuasions that the market try to allure. In fact, the documentary described of how the market psychologically familiarizes us to its product and inspires our desires. The mall welcomed us with a large and spacious parking lot, which was enterable from various directions. Decorated with the trees and bits of flowers, the parking area seemed not only aesthetic but naturalistic. As humans beings originate from the nature, I felt familiar to its surrounding environment. The outer structure of the mall was designed to invite consumers from all four directions (north, south, east, west) with clear glass doors. From high ceiling with transparent glass, bright lights, nature (green trees), and to glittering floors, the mall welcomed and impinged an impression that I am valuable person. The green nature allowed me to feel connected to the nature and thus think that I belong to the mall too. Just with its attractive and elegant interior design, the mall not only established a psychological mood for shopping but sense of belonging with hope for luxurious life. Walking around the whole mall, I realized that the shops fulfilled most aspects of people’s desires and needs (exp. Clothe, shoes, food, accessories, electronics, bookstore, and etc…). Although some shops were designed in unique style, most of the shops had transparent large windows and doors. Mannequins and posters, which were spotlighted with even brighter lighting, stood through the windows. Posters of fashionable models seemed to convey a society’s standard of beauty. These persuasive qualities encourage and force (in a way) consumers to purchase the products. However, I noticed something else in this trip to mall after watching The Persuaders. In the movie, it describes about consumers’ emotional connectedness and brand royalty to specific brands. According to the movie, consumers create sense of belonging in the society by identifying themselves with certain brand and product. The luxurious shops in the mall, in fact, seemed to contain their unique styles and character. Apple store, for instance, had many visitors in the shop. Most of the people enjoyed with the latest technology that the Apple Company has invented. The Apple Store offered its consumers shared identity with its unique characteristics and design. In additions, it enhanced Apple manias loyalty by ensuring membership and emphasizing that they are creative than other majority of people. Other stores such as the Banana Republic, the North Face, and the Express are all examples of expensive stores but with different styles.

Although I could not buy anything from the mall, I realized that the mall is certainly a church, which competes for consumers’ loyalty to its religion. As other churches do, the mall consists of all people coming together (“rich and poor, old and young, black and white”), making it a “democratic, unifying, and universal place. (Pahl)” The mall includes symbols to fulfill its existences. Ever green trees, which are so frequently used in religions, are placed all over the mall to represent that lives are eternal and abundant. Advertising slogans signifies “you” and unity with the product. By unknowingly establishing certain expectations and symbolism, the mall functions as one of the largest religion in America.  

Glittering windows

Welcoming signs to the religion

Desires conquer mind