TIPRR 13-Cultural Materialism Has Nothing To With Shopping...

I was really hoping that it would. But alas...

So, in looking at Cultural Materialism, as Barry mentions, it seems that the huge majority has dealt with Shakespearean texts. However, when looking at "What cultural materialists do," the very first thing listed is that:

"1. They read the literary text...in such a way as to enable us to 'recover its histories,' that is the context of exploitation from which it emerged.
2. At the same time, they foreground those elements in the work's present transmission and contextualising which caused those histories to be lost in the first place" (180).

So, if I understand correctly (and I accept that I may be off base here), the idea is to take a look at the context/histories of the text's origin and then examine the text, with that knowledge, in the context of the present, focusing specifically on why those histories have been lost.

When examining Chosen, I would assume that most of us feel the same: it's not so old that its "histories" have been lost. Yet, the use of the Tibetan child as the "chosen" one allows for some examination of the context of exploitation.

2001, the year The Hire series was released, marked the 50th anniversary of China's reoccupation of Tibet. In May of that year, President Bush met with the Dalai Lama in the Oval Office, resulting in strained relations with China.

Analyzing Chosen in light of this knowledge, we are able to "recover its history" and its "context of exploitation." By centering this advertisement on the Tibetan "chosen child" one could say that BMW was making a statement about the necessity of helping the oppressed Tibetan people, further putting the white car and the better driver on the side of "good." At the same time, one could say that BMW was exploiting the plight of the Tibetans in order to sell cars.

So, what does that mean in the context of today, eight years later? Why were these histories lost? Is it because the Tibetan plight has taken a backseat to more pressing matters, like Tiger Wood's extra-marital affair? Is is because as a nation, we are trying to improve our relationship with China and so we gloss over the situation? Is it because we no longer care?

Analyzing Chosen now, one is able to see that BMW's use of the Tibetan imagery emphasizes the "otherness" of the Tibetan culture and brings their plight again to the forefront. In looking at the corrupted monk in the end, could one possibly pull out a statement regarding some of the corrupted means of dealing with the Tibetans? Are there people who are being "bought off" in order to not aid these people? Do we need to be more like Mr. Owen in our endeavors to help the Tibetans? I certainly think that taking a lesson from Chosen would be a bit more worthwhile than examining the ins and outs of Tiger Wood's life.