Cayce Pollard, the main character in William Gibson’s novel, Pattern Recognition, is a “cool hunter.” That is, her talent is intuiting what trend, style, or idea is going to be the next “cool” thing. She sells this rather psychic skill to large advertising and merchandising companies. Part of the reason Cayce responds to “cool” is because she has a severe allergic reaction to labels and logos (for example, she actually has panic attacks when confronted with Tommy Hilfinger clothing and the Michelin Man). Although I don’t have such a strong reaction, I can totally relate to Cayce’s predicament.
Have you ever wanted to rip the labels from your clothes? Do you buy generic food just to avoid the advertising? Do the Double Arches shining in the distance make you feel like barfing? Okay, there could be more at work with this one. If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are in good company with Cayce and with me.
We own a television set, but we don’t have cable. As we live in the mountains, non-cable reception is next to non-existent. All of which is great by me. Television advertising makes me nervous–the messages, the need, the “this is who you could be if you buy….blah, blah, blah.” Now, despite my desire to limit my exposure, I’ve become an Internet junkie. You know the drill–pop-up ads, flash ads, even blog ads (although I do want you all to be able to continue to support yourselves so I can enjoy your rifts–the ubiquitous Catch-22).
All of this is leading me to swallow my revulsion and tell you about two decent uses of advertising, that I have decided, somewhat reluctantly, to support: The Hunger Site, www.thehungersite.com, and The Animal Rescue Site, www.theanimalrescuesite.com. These two sites are for real (beware that some may not be what they seem). So, long story short–if I knew that every time I am bombarded with an ad, someone or some animal (in need) was being fed, watered, or cared for, I think I could stomach the frenzy.
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If there was a label attached to you that described you, what would it say?
I agree that sometimes labels are annoying, but I don’t mind them so much, I actually have this rugby Polo shirt that says POLO in real big letters on the front, I used to be so into labels, as I get older I am almost embarrased to wear the thing, but I still do because it looks so dang good on me. ha!
My own label would be in chinese and it would say, “Loves Fried Rice”.
Nice question! My label would probably read, “Don’t tread on me,” and include a representation of a dragon (rather than a serpent).
My trouble with Pattern Recognition, like with most of Gibson’s work, is that you get a fantastic book riight up to the last 20 pages or so, and then it’s like he never figured out how to end it, so he slapped something together.
Pattern Recognition, Neuromancer, Virtual Light, all of these books are the same in that way…