Murphy, 3/26

When discussing the waning effect, Jameson writes "But it means the end of much more-- the end of for example of style, in the sense of the unique and the personal, the end of the distinctive individual brush stroke". We looked at this quote in class in the power point as "the end...of style, in the sense of the unique and the personal."(492). I think the full quote adds extra emphasis to how detrimental and important it is to realize that if postmodernism is played out individuality will be snubbed out. Our culture is taking a shift, and has been for the past few decades, towards a society that encourages "sameness". There are magazines, websites, t.v. shows and other media outlets that describe in full detail how to be just like celebrities. The idea of copying a style, personality, sense of humor, look, or overall being has become a positive and enhancing trait. An example of one of these websites is...
http://www.wikihow.com/Dress-Like-a-Celebrity
On this specific page there are explicit step by step instructions on how to change your individual and unique self to become a replica of someone famous. The ironic part is you get to choose who and what to look like.
* Act Like a Celebrity
* Be Like Paris Hilton
* Look Like Britney Spears
* Look Like a Movie Star on a Budget
This concept ties well with the quote that we saw earlier in the class on Thursday, "waning of affect"(489). Jameson describes the change postmodern culture experiences, and how although we do not loose all emotion and thought, we do lose some. Through repetition we are loosing individuality and the value of the original. This idea brings me back to Jenkins quote, "As more and more amateur works have entered into circulation via the Web, the result has been a turn back toward a more folk-culture understanding of creativity"(556). The internet is the perfect example of how a postmodern shift in culture encourages repetition and discourages new innovations and individuality.