like you mfers really getting tattoos of video game characters and pickle rick? corporate commodity fetishism, but you go through a painful process to permanently etch it into the largest organ of your body
That’s why I rock the Odysseus ink. It isn’t cheating if you’re
in a different zip codeon en epic voyagein my view, being weird about other peoples tattoos is honestly analogous to any other kind of comments on people's appearance where I think people should just generally mind their own business. People like what they like :shrug-outta-hecks:
getting chevrolet or something on you is potentially kinda cringe but whatever that's their thing. My business partner is covered in anime and game stuff that they like and honestly its cool, the art is nice and vibrant.
:angry-hex: Adopting the monikers of corporate advertising servers to entrench their legitimacy as institutions and do the work of indoctrinating viewers into the act of consumerism for them.
:che-smile: Goku looks cool af.
Art and media isn’t exactly the same as some random ass product. Obviously consumerism pollutes everything but stories and media people enjoy are an important part of their life it’s not quite the same as selling billboard space on your forehead for Pfizer’s pills.
This attitude is childishly contrarian there’s way more insidious and fucked up things done to reinforce capitalism than people putting majoras mask on their arm bc they really liked it growing up
I mean, I agree there's definitely worse things in life than a guy wearing a corporate logo.
But its not so below notice that its beyond mention.
I once worked with someone that had the Apple logo tattooed on their arm
Edit: actually, I can top that, I once worked with one of the Warren staffers that had the hex code tattoo done lmao
lmao I thought the Warren staffers all had those removed after they were bullied for those on Twitter
I couldn’t tell whether they still had it or not, but there was a definite moment of “hang on…I know that face from somewhere”…and then they introduced themselves as being part of that campaign, and then the rest fell into place :shocked-dino:
I used to work with a young programmer who had the apple logo on one wrist, and the twitter logo on the other.
:stalin-stressed:
idk have you seen some of those ukrainian nazi tattoos? look like dogshit
Well yeah, but I don't want some skinhead hitting on me because I thought celtic knots are pretty. Fuckers are trying to get a monopoly on cool geometric patterns.
Me at the DSA meeting trying desperately to explain that my swastika tattoo is actually just a bait to catch real racists
I agree its fucking weird, but that's not what commodity fetishism is
Get a tattoo of a table. A bit closer to the real thing
"Why do you have a tattoo of a table?"
"A commodity appears, at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily understood. Its analysis shows that it is, in reality, a very queer thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties. So far as it is a value in use, there is nothing mysterious about it, whether we consider it from the point of view that by its properties it is capable of satisfying human wants, or from the point that those properties are the product of human labour. It is as clear as noonda y, that man, by his industry, changes the forms of the materials furnished by Nature, in such a way as to make them useful to him. The form of wood, for instance, is altered, by making a table out of it. Yet, for all that, the table continues to be that common, everyda y thing, wood. But, so soon as it steps forth as a commodity, it is changed into something transcendent. It not only stands with its feet on the ground, but, in relation to all other commodities, it stands on its head, and evolves out of its wooden brain grotesque ideas, far more wonderful than “table turning” ever was."
:what:
Commodity fetishism is when you divorce the act of labor from the product that labor produces in order to get off.
I mean if you’re tatting brand logos on yourself, I’m so sorry for your loss.
But cultural shit? It varies. Under a capitalist mode of production, with the bourgeoisie maintaining cultural hegemony, most media is going to be produced and spread involving a corporation somehow. But culture is nuanced ideologically, and simply can’t be narrowed into a label of purely corporate.
Like, you mentioned video game characters, right? There’s a ton of nuance inherent in that category. A gamer who tats Mario on his skin is doing the equivalent of repping a brand on themself, due to how hollow a character Mario is.
On the other hand, games can have strong and hard-hitting messages that resonate with players of it. Games have a uniquely immersive narrative capacity that a lot of other mediums can’t replicate, because it too is a medium for culture and counterculture. Do any of you libs have something from Disco Elysium tatted? I wholeheartedly bet at least one of you do.
Culture isn’t inherently corporate. Honestly, games are probably the worst medium rhetorically for this point due to the more grassroots nature of the indie scene.
Don’t have tats personally but :shrug-outta-hecks: tat what you want to tat
though if you tat the Apple logo on your skin it will be used as a target when the zone gets cool enough :sus:
I have have a rebel alliance tattoo, got it long before Disney bought star wars though. The symbol of a diverse group of underdogs banding together to over throw fascism was cool before Disney gutted it's meaning and it turned into a commodity fetish. Now I just look like a fan boy.
Eh it still has meaning to me even if most people misinterpret it.
I tend to agree, but I think most tattoos are strange. I appreciate them sometimes, but I've just never been so into something, I needed a picture of it permanently on my body. My tastes change too quick.
I don't want that to sound like a judgement on other people's ink, it's just why I don't feel like it's for me.
That used to be how I thought as well. But then I came out as trans and suddenly it's a HUGE priority for me to feel ownership of my body. I don't even know what I want tattoos OF (except an estradiol molecule), I just want tattoos
I could totally see that. Maybe I'll have some experience one day that changes my mind.
Not having a tattoo is like the same effect as having a tattoo had like 40 years ago. People are stunned to find out I don't have any.
I also really like what my mom said about it. She started getting more and more once she crossed middle age. She says that her skin is getting all "ugly" anyway, so why not decorate it like crazy? Possible body issues aside, I think that's a nice perspective on getting old. I could see myself doing things differently just because I'm approaching the finish line..
Wanting to get tattoos of consumerist personal identity tastes is a uniquely modern phenomena of liberal subjectivity. Historically, most tattoos weren't random things the individual liked or found meaningful. They were more culturally and socially grounded in the groups with which they lived. Tribal tattoos, sailor tattoos, slave tattoos, soldier tattoos. You got it with a group of people to symbolize a connection, or it was imbued with sacred meaning.
That's a good point. On the one hand, modern tattooing is a neat art form, but on the other hand, it's culture vultures preying on people who feel like they share an identity with people just because they like the same superhero.
It's also weird how things get appropriated. Look at the punisher logo for example.
I dunno, I think it'd be weirder if they permanently etched something onto any other organ.
(in this comment: jokes for nitpickers)
My tattoos are all depictions of nature or death. They serve as a reminder that I am alive and part of a vast and interconnected system, a part of a greater whole, and that I should live my life in service and protection of that greater whole, but that I will also die and the elements of my body will be used to further perpetuate the existence of that greater whole, so I should be humble and not see my death as the very end of my contribution to life.
Also I think mushrooms and vibing skeletons are neat
It's mostly plants, animals, mushrooms, and skellys all having a banger time, not as morbid as it seems
As long as people aren't getting tribal tattoos I don't really care.