The Constant Feeding of an Insatiable Hunger

It has occurred to me recently as I perused a copy of the latest Bon Appétit magazine that there are many addictions in this world, and many perverse obsessions to be enflamed and fed. I am writing this both to draw attention to those perversions that are espoused and propagated by consumer-based media, and to nullify the perceived acceptability of said perversions.

I am going to take as my example two popular magazines, Rolling Stone and Bon Appétit. At first glance, one may posit that they have very little in common. The crass fluff of the first is rendered immaterial when compared with the artistic, useful dynamism of Bon Appétit's guide to the creation of culinary masterpieces-the skill in the cooking process from conception to creation, the creativity, the absolute sensual dream into which the connoisseur is plunged when spooning up the first light, creamy, florally aromatic bite of cherry-almond ice cream, featured on the cover of the August issue.

How, then, could Rolling Stone's grossly hyper-realized exhibition of the female body compare to the satisfying utilitarianism of Bon Appétit? What similarities could there be between such a tasteless appeal to our already-abused sex drive and a tasteful aid to our culinary creativity?

I would, for an answer to the above questions, request that you take a long look at the pictures on the respective covers of the magazines in question. And as you do, allow me to provide some context for my request.

The pornography industry operates upon one guiding principle: hyper-realization. The sexuality that is actualized in pornographic magazines is a flagrant misrepresentation of reality. The real, intimate act of sexual intercourse is a far cry from the mechanistic pleasure and 12-inch…high heels of the porn industry.

"So?" you might ask, "Where's the problem?" Allow me to explain. The hyper-realization of the images creates for the reader a world of illusions, the aesthetic fog which renders the reader's perception of reality vain, distorted-the problem with the most glorious, technicolor dream is that it is an elusive and ethereal phantom conjured by the bizarrities of the sleep-washed brain, and will never be any more or any less than that-a dream, an unreality. To indulge oneself in these dreams, to placate the waking mind's sexual hungers with fantastic visions, leads to the creation of a life in which the reader is a constant dreamer, someone who sees through a lens which the images have conditioned.

And that waking fantasy-world is all-absorbing, and yet unfulfilling, as its perfection can never become a reality. Thus the dreamer, forgetting he is in a dream-land, forgetting that that which he desires has been conditioned by fictitious representations, wanders, ever-hungry and despairing, in search of that which he will never find. He has, through blatant indulgence in his desires, through embracing the industry's methods of ensuring his continued dependency and their own continued economic growth, welcomed into himself a system of thought in which he has become a puppet, buying, consuming ever more of the images in a search for a perfect gratification which does not exist.

Let me try to summarize what I've said so far: Consumerism exploits a naturally-occurring drive or hunger. It convinces us fully that fulfilling that desire is central to our survival or happiness. It then presents us with an alternate world of illusions as our guide to exacting this fulfillment, constructed by the perfect forms and images we consume. Thus it ensures that we will always have the drive to buy, as we will always desire and never attain the projected images. Not a bad plan for the money-makers, right?

But here's the kicker: As we explore our fantasy world, haunting the perfect streets in the endless hunt for the perfect life, we forget to embrace our reality-world. We forget the necessity of searching for and embracing ourselves and our own growth, so engrossed are we in a search for imaginary beauty.

Is the importance of seeing this alternate reality for what it is beginning to make sense? We spend our lives looking for happiness in a system that operates by perpetuating our unhappiness. Thus we never grow, and we never learn how to embrace the real world, how to live independently of these "perfect" forms.

So what does Bon Appétit have to do with all of this? Let's all pick up our copy of the magazine and take another look at the silky, rich darkness of the smooth bittersweet chocolate, shining like the sins of kings, wrapped in a sensual embrace as it ever-so-lightly caresses the startlingly beautiful and delicate pink cream of that cherry-almond confection (or as I like to call it, "Miss August"). Tell me-have you ever seen an ice cream cone that stunning in your life? I would probably sell my brother for that ice cream cone. (Sorry, John.) I've never, and I promise you I never will, see or taste or smell an ice cream cone that delectable. And that, as with Rolling Stone, is the intention. That cone is just one footstep in the endless search for the perfect treat to satisfy our over-stimulated food-drive.

So what effect do Bon Appétit's images of food pornography have in the real world? Personal therapeutic chef Jay Holecek, who utilizes his skill, creativity and knowledge to address diagnosed digestive disorders, states that hyper-realized images of food "hurt everyone involved" in that the images give the clients a conceptualization of reality, which the chefs cannot actualize. Thus the chef is blamed for incompetence, and the consumer unwittingly imbibes in and perpetuates the parasitic dream-world of consumer-driven media. These false images ensure that people are "less willing to seek the real-world cures of healthy, whole eating," as they will constantly be driven to search for a phantom miracle cure.

Unfortunately for those caught in this cycle, the only true cure for fantasy is reality. So I would request that Bon Appétit and Rolling Stone keep their indulgent, gratifying, fantastical images to themselves so that we may stay focused on a real search in a real world, and not be tempted to plunge into some elusive, exploitive, never-ending treasure hunt in an un-world whose foundations are sand and whose pillars are insubstantial simulacra.

Tags: CONSUMERISM, ROLLING STONE, BON APPETIT