Corporatism and Myth...

A society's myth is its collective memory. It is beyond constraints of time, it is outside logic and reason. The Haida referred to Myth time and Historical time. Historical time is the time we live in, the Haida defined this metaphorically as the village while myth time was the forest around the village. In this sense myth is external to our lives and yet it surrounds us at all times.

A while ago in university I was watching a documentary called The Cola Conquest. At one point in the film it referred to the story of the Mayan Indians in southern Mexico. Coca Cola has occupied a spiritual place in the collective myth high above that of a simple drink. For years, in religious ceremonies and spiritual worship the natives used their own black alcoholic broth made from corn as an offering to the Gods. It was their holy water and was used by Shamans in various ceremonies. Now, however, this has been replaced with Coke. The soft drink is now used as an offering to the Gods and as their communal holy water. The coke company, of course, has begun to market to this phenomenon.

When I first heard this I had an epiphany regarding my novel. The corporate already controls so much of what we think and how we order our lives. However, once they invade the realm of the spiritual and myth - they will have total control. How does one resist one's own communal memory and script of how things were when how things were is now in flux and melding with how things are?

It is the goal of any worthy corporation to penetrate as many aspects of our lives as possible. Subliminal advertising is already being put to use in Japan for pop. A person will walk past a vending machine and "hear" the sound of a cold pop being poured into an icy glass on a subliminal level. Myth is the final realm of conquest. It resists corporate co-opting because the corporate is very much a facet of historical time. However, how long before marketing execs conquer this? How long before our own myths and stories come complete with product placement? The transition has been smooth and complete for the Mayan Indians. Will it be the same for us?

Just some thoughts from a tired tree brusher on his last day off in camp.