COLUMN: The New Beetle and postmodernism

From Anthony Smith's, "Doric, Ironic, Corinthian," Fall '98 From Anthony Smith's, "Doric, Ironic, Corinthian," Fall '98Now that the 1990s are drawing to a close, it is time to ponder a little on how they will be remembered. Americans love to think of history in terms of decades. We divide the 20th century into discrete 10-year units, each boiled down to a few key values, styles and social movements. But what social developments characterize the 1990s? It's hard to say, but I would guess that this is the decade where postmodernism -- how we question anything and everything to the point where we believe in nothing -- firmly ingrained itself in every aspect of our culture and began to win the war against ideology. American society believes it has seen it all. We've witnessed world war, economic crisis, racial unrest, nuclear scares, presidential assassinations, progressive politics and conservatism. Now we continually dredge up the past and recycle it. Puffy remakes every old song in sight. We make lists of the top 100 books, movies and whatever else you'd care to name. Retro is definitely in. The Brady Bunch Movie, Pleasantville, That '70s Show, Boogie Nights, bell-bottoms and swing dancing all indicate this. But how do we lift cultural imagery from other eras and successfully reuse it in the 1990s? The recent reintroduction of the Volkswagen Beetle provides an excellent example. The old Beetle, still under production in some foreign countries, is the most successful automobile design in history (in terms of sales, at least). Many felt that, by pricing the Beetle so reasonably, Volkswagen was selling the steak, not the sizzle. A 1950s Beetle brochure pointed out some of the most important features of the car: a built-in adjustable heater, efficient windshield wipers, a roomy glove compartment and plenty of space to install your own radio and speaker. This car was, without question, basic transportation. Early in 1998, Volkswagen introduced the New Beetle to widespread hype. This new version, starting at about $16,000, is definitely a different beast than its predecessor. After all, it is the product of another era. It is clear from the commercials and the appearance of the car itself that this Bug is all sizzle and no steak. Volkswagen is trying to capitalize on the nostalgia America feels for the 1960s in order to sell their car. "Less flower, more power!" scream the TV commercials. The new Beetle even sports a bud vase in the dashboard. According to VW, this new car has "what any Beetle always had. Originality. Honesty. A point of view." (I wonder what point of view the very first Beetles, made for Adolf Hitler in 1934, had?) But more importantly, this two-ton chunk of glass, metal and rubber is "an exhaustive and zealous rejection of banality." This statement is just a little too ridiculous for us to believe that Volkswagen is completely serious. Sure, advertisers can get a little nutty in hyping their product, but here Volkswagen is clearly making a nod at cynical American society in the postmodern 1990s. According to scholar Linda Hutcheon, postmodernism generally takes the form of "self-conscious, self-contradictory, self-undermining statement." When Volkswagen announces that, "You sold your soul in the '80s. Here's your chance to buy it back," they fully expect the viewer to think it's ridiculous to look for spiritual redemption by purchasing products. But then, the audience is still supposed to go out and buy the new Beetle. Miller Lite's recent campaign is another good example of postmodernism at work in the advertising world. First, Miller began to announce that their ads were personally approved by a laughable 1970s character named Dick. This undercut the sincerity of their commercials, making them self-mocking and cynical. Next, Miller referred to their beer as a "Macrobrew," bragging about the large size of the vats they use. This contradicts the other implicit statement of their commercial: that we should buy their beer because it is a high quality product. Of course, postmodern self-mocking can sometimes be quite funny. For example, at various points the Simpsons have made fun of the fact that they are two-dimensional, yellow-skinned, four-fingered caricatures of real life. However, postmodern thought seems to short-circuit social progress. Any remaining idealists are constantly reminded that, Hey, the boomers thought they could change the world back in the '60s and look where they ended up -- in advertising agencies, company boardrooms and compromised governmental positions. Any rebellious message is instantly co-opted by corporate interests, only to show up in a soda commercial. The song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is transformed into a TV spot for Nike basketball shoes. Anything is possible in this new world of irony, even Orwellian feats of doublethink. I just hope the 1990s are an anomaly: a strange time when people are afraid to have ideals for fear that they will be laughed at. It all has to end at some point. Postmodernism is not going to get us anywhere. For all our knowing irony, we have allowed real wages to decline since the 1970s, while we work more hours per year. And we're not going to find fulfillment at the bottom of a Miller Lite bottle, or in the driver's seat of a new car, even if it is an honest, original, banality-rejecting VW Beetle.