Half a century after its publication, “The Subliminal Man” seems more relevant than ever. Ballard anticipated not only the contours of consumerist culture-urban sprawl, a debt-based economy, the mechanization of leisure, the illusion of freedom of choice-but also how closely he intuited the human, psychological responses to the consumerist society he saw on the horizon. Rereading “The Subliminal Man,” I was struck by how presciently J.G. The name itself is dark, ominous, wonderfully satanic. Indeed, I think that the cognitive dissonance that underwrites Black Friday-the compulsion to suffer (and cause suffering), both physically and mentally, to “save” money on “consumer goods” (sorry for all the scare quotes, but these terms are euphemisms and must be placed under suspicion)-I think that this cognitive dissonance is nakedly apparent to all who choose to (or are forced to) actively engage in Black Friday. I don’t think it’s necessary to remark at length on the bizarre disjunction between this exercise in consumerism-as-culture and the intended spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday that precedes it.
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