The infantilization of American adults
May 25th, 2024
And why did I single out Americans? Because this thought came to me while I was watching the baseball game. And what can be more American than baseball? And why do I still bother caring about baseball at all? The team I support (NY Mets) is constantly shit, and how shit for that matter. Games are micromanaged into boring predictability and players are more and more machine-like. But I digress…
So I was watching a stream of an American sports channel with all the commercials in between the numerous breaks in action. I don't pay attention to commercials, and I don't really watch any TV — except for streams of sports events — but I just couldn’t help to notice something very strange. All commercials — be it for cars, fast food, insurance, or chain stores — were the same. There was always the narrative of the idea of the product, a short interplay of actors in a scene, and a disclaimer. And every narrative and scene in every commercial was so extremely infantile like it was aimed at children, or teens at most. Since children and teenagers have no purchasing power, I assume that commercials were aimed at adults. But why were all of them so extremely puerile? Marketing is a big business, so I think that is the way to sell products, and that can only lead me to believe that the infantilization of American adults is only getting worse. And there is a purpose in that — it is all about immediate gratification of any needs. TV tells you what you want and what you crave and there is an easy way to get that, no matter if needed or not. Any well-developed society can be a victim of that, but in the USA it seems like that is the way of life for a majority of the population. And like children that they are — American society can be easily controlled by those in power or those in the business of making money — with a reward for sheepishness and withholding of something shiny for tantrums. I think that is a spreading sentiment for other societies that are under American sway. And the future will be even less pleasant than imagined now.
