Tomatoes, Subtext

Recently I’ve given humility a bit more thought. In part this is due to the German dramatist Peter Hacks (German language link). I’m writing about Hacks on another website. It’s an interesting experience, to say the least. Before even really knowing who/what this writer was all about, I jumped into his work. To my surprise, I’ve found something of an antithesis regarding how I look at playwriting and a bit regarding how I think politically. But I won’t get into that here. If you’re interested here a link to the stuff I’m writing about Hacks’ – in English.

Warning: the above mentioned author, Peter Hacks, is/was a die-hard commie. For those of you reading this you might want to take the necessary precautions in hiding the URLs or the content you’re loading into your browser. Even though McCarthyism is a thing of the past, with the current politicalization of government in the US – a great example is the republican/neo-con scandal regarding the firing of DOJ judges – one never can really know what may reemerge from the dark and lively shadows of the past. With that said, I also want to add that I was raised loving The Pledge of Negligence and waving The Stars That Strangle & The Stripes That Bite. Beyond that I love my country of birth more than it will ever love anyone else.

Humility is something the West should finally come to terms with. But I suppose that won’t be possible until all the FAILURE dressed-up as “success” is addressed. Failure is more rampant in western society and so it’s much easier to hide and/or disguise. Just walk around any Western city and watch all the people with “careers” – and at the same time watch all the people who wish to have “careers”. You can also go to Suburban wastelands and do the same comparison. Or. Have a look at the comings & goings of so-called gated-communities in the US. With that in mind, how does one deal with the fact that even if all the failure of the West were somehow curbed and/or brought under control, how would we deal with its brother-twin: humility?

Well, I have no idea.

But I will (worst)write this: as I was walking down the street today, using my partner’s iPod (so as to block out life around me and not to listen to music or podcasts or anything like that), I came across the advertisement pictured here. This is an ad-board in front of a small vegetable & fruit stand that’s about a thirty minute walk from where I live. Initially I passed it (remember: the iPod thingy) but then, twenty or thirty yards later, I stopped dead in my tracks. It registered! I turned and walked back to the sign. I starred at it, I translated it, and then spent a few seconds shaking my head before taking this pic with my phone. Eventually I reached over and started to wipe the chalk board clean with one of my fingers (I started wiping at the bottom, right corner). Luckily the owner of the stand saw me and yelled that I leave his sign alone. Of course, I left it alone. Who am I not to answer the call of authority. Oh, yeah, the text translates to…

Tomatoes that still taste like tomatoes from our growers! De037 Bio Controlled.

So… What is this sign saying? Is it advertising something? Is it telling you that the tomatoes on offer are good, bad or ugly or if they are cheaper, more expensive or for free? There couldn’t be a better example of subtext gone awry. Is this the type of command advertising that we’ll face in the future?

No? You’re not convinced of the attack on humility here?

How ’bout some tomatoes or would you prefer Tom-ah-toes?

This sign represents a/the deep seeded contempt for all things (that should be) humble. Like trying to “sell” me.

I should have taken a pic of the store, the town it’s in and the people that graze this godforsaken place. Of course, I’m making a mosquito out of an elefant… reverse that! But the text in the advert is saying something quite profound and it really has nothing to do with the selling of fruit. Or am I the only one out there, due to years of failing as a playwright, able to read subtext?

Rant on,

-tgs-