Skip to main content

Gucci Flip Flops by Bryce Michels

    "No Brow Culture" by Seabrook describes the notion of 'highbrow' and 'lowbrow' being "American inventions, devised specifically for American purpose: to render culture into class" (Seabrook, 1999, p. 104). Husseyn argues in "After The Great Divide" that "the boundaries between high art and mass culture have become increasingly blurred" (Husseyn, 1986). 

    Flip flops, a casual shoe, is often associated with more so a 'lowbrow' item in American culture, being that most flip flops are bought at the dollar store and are made of flexible rubber. The average flip flop is probably 20-50 dollars retail, for a good, long lasting pair. Dollar store flip flops won't last very long, but they do work for awhile and put the couple dollars you spent on them to good use. 

    High fashion brand, Gucci, has a now iconic pair of flip flops that retail at almost 300 dollars for one single pair. This is a lower priced item on Gucci's shelves, but a staple of wealth nonetheless. In the words of Seabrook, this item very much represents the notion that "the brand is the price of your admission to the subculture" (Seabrook, 1999, p. 104).  Gucci flip flops, with the iconic green and red striped pattern are not necessarily the quality you would find in a dollar store, but definitely not of 300 dollar quality, the brand is. You most definitely are paying for the image that coincides with these open toed shoes rather than the material itself. This price represents the gateway into a 'highbrow' version of a common shoe.  

   Many songs that are today's R&B and rap top hits emphasizes this cultural phenomenon. Recording artist Bhad Bhabie raps about how she "got to the top" in her hit single, "Gucci Flip Flops" featuring Lil Yatchy, which even further emphasizes this notion, whether or not the artists are aware or not. They are most literally writing about this dichotomization in American society.  The issues presented with high and low brow dichotomization and the capitalization of branding is perfectly highlighted in popular cultural music of today, and the distinction between quality, ‘high brow’ items verses quality ‘low brow’ items is indeed increasingly blurred. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Museum Scene in Black Panther by Kasiana Jimenez

Black Panther was a movie that transcended throughout all generations and the whole world. It ranked more than 700 million in ticket sales in just the first 12 days, taking the box office by storm (Cascone, 2018, #). The first film that had a black superhero and had a community (Wakanda) that uplifted each other while being in a position of power. At the same time, it has touched on fundamental concepts of colonialism and the ownership of African artifacts. In the scene, we are introduced to the Museum of Great Britain and the African artifacts that have. In our reading, we talked about the concept of “ The Great Divide” and this separation of high and low cultures. This concept was presented during the interwar period, when there was a great fear for war and several nations had been having technological advances. This museum scene is showing how this elite culture of museum which to profit from people that they used to call “ Savage”.   These Museums are feeding into the narrative...
1 comment
Read more

The Silence of the Lambs by Kasiana Jimenez

 The film that I have selected is that of “The Silence of the Lambs”. It is a 1991 American psychological horror film directed by Jonathan Demme. According to Brigid Cherry - Horror-Routledge book she has noted something Wills who says there are grand narratives of horror. Some of the grand narratives of horror are: “social alienation, the collapse of moral and spiritual order, a deep crisis of evolutionary identity, the overt articulation of humankind’s innermost imperatives,a need to express the implications of human existence in an appropriate aesthetic”. In the Silence of the lambs, we see the character of Hannibal (“The Cannibal”) Lecter as the collapse of more order. While he serves as the monster in the story, but at the same time we have another character Buffalo Bill, feels unfit to inhabit his own body, his own skin. He murders young women and skins them to make a human suit. These types of horror films seem to be centered on the idea of something mysterious and the theme...
1 comment
Read more

Do What You Love and Get Paid For It

Children dream of what they want to be when they grow up. They will want to be artists, rock stars, or even superheroes. They dream of fulfillment with purpose, and do not intend to live their future doing something that does not make them happy.  When children grow up, it seems that reality will ask them to make a very difficult question; will you do what you love, or will you do what you need to do to make money?  Fortunately, nowadays there is an expanding middle ground. An area of the economy dedicated to letting those who refuse to answer such a question. The creative economy is thriving. Creativity is an industry. You can now do what you love and get paid for it. As described by John Hartley, the creative industries are "a chance to bring together the two extremes of public art and commercial market in order to move beyond them and grasp new possibilities" (Hartley, 2005, p.g. 5).  Eduardo Brassai, a 24 year old model photographer from Long Island, NY exemplifies t...
1 comment
Read more