Read in the Washington Post today how Iron Man (opens in theaters tonight) is accompanied by an infrastructure of products. Jen Chaney of the Washington Post writes,
Seriously, forget those stimulus checks: Through the power of subliminal suggestion, “Iron Man” could very well fire up the economy again, forcing consumers to buy cars and computers they didn’t even know they wanted.
Here are some products centered around the film: Tony Starks drives an Audi R8, has Dell PC’s, has an LG phone (that is available through the Verizon Wireless network), and several publications get shoutouts in the movie, such as Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and Wired.
Can these products/possessions (just listed before), centered around an activity (Iron Man, the movie, the idea), shape culture (American culture – economical, social, political, etc)?
This is exactly what my thesis is about, this exact inquiry. As opposed to Iron Man, I have considered Hines Ward as a hypothetical product. Does Hines Ward created an infrastructure of products and services that help shape Korean American (or simply American) culture? This is my hypothesis. Interesting? Well, if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll send you a copy because I JUST finished it and handed it in.
One a different note, my advisor and teacher, Dick Buchanan, is officially leaving CMU. He has played a crucial role in the School of Design’s Interaction Design program among other achievements (Ph.D. program, undergrad curriculum). He will be missed and I am very curious as to how our program will change. He will be going to Case Western’s Weatherhead School of Management to join the “Information Systems” Ph.D. program. It will be very difficult to replace his Seminar 1 class, which has altered my notion of design, and to some extent, my view of the world. We’ll miss ya, Dick! Best wishes at Case Western. We hope to hear good things.