ORDER your Meal

Tonight I decided I would eat at one of the only fast food restaurants I
enjoy, In-N-Out.  At first, I was skeptical about finding dystopian
aspects in my favorite fast food restaurant.  After sitting through a
meal and taking some notes, I was astonished by the things I realized.

The first thing that I noticed is that the restaurant’s seating
arrangement is perfectly symmetrical.  It is very easy to navigate
through; everything is easily accessible.  On the walls there are strict
regulations such as “No Smoking” and “Capacity: 50 People.”  The
lighting is bright, and it reflects well off the white and red color
scheme that floods one’s vision.  Everyone behind the counter wears a
white uniform with a red apron, and a mandatory mini chef hat.  Everyone
except for what must have been the manager or boss.  She started to bark
out orders at 8:30pm when the drive-thru backed up, and customers were
getting impatient at the counter.  At this point, I looked up from my
writing, and I noticed that no one in the restaurant was talking to each
other.  The people wouldn’t acknowledge each other at all.  I caught a
few glances from people who were probably curious why I was writing with
a burger and fries in front of me.  They looked, and then quickly turned
away with meek expressions.  Just as I was about to finish up with the
thought that I had observed enough, there it was out of the corner of my
eye; big brother looking right at me.  I couldn’t believe I almost
missed the surveillance camera, watching my every move.

Walking into an In-N-Out is like walking into a Burger Heaven.  It has
been specifically designed for its customers to feel like they are in a
pure and superior environment to other fast food chains.  The symmetry
and overall interior design of the setting is what stands out foremost.
Human’s tend to like (or perceive to like) the organization, tidiness,
and uniformity that these In-N-Out establishments contain because it
reflects order.  Order is the name of the game at In-N-Out.  The strict
signs such as “No Smoking” and “Capacity: 50 People” are indications of
the demanding environment In-N-Out believes people feel best in.
Therefore, your freedom of choice to light up your desire is taken away.
The company’s slogan “Quality you can taste” suggests that these
burgers are made with the finest, purest, and best ingredients in the
fast food business.  In that sense, there is no more of a perfect place
to eat than In-N-Out.  It is also interesting to note that “Quality you
can taste” is very similar to something like “Quality you can trust”;
which I do.  The employees all work together with little talk in order
to mass produce a good product.  They work so hard and fast in their
uniforms, they could be compared to a military platoon.  When the
manager shouted out orders, the employees seemed to go into robot mode,
working as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Surprisingly enough, the customers were getting anxious about having to
wait more than 2 minutes in line to order.  People are so used to
getting their meals so quickly and conveniently, they don’t know how to
act when things aren’t going right.  No one engages in any kind of
conversation, let alone eye contact because there is nothing to be
questioned in an In-N-Out.  The focus is on the feeling of superiority
over other fast food establishments that one is meant to feel.  I can
definitely say that In-N-Out strives and achieves being the best burger
chain in the business, but their utopian ideals to make eating food into
an orgasm of order creates a small dystopian ache in our bellies.

I Pledge Allegiance to whhhhhhhhaaaaaaa?

=



"I Pledge Allegiance, to whhhhaaaaaa?

 Ok, so I want to get in on some of this Pledge of Allegiance/Hate Week action.  The tension in the air when the professor
mentioned the whole controversy on Tuesday wasn’t surprising to me at
all.   The silence speaks for itself, really.  It wasn’t until I started
reading some of my other classmate’s entries when I realized how hurtful
it was to some people.  It makes me proud to see that
people have so much pride in this country, and they wouldn’t dare
question its integrity.  But really, how can you really compare our
Pledge, “with Liberty and Justice for all” to the awful Hate Week?

 Like Jacob mentioned in Leah’s post, one can look at it as a form of
indoctrination. To be indoctrinated isn’t good or bad, it’s just all the
ideologies and principles we are taught; among the other things that we
learn being born into this country.  The Professor’s comparison for us
to see is that Hate Week and the Pledge of Allegiance are both forms of
indoctrination which teach and instill certain values. Although they are
vastly opposing in their contexts, they still make people think a
certain way.   I can say I am “proud to be American” because I was
simply brought up that way.   One should not fear questioning his or her
patriotism.  We all love this country, (well maybe not all of us) but I
don’t think anyone should feel threatened by any idea in literature that
might question our beliefs.  That’s exactly what Orwell is trying to do.
Think outside the box.  Just because we hear something to be true,
doesn’t mean it is.

     And again today, I felt the conversation in class was seemingly
uncomfortable when one of our classmates brought up her feelings on how
she doesn’t know what really happened on 9-11.  She is entitled to her
opinion, but judging by how the class reacted to the Pledge comparison,
this was definitely not the overall opinion of the class.  To some, it
is an absolute outrage to question such a thing.  Why would any American
ever dream of killing thousands of innocent people?  For a gain of
power?  It’s incomprehensible to fathom.  I don’t think that’s the point
though.  By reading 1984, and gaining an understanding of “Big Brother”,
one can see how disillusioned people become when they believe in
something so deeply.  For the people of Oceania, they believed in a
world so “perfect” that they were blinded by how despicable it actually
was.  It seems really difficult and uncomfortable for me to want to
question my own government, and also more importantly my psyche,
ideologies, principles, everything I know and believe.  We don’t want to
believe those things we believe aren’t True.  What is really True?  Yes,
with a capital ‘T’.  Relating back to the point,  no one really knows
what the Truth is behind 9-11, or life, or anything one could possibly
believe.  I definitely think Orwell wants us to question that, but I
also believe he has some possible answers to that question that lay deep
between the lines of 1984.  I would LOVE to look deeper into this in my
next post.

8.28.08

I created this blog for a Dystopian Literature + Film class. As far as I have learned, dystopian ideas are the opposite of what one would think of to be a utopia. I've always wanted a chance to read books such as, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Blade Runner, and Planet of the Apes. That's the basic reading list for the class, so I'm going to be making a number of blogs analyzing, showing understanding, and critiqing them. I'm pretty excited also, because we get to analyze all the film renditions of the books as well. The class as a whole seems pretty interested in the subject matter too, so we'll learn a lot from each other, of course.