Friday, November 23, 2012

Tales from Hyperreality: Macy's Thanksgiving Parade


It is again the time of the year...

When over 40 million of American travel over 50 miles or more from their homes. In the same day $282 million worth of food will be wasted, according to the NRDC (National Resource Defense Council). The day after is "black Friday" which is not the title of a horror movie but the day when several hundred million of shoppers (226 millions in 2011) floods shopping malls, retail outlets, or cybershops.

In this surreal apotheosis of consumerism I try to relax and, as always, enjoy recording the most grandiose spectacle extravaganza of consumerism: the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. Over 100 feet high cartoon characters float in the Manhattan skyline, cheered by hundred thousand spectators: it is only three weeks after hurricane winds roared over Manhattan and in this unseasonably warm day (what's new?) and New York city seems to be fully back to its relentless rhythms.