Consumers engage in dramatizing activities that make an event to be something much greater than it actual is by giving these events meaning. This process is referred to as sacralization: “ordinary objects, events and even people tak[ing] on sacred meaning”. “Sacred consumption occurs when we ‘set apart’ objects and events from normal activities and treat them with respect or awe” (Solomon 541). Places, people and events all share a special spot in making something ordinary sacred.
While places people think of as being traditional sacred are attributed to religion such as shrines, temples and synagogues, in the event of sacred consumption the places which become sacred are more often an emotionally sacred place (Solomon 542). Thanksgiving is a very common day for sacred consumption. In the event of this day, it is often a specific family member whose house becomes the sacred place (Solomon 543). As we saw in Pieces of April, the family was appalled to be going somewhere other than their house for Thanksgiving. Yes, there was the long drive and their dislike of April, but there was also the feeling that if we have Thanksgiving anywhere else it will not be Thanksgiving. Similar to April’s family, my extended family always met at our house for Thanksgiving. After we moved to Cincinnati and away from my family, everyone stopped celebrating Thanksgiving as an extended family get together and started celebrating it at their own households even though everyone else still lives close together; the only thing that changed was that we moved (We Gather Together 29). Without the existence of your sacred place, events that were once habitual seem to fizzle out.
Similarly to the creation of a sacred place, sacred people often become symbolic of the sacred consumption. Going back to Thanksgiving, the year after we moved to Cincinnati is the same year my grandpa died. He was always the head of each Thanksgiving dinner, praying for the meal and cutting the turkey. It’s not that someone else could not have done the same tasks he did or we felt he had superhuman powers, but he was idolized and sacred to the event (Solomon 543). Without him there to do his part of the ritual, it seemed odd to celebrate. This could be another reason our Thanksgiving fizzled.
I think it’s the events which transpire at every individual Thanksgiving that separate say my Thanksgiving from yours. Experiences become sacred as events occur more and more and become part of the sacred consumption (Solomon 544). Every Thanksgiving my family spent together we would gather round the table, and before we ate would sing Doxology; it was not until writing this paper that I knew the name of the hymn (I Googled it), but I could tell you all the words. While I have never attempted to eat without performing this task, I believe if I did something would seem missing. The events which happen before you eat and as you gather around the table are also key parts to any family’s sacralization (We Gather Together 16).
While I talked more about feelings and emotions for many people getting the right brand at Thanksgiving is part of their ritual (We Gather Together 27-28). A Thanksgiving with any turkey other than a Butterball turkey is not a Thanksgiving anymore. These brands or objects become part of one’s extended self, if not just for the day. If the brand connects to one’s sacred consumption in such a way the day would not be whole without its existence; it has successfully become part of the extended self and invaluable to the consumer (Solomon 176). Many brands try to prey on the emotional connections people make around holidays in order to boast sales.
Many different life events can become sacred to a consumer: opening day, family vacations and holidays are just some examples of an ordinary event becoming dramatized because of the meaning it brings to the consumer.
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