Has anyone already written one of those identity deconstructions of the Gates / Seinfeld commercial? You know, one that examines every gesture and line with salient points of the historical events and relationships of the ethnic or social identities the protagonists are, and thus, in this 'narrative' for public consumption, represent to the world? Because it suddenly hit me in the shower that the key scene of this deconstruction to focus on of course would be the group of people, configured as a representative family unit (adult male, adult female, two male minors, female minor) of people of Middle or South American ethnicity and culture
1, standing outside, looking in, of which the woman asks 'Is that The
Conqueror?', using terminology explicitly referring to the subjugation of these Middle and South American cultures by Europeans. While looking, not down at shoes, but up at the people, signified by editing to be Bill Gates or Jerry Seinfeld.
Ooooh, oooh, oooh, throw in techno angle: the Conquistadores basically managed their feat of killing and subjugating millions because they introduced smallpox. You know, virusses. That Bill Gates brought to all of us with the Windows monoculture, created through an illegal monopoly.
Obviously Bill Gates is El Conquistador.
God, what is the significance of Seinfeld there? I can't directly come up with something here. Is he a jester? He offers a churro, is he offering South and Middle America to The Conquistador? He is Jewish, Jews were victimized by the Inquisition during the reign of Isabella and Ferdinand, though, but do I look at the Money stereotype? A financier? He doesn't pay for the shoes, thought. Is this whole commercial actually a coded critique of the banking system of the Renaissance? The modern credit scandal? Kügel? But whatever Jerry's significance is, the man of Middle or South American ethnicity reminds us, while not looking down at the shoes but up at the people in the shop, there from outside, behind the glass, in the harsh cold rather than in the soft yellow glow of the shop, the place of commerce and wealth, that "[Gates and Seinfeld] run tight". Or does he? The subtitles do. Does the Spanish he uses say these two men, or what they represent, have a close association? Can that terminology in Spanish refer to people?
Excuse me, I need to write a grant proposal for an in-depth exposé of Madison Avenue's views on this post-1492 ethnic cleansing through a technological modern viewpoint. I am thinking interpretive dance with multi-media installation.
1 Make sure to not get bogged down by the 'Not Latino, Hispanic!' / 'Not Hispanic, you assimilated tool, Latino!' / 'Neither, you deluded fools, both are identity designations meant to erase our true individual cultures!' discussion.