Blog post 2

Oswalt initially begins his essay stating, “I am not a nerd”. However, before I go into his definition of a nerd, the meaning of Otaku should first be identified.  Otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with obsessive interests, which originally, were out of the norm. Therefore, a “nerd” or “geek” was someone otaku about a specific subject. For Oswalt, his friends and him were Otaku about videogames, science fiction, and other things typically associated with the word “nerd”. However, this stereotypical idea of nerd, according to Oswalt, no longer exists. Now, everyone is Otaku about something, and therefore everyone is a geek or a nerd. This idea, that pop culture has become Otaku, is the specific exigence that Oswalt is responding to. At one point, being obsessive over a specific interest set you apart. However, around 1987 this changed and those that were Otaku about something actually became ahead of the curve. There are several reasons for this shift in ideas, but the most immediate reason has been due to the Internet. The Internet has given every individual in America the ability to become otaku about something.  All of the different websites provide specific, detailed information, which would have taken an individual weeks to uncover thirty years ago. However, this process of uncovering, according to Oswalt, was part of the joy in being Otaku about something. It was a hidden pleasure that only you and a few other people were able to discover. The problem with society now is that with the Internet and pop culture, people are missing out on the joy of having a specific interest that only they know about it. I agree that today’s society has become dependent on the Internet for fueling their interests. It has made all of pop culture and anything that ever existed completely accessible. In fact, “geekiness” has become completely normal. In a way, everyone can be considered a ‘geek” about some subject. Like Oswalt says, “It’s the method of consumption, not what’s on the plate.” Unfortunately, we have still lost the thrill of being a “geek” and the hunt for knowledge regarding a particular interest. Therefore, although being a “nerd” or “geek” about something has become increasingly common in society, the true depth and meaning behind being a nerd has been lost, thus making us all one in the same.

Supermarket pastoral is the creative form of “literature” that organic food makers have developed to accompany their food. The labels often describe where the food came from in elaborate and over-exaggerated prose. The technique is used to make the buyer, or reader essentially, feel like they have a connection to the food and thus more interested in buying it.  Pollan is discussing it because he too has become affected by the creative language and thoughts that is evokes. While he is fully aware of how silly it may seem, he still prefers organic food to the grocery industry, which simply uses prices as its language. In reality however, organic food really comes from two main distributors found in California. Therefore, the process is very similar to that of the regular food industry. The appeal of organic food lies in the literature that mentally takes the buyer to where the food they are about to eat originated. This emotional connection that they develop makes buying organic food seem like a much more interesting experience. Thus, the culture of organic food is in the story it tells more so than the actual food. It attracts the buyer with a setting and characters that make them immediately interested, just like a childhood storybook. Supermarket Pastoral is the organic food industry’s creative advertising technique in attracting the customer through an emotional experience that they cannot receive anywhere else.