Martha Stewart - The Heroine
The Martha Stewart guide to brainwashing the masses via corporate media.
Prison May Have Helped Stewart Image -- http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...rt_new_image_4
Image makeover: How prison helped Martha turn it around -- http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...gion-apnewyork
Expect to see a stream of these messages over the next few days on TV and other news media until you start "realising" that post prison Martha is cool. You will believe that she has a much better image now or you wont care.
http://news.google.com/?hl=en&ncl=ht...%3Fid%3D553571
Prison May Have Helped Stewart Image -- http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...rt_new_image_4
Image makeover: How prison helped Martha turn it around -- http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...gion-apnewyork
Expect to see a stream of these messages over the next few days on TV and other news media until you start "realising" that post prison Martha is cool. You will believe that she has a much better image now or you wont care.
http://news.google.com/?hl=en&ncl=ht...%3Fid%3D553571
Comments
And Paula Zahn (also blech!) doing her shitty Jane Pauley imitation while saying how Martha "struggled" and "suffered" and "agonized" etc.
This myth-making, icon-building...it's like a new Cult of Isis for our New Roman Empire.
Behold, Lucius, I have arrived. Thy weeping and prayers have moved me to succour thee. I am she that is the natural mother of all things, the Mistress and Governess of all the Elements, the initial Progenitrix of all things, the Chief of powers divine, Queen of Heaven, the First of the Gods celestial, the light of the Goddesses. At my will, the planets of the air, the wholesome winds of the Seas, and the silences of hell are disposed; my name, my divinity is adored throughout all the world in various manners, in various customs and in many names, for the Phrygians call me the Mother of the Gods.
Originally posted by ShawnJ
I'd hit it.
Originally posted by ShawnJ
I'd hit it.
You could try, I'd bet a woman with that much drive might be more than a handfull.
I'll bet she climbed the walls -- you through a busy person in the can, it messes with their heads. There was another thread on the prison/capital punishment, I think people need to realize that you either need to fine them, kill them, or let them go -- incarceration is just another form of torture.
Originally posted by the cool gut
You know, I really hate that cunt.
Oh my... won't you tell us what you really think about her
Martha tried to save her money. I would have done the same damn thing. She didn't steal any old folks pensions or cost anyone their 401k. If Martha Stewart deserved prison then Kenneth Lay deserved death.
This was "the man" putting his foot on Marthas neck because she's a successful woman. Know your place Martha. This is a Man's world.
Moving on, Martha Stewart was smart enough and savvy enough to take a message that has been said a million times and market it into a shitload of money. Accept it or not, but it's plain fact that Martha Stewart creates jobs in a lot of different industries.
Originally posted by Splinemodel
Martha Stewart is straight-up awesome as far as I'm concerned. Insider-trading is such a gray concept that I find it hard to really care about: When you have that kind of money, almost any big investment is wrapped up with a direct line to those in-the-know whether you want it or not.
Moving on, Martha Stewart was smart enough and savvy enough to take a message that has been said a million times and market it into a shitload of money. Accept it or not, but it's plain fact that Martha Stewart creates jobs in a lot of different industries.
She went to jail for lying to the FBI, SEC and to investors, or more specifically obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and securities fraud, not for insider trading.
Funny that the feds take a year to ponder making a case for insider trading, declined, yet she's now famous for it even though she was never accused of it or convicted for it. That's bullshit.
She's pond scum but that doesn't mean the feds aren't too. Or the media. Or the public.
I love hating everyone.
Originally posted by johnq
She went to jail for lying to the FBI, SEC and to investors, or more specifically obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and securities fraud, not for insider trading.
She's pond scum but that doesn't mean the feds aren't too. Or the media. Or the public.
I haven't really followed the case, so I can't verify the truth of your statements, but I am still apt to give her plenty of respect. After all, she's done more with her life than I have, and as far as I know more than you have. There are things I regret having done, and laws that I have transgressed, it's just that you and I aren't important enough for anyone to care. Calling her "pond scum" is a foolish statement that I can only guess comes from jealousy.
Amen brother
Originally posted by Splinemodel
Calling her "pond scum" is a foolish statement that I can only guess comes from jealousy.
Jealous? Of what.
I don't worship money or fame, unlike her or her adherents.
Her condescendingly self-vaunted class is the brand itself, implying even you too can "buy class", even when it's really just cheap foreign imports being peddled to low/middle income housewives at K-Mart. It's like Garanimals for the otherwise tasteless home-ec dropouts.
Manufacturing outsourced to lowest bidder. Workers make pennies. Sold through mega-corp at cut-throat pricing. Media spins hype as Martha-anything is a must-have. Mom Sixpacks flock to "class-up" their otherwise garish homes. K-Mart & Martha rake in the cash.
P.T. Barnum would be proud. Nothing to be jealous of unless you like that sort of Walmart/Starbucks approach to doing business. I don't.
Nice things for cheap is all well and good, it's the class-based mythos that is spun around it I can't stand.
Originally posted by johnq
Jealous? Of what. . .
You come across as a very typical angry man. There's clearly something that's really bothering you about the whole incident, and I don't think the legalities are the culprits.
As you said it yourself, "it's the class-based mythos that is spun around it I can't stand." This statement, of course, came before this gem: "Her condescendingly self-vaunted class is the brand itself, implying even you too can "buy class", even when it's really just cheap foreign imports being peddled to low/middle income housewives at K-Mart."
I don't find Martha Stewart to be peddling false class by any means. We happen to live in a country with a large middle class that is at least somewhat interested in trying different things, i.e. "gourmet." Personally, I don't think that it's my duty to tell someone what they can or can't do with a particularly benign segment of their lives, nor do I think Martha Stewart is fooling anyone.
I find it so strange that certain people I've discussed things with on this board are so preoccupied with class. What I find even more startling is that the people who are so class-oriented seem to be ardent "liberals," (yet they champion a terrifically conservative message). I suppose Martha Stewart is just another scapegoat for the east coast liberal literati, who dread the fact that, in America, regular people can bypass their delegations for the orders of class and wealth.
Lastly, "buying class" has always, to some extent, been at the heart of the American ideal. In Martha Stewart's personal case, it's very much a self-made empire, and in her supporter's cases, it's very watered down. Nonetheless, I don't see why you're upset for Martha Stewart making people happy by enriching their lives to at least some small extent.
Originally posted by hmurchison
Man Phukem.
Martha tried to save her money. I would have done the same damn thing. She didn't steal any old folks pensions or cost anyone their 401k. If Martha Stewart deserved prison then Kenneth Lay deserved death.
This was "the man" putting his foot on Marthas neck because she's a successful woman. Know your place Martha. This is a Man's world.
My thoughts exactly. Putting aside you feelings about the woman, she didn't deserve the vilification she got, especially considering most Enron people got off scott free.
Originally posted by johnq
Jealous? Of what.
I don't worship money or fame, unlike her or her adherents.
Her condescendingly self-vaunted class is the brand itself, implying even you too can "buy class", even when it's really just cheap foreign imports being peddled to low/middle income housewives at K-Mart. It's like Garanimals for the otherwise tasteless home-ec dropouts.
Manufacturing outsourced to lowest bidder. Workers make pennies. Sold through mega-corp at cut-throat pricing. Media spins hype as Martha-anything is a must-have. Mom Sixpacks flock to "class-up" their otherwise garish homes. K-Mart & Martha rake in the cash.
P.T. Barnum would be proud. Nothing to be jealous of unless you like that sort of Walmart/Starbucks approach to doing business. I don't.
Nice things for cheap is all well and good, it's the class-based mythos that is spun around it I can't stand.
Wow - that is the king of the mixed messages. You look down on "low-class bad taste" kmart shoppers, and complain about a class-based mythos all in the same breath...
Originally posted by Splinemodel
Nonetheless, I don't see why you're upset for Martha Stewart making people happy by enriching their lives to at least some small extent.
Well, I don't know who she is currently making happy, people aren't buying her stuff - she's using this little "stunt" to give the impression that her company is this revitalized new brand.
I mean fuck, her own board fired her, and now she's the queen shit again?!? Please.
Originally posted by e1618978
Wow - that is the king of the mixed messages. You look down on "low-class bad taste" kmart shoppers, and complain about a class-based mythos all in the same breath...
Problem is that your quote is a dishonest blob of things I did not say.
I did not say '"low-class bad taste" kmart shoppers', and even if its a summary, it is an incorrect one.
1. Martha, the brand, is (purportedly) class and taste personified.
2. This is then brought to K-Mart, a company who's target are regular people with small budgets.
3. The "idea" of Martha-the-brand being packaged as a must-have collection and sold to these people implies they do not already have such taste and class as Martha the woman already has. "Affordable style for the masses" means 1. the audience is poor/cheap, 2. they are otherwise style-less and need guidance and 3. they are a huge swath of common folk, not some savvy elite...
4. ...and they in fact shop at K-Mart. K-Mart shopper isn't MY code word for "low-class, low-income people with otherwise bad taste", (it is practically K-Mart and Martha's though, clearly).
So '"low-class bad taste" kmart shoppers' at worse is a summary of the target market from K-Mart and Martha's perspective, not my attitude towards the shoppers. The audience is in fact low and middle class (financial not the condescending caste-like meaning). They are otherwise tasteless in that the attitude/hype of Martha being the pinnacle (according to her) and the "everything else is crap" kind of attitude implies that before her arrival, all these people were clueless without her.
My "cheap foreign imports" comment is the truth. Huge pressure is put on manufacturers for the lowest possible price. Nothing new here but she plays the same game. So my saying "cheap" isn't some kind of aesthetic judgment.
Back to what I actually said:
Her condescendingly self-vaunted class is the brand itself, implying even you too can "buy class", even when it's really just cheap foreign imports being peddled to low/middle income housewives at K-Mart. It's like Garanimals for the otherwise tasteless home-ec dropouts.
See how I used quotes on "buy class" and "class-up"? I was hilighting those as not being in my voice, not attitudes that hold.
Note I said: It's like Garanimals for the otherwise tasteless home-ec dropouts.
I said "otherwise" - the implication in not using The Brand is you are therefore tasteless, because The Brand epitomizes taste, no?
"home-ec dropouts" (which includes me by the way) is the implication in all of Martha's talking down, royal "we" attitude. You need her. if you already had "style and class", you wouldn't need her.
The very fact I'm bitching about her getting wealthy off making the lower income masses feel inferior (and the "cure", of course, is to buy all her products) should show I don't buy into this class/caste crap.
That doesn't mean I can't speak in terms of demographics and income.
Martha brand is like Garanimals. Just as Garanimals was a mix and match line of children's clothing (cheap, affordable, fun marketing) it was designed with the inherent implication that the parents could not otherwise buy outfits that went together. Just match the animals on the tags and you were guaranteed to have an outfit that matched (albeit in the 1970's!
The resulting effect was parent's looked like they had no taste because they "needed" the Garanimals system and also implied they were poor since they were sold at (I think) Sears. (Magnified further when your entire neighborhood was wearing them as well).
So too with Martha brand. There is the implication that one needs Martha for all cues on matters taste and style, yet having all her products implies you go to K-Mart for everything.
The "low-class" aspect is built-in to the entire premise, not something I'm seeing and blurting out.
What she has done in her "empire"'s endeavors, is given the common person a kind of personality disorder. They look at their gardens or living rooms and as long as they are not seeing Martha everywhere they are unhappy and go buy more.
I see it as a dangerous mix for the economy, cult of personality, so-called omnimedia and mass marketing cheap import goods made overseas by underpaid workers.
If you don't know why Walmart (and I know it has nothing to do with K-Mart or Martha Stuart) and Starbucks are dangerous business models then I need talk no further. Or more actually...
Most people are going to defend her and say "she makes nice things that I can afford" and leave it at that.
Welcome to a marketer's wet dream.
Originally posted by the cool gut
You know, I really hate that cunt.
I had little sympathy for the argument put forward by some feminists who complained that she was jailed in part for daring to be a successful business woman. When, however, I read comments like this, I begin to wonder if I might have dismissed them too readily.