Slog - Comments on The Commodity http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity The Greatest American Hero aired between 1981 and 1983: Despite its short life, the point of the show's premise has a meaning that radiates back into the deep past (the 19th century) and into the future (the 21st century). What is its potent core, the source of the program's incredible energy? An American consumer, William Katt, receives from aliens an amazing product: a "power suit." But immediately after the aliens return to space, the consumer loses the instructions to this amazing product. He himself must now learn how to use the alien product. For one, the premise of the show... Copyright 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:59:47 -0800 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:56:20 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by erin at least it wasn't about boobs or butts on the women he wants to hump him.

]]> erin http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946961 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946961 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:08:10 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe His best movie was Rebel Storm.

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946974 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946974 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:14:41 -0800 Comment by bookworm I actually spotted William Katt in the flesh several years ago in my college's bookstore in NJ. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, and thought, "It's the Greatest American Hero!" Then one of the bookstore folks went over to him and asked him if he needed any help. He said no, and thanked them for asking. The bookseller then asked, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to bother you, but are you William Katt?" To which he responded, "Why yes I am." And then the bookseller said, "Oh, I just loved you in Pippin!" And with that, I realized I really couldn't follow that up with something as inane as "Loved you on the Greatest American Hero", and so I left...

]]> bookworm http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946978 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946978 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:18:41 -0800 Comment by treacle "Consumer". Not: "citizen". "Consumer".
I knew it was over when I heard CNN News Anchors referring to Americans as "consumers" not "citizens" in a political context.
We are reduced to mere gaping maws. Slack, flatulent ever-eating mouths that swallow anything and shit plastic.

]]> treacle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946984 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946984 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:24:16 -0800 Comment by Mike of Renton Damn Charles, now I'm gonna have that song stuck in my head all day.

]]> Mike of Renton http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946986 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946986 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:24:37 -0800 Comment by LMSW well said Mr. M. but wouldn't this be a breaking of the master slave dialectic?

]]> LMSW http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946989 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946989 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:26:49 -0800 Comment by Ziggity I vaguely remember a scene from that show where the guy threw a football so high into the atmosphere that it burst. Which is kind of what happens to Charles' arguments much of the time.

Actually, I saw this guy in a play in Oklahoma City. He played the ghost of Lionel Barrymore.

]]> Ziggity http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946990 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946990 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:26:54 -0800 Comment by kid icarus Do Knight Rider next.

]]> kid icarus http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946991 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946991 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:27:42 -0800 Comment by ahava I had the biggest crush on William Katt.

]]> ahava http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946997 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946997 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:35:25 -0800 Comment by meks Whatever... look at this version of the Greatest American Hero by the talented Michael Leavitt:

Leavitt's Greatest American Hero

]]> meks http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946998 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c946998 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:35:29 -0800 Comment by Ziggity "Believe it or not/
George isn't at home . . ."

]]> Ziggity http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947000 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947000 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:36:44 -0800 Comment by Fnarf No, no, do Alf.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947001 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947001 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:37:04 -0800 Comment by quilsone I don't think that is an accurate analysis at all. Capital desperately wants a relationship with each and every one of us, so long as it is on terms that it controls (Cf brand loyalty, word-of-mouth and viral marketing, "consumer advocates", etc.). The comedy of the show comes from the fact that the "ultimate product", the suit, is rendered virtually useless without the complex relationships and infrastructure that capitalism both engenders and requires.

]]> quilsone http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947006 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947006 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:39:43 -0800 Comment by Brickey Who cares about customer service when the product is so great it allows you to beat up the commie bad guys even when you don't know how to use it. I'd wear the suit if I could fly even if it was all crazy and involved crash landings (I mean hey he had the suit on it didn't hurt). Like if Zipcar added lasers who would complain about the customer service anymore?

]]> Brickey http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947114 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947114 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:44:21 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle It's not like we consumers can sue the Chinese sub-sub-sub-contractors that are poisoning us with the GMO poison-laced foodstuffs our US firms sold them anyway.

Who cares?

I'm making sabots.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947134 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947134 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:53:04 -0800 Comment by Brendan I really liked that show when I was a kid, but I never appreciated its metaphysics until now!

]]> Brendan http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947137 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947137 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:53:20 -0800 Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty No, do Gilligan's Island next. You know, the story of a poor, oppressed working man (Gilligan) whose life is controlled by the all-powerful, heartless State (the Skipper). Right up your alley.

]]> Fifty-Two-Eighty http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947143 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947143 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:58:12 -0800 Comment by Fnarf No, no, do Baywatch next. Where the, you know, boobs and stuff, you know.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947159 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947159 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:03:45 -0800 Comment by COMTE No, no - do "Wonder Woman" next, that way we get post-capitalist/pre-feminist superhero dialectic -

- AND boobs!

]]> COMTE http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947167 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947167 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:18:18 -0800 Comment by PdxRitchie Mr Poe is wrong. His best movie was House.

And you know it.

]]> PdxRitchie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947181 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947181 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:29:27 -0800 Comment by Guy Debord There goes Crazy Mudede again, trying to connected Karl Marx with a stupid 70s TV show.

I'll buy that for a dollar!

]]> Guy Debord http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947206 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947206 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:53:58 -0800 Comment by el Rutherford Whatever! Big Wednesday is his best movie ever. Directed by John Milius of Conan and Apacolypse Now fame, watch as W. Katt as Jack Barlowe lays one into a disheveled J. Michael Vincent! http://www.surfline.com/surfaz/images/big_wednesday/merkel_jborte_port3.jpg

]]> el Rutherford http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947226 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947226 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:07:06 -0800 Comment by quilsone second vote for house

]]> quilsone http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947232 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947232 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:09:50 -0800 Comment by quilsone second vote for house

]]> quilsone http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947233 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947233 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:09:50 -0800 Comment by amy! Foo on your whole argument. Who ever reads a manual anyway?!

]]> amy! http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947252 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947252 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:27:00 -0800 Comment by chicagogaydude 中

http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2006/07/30/greatest-american-hero-chinaman#comment-35696

"I’m a pretty die-hard fan of the show, but perhaps I can explain. The emblem’s resemblance to the Chinese character is coincidental. According to an interview on the first season collection of GAH, Cannell got the idea from a pair of scissors with the blades cut or reduced to the points that you see on the suit emblem.

"Finding out about the similarity to the Chinese character 中 and it meaning “middle,” it does fit with the character of Ralph Hinkley. He was a average “middle” class person given a suit with phenomial powers… but only in the suit. He has to deal with the same stuff we do on a daily basis, in his case too the first season, a pretty nasty divorce. So, the more I think about it, maybe there was a reason why the emblem did end up similar to the character."

]]> chicagogaydude http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947284 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947284 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:52:16 -0800 Comment by Andy Niable His best work was PIPPIN.

]]> Andy Niable http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947341 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947341 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:28:02 -0800 Comment by poster Girl NSFW! NSFW!
Charles I'm going to get fired if you keep posting pictures of guys in tight red suits.

]]> poster Girl http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947390 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947390 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:18:37 -0800 Comment by mike Your bullshit falls flat, because he didn't PAY FOR IT. So he's not a consumer. It was GIVEN to him (or he found it). Just like Green Lantern was given the ring because he was worthy. Charles, your a douche. Worst Slog post EVER.

]]> mike http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947416 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/the_commodity#c947416 Film Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:56:20 -0800