In our previous discussion, we examined how Sam and Sarah, who represent the general public, are trapped in the never-ending cycle of Samsara and are unable to break free from it. This entrapment is caused by the illusion that is imposed on society through culture and consumerism. Sam becomes fixated on material success and women, while Sarah becomes obsessed with material possessions and pleasing men, or simply marrying a wealthy man. This represents the painful cycle of life that both men and women find themselves trapped in.
Check the previous article here:
https://www.peliplat.com/en/article/10005948/Under-the-silver-lake%EF%BC%9A-Culture-is-a-Fabrication-Part-1
The film portrays a world where popular culture is meticulously crafted to create an illusion. It sheds light on how the media, entertainment industry, and advertising collaborate to fabricate a false reality that captivates and distracts the masses. The protagonist, Sam, realizes that his entire life has been built on lies. He becomes obsessed with deciphering the symbolism in pop culture, hoping to uncover hidden social systems and find his dream lover, Sarah.
As Sam decodes the hidden codes in popular culture, one mystery after another unravels. It becomes clear that pop culture and consumerism are mere fabrications, yet they have deeply influenced everyone since birth, trapping them like a cage. Sam discovers that the masses, ordinary people, yearn for wealth, true love, and dreams. Entertainment, advertising, and consumerism exploit these desires and amplify them infinitely. Society is saturated with sexual innuendos, leading ordinary people to indulge in them, with men fixated on beautiful women and women willingly objectifying themselves to please men. Sam becomes aware of this and uncovers the cause: the cultural deception that constructs distinct gender identities for men and women.
Sam is trapped in the confines of a male gender identity that is heavily influenced by the illusion of the American Dream, perpetuated by pop culture and consumerism. This illusion promotes the idea that material possessions are the key to happiness and success. As the main character, Sam embodies the disillusionment that arises from relentlessly pursuing wealth and fame.
In this society, it appears that a man's purpose is to strive for power and fulfill his desires in order to gain an advantage in reproduction and attract romantic partners. However, when Sam moves to Hollywood to chase his dreams, he realizes that he is unable to attain superiority or stand out from the crowd. Instead, he becomes average and directionless.
Following a breakup with his girlfriend, Sam's mental state becomes abnormal, and his focus shifts solely to women and sex. He becomes fixated on a blonde girl who represents the idealized dream girl shaped by cultural influences. One day, he experiences love at first sight when he encounters his blonde neighbor, Sarah. After Sarah’s disappearance, Sam becomes obsessed with finding her, willing to sacrifice everything because he believes that his life will only have meaning if he can be with his dream girl.
On the other hand, Sarah finds herself trapped within a female gender identity that perpetuates the objectification of women. This objectification is fueled by pop culture and consumerism, affecting not only women but also ordinary men. Throughout the movie, women are consistently portrayed as objects of desire, reduced to sexualized images or symbols. This portrayal reinforces the harmful belief that women exist solely for the pleasure and consumption of men, further solidifying gender stereotypes.
Under the guise of cultural entertainment, women are expected to conform to the idea of pleasing men. Sarah's favorite movie, "How to Marry a Millionaire," serves as a prime example of this mindset, as she believes her purpose in life is to marry a wealthy man. She is even willing to objectify herself by willingly confining herself in a glass cabinet, solely for the admiration of art workers.
But What about the people who create these illusions trying to control the masses? Have they grasped the truth?
Watch the songwriter scene here：
The Songwriter serves as a metaphor for all artists who create art for popular culture with the sole purpose of attaining material wealth and satisfying their insatiable desires. In a way, the songwriter is also trapped in the cycle of materialistic desires. They manipulate the masses through their artistic creations, unaware that their own pursuit of wealth and materialism is also being manipulated.
In essence, the songwriter is not much different from the general public. They lose themselves in the pursuit of external possessions and become trapped in an endless cycle. To quote the songwriter, "look at you, everything that you've hoped for, you dreamed of, be in a part of, is a fabrication. Your art, your writing, your culture, is the shell of another man's ambitions, ambitions beyond what you will ever understand."
But What about the people high up?
The top-level billionaires have realized the Samsara people are trapped and strive to transcend the physical world. They pursue a process called "ascension." But has the mystery truly been solved? Is transcending the physical and ascending to another world the ultimate truth?
The quote from the billionaire：This isn’t a world that anyone with any sense stays in, or spends much time worrying about. You are living in a carnival, throwing plastic rings and oversized pop bottles, hoping to win a prize. What are gonna win? A two weeks vacation? A new car? A little money to retire on? It’s all just shitty sawdest filled rabbit.
However, even for those who have managed to see through the deceptions imposed upon society, they often find themselves ensnared in another trap of perception. If the physical realm itself is merely an illusion, how come old man surrounded by three youthful women while seeking immortality the truth? It is simply another form of illusion. Merely recognizing the superficiality of the material world and the pursuit of fame and wealth is not enough. The suicide cult, which consumes poison in an attempt to ascend to heaven, cannot be seen as the ultimate truth. It becomes clear that the hidden social system Sam painstakingly unravels is still a construct woven by the ruling capitalist class - an illusory belief held by those in power.
The film portrays a world where everyone is living in illusions and deceptions. The ordinary masses are trapped in the deception of culture, while the ruling class falls into the illusion of seeking transcendence through immortal ascension. Everything in this world appears illusory, as all human creations are mere fabrications that do not represent the true essence of the world.
The film presents a hierarchy of desires. The desires of ordinary people are shaped by culture and the consumption of capital, making them ideal workers in industrial society. They pursue the elusive American dream, working, shopping, consuming, and creating value for capitalists. On the other hand, the desires of the billionaires are to transcend the physical and achieve immortality. They are willing to pay a high price for the company of three prostitutes. However, if everything in this world is illusory and they seek to transcend the physical realm while still indulging in the desires of the flesh, such as having multiple wives in heaven, it becomes absurd and ridiculous. The film challenges the notion of truth and transcendence. It suggests that even if one sees through the illusions and deceptions of the world, there may still be another trap of perception waiting.
Sadly, although Sam eventually sees through this hidden system and the endless cycle and struggle of the human world, he cannot find a way to transcend from Samsara.
As stated in the Diamond Sutra, “All conditioned phenomena Are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, Like dew or a flash of lightning;. Thus we shall perceive them.”
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