Modernity and Ricky Bobby

            Modernity is an enigmatic notion. It illustrates the incredible potential we, as a society, have to progress technologically, economically, and socially, but also constrains us to a belief that if we are not moving forward, we are moving backwards. While juvenile, it is reminiscent of the underlying phrase throughout Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, “if you ain’t first, you’re last." In the movie, the titular character realizes that there are more options than first and last and his mind opens. This transition, while obviously much different than the mindset of society, is a parallel to the transition from modernism to postmodernism, but I think the point of the blog is to be about the reading so here we go.

            The reading contextualizes the birth of modernity well saying it was from an atmosphere “of agitation and turbulence, psychic dizziness and drunkenness…” (18). This atmosphere is conveyed in the readings of Marx and Nietzsche. The recurring word of “abyss” demonstrates the immeasurable possibilities the modern mindset has. Modernism is an overriding feeling of excitement and confusion and that is evident in its writers.  The questions of modernists are “echoing in the air long after the questioners themselves, and their answers, have left the scene” (21) which further proves the quote that it is an aura, not an era. In this new aura of discovery and questioning, many people are left to their own devices to understand the current time they are living in.  

            Modernism promises an “open future” (27) but first it must be broken down beyond the belief that mankind is empty and vacuous focusing only on progressing technologically and economically. The rampant societal consumption stunts the immense potential that modernism brings due the class divide that comes with the forces of modernization and consumption.

            After a couple readings of the material, I think I definitely get a gist of what modernism is. I genuinely look forward to class tomorrow so I can hear what people with different perspectives and are generally smarter than me talk about a fairly dense topic.