Merchants Of Cool Summary

A documentary titled, “The Merchants of Cool” focuses on the marketing machine and the media's reliance on the machine in diffusing information to teens. One of the scenes from this documentary that stood out to me was during an Insane Clown Posse concert. As the Juggalos (fans) of Insane Clown Posse lined up outside in downtown Detroit to see the band perform, they express their reasoning behind their support of the band. In this paper, I will mainly use Neil Smelser's Value Added Theory, focusing on the Juggalos and explaining how their behavior exemplifies the collective behavior view. However, I will also attempt to present a case by applying Georg Simmel explanation about fashion in behalf of the Collective Action view to compare the difference

To begin, “Collective Behavior views fads/fashion as “craze” behavior wherein participations seek to fulfill “irrationally” based “wish fulfillment fantasies” that align high levels of status strain with with generalized beliefs about success (or failure) that spur collective episodes…” (Beamish 2016a). Here I will attempt to explain how crazes occur in relation to Juggalos. According to Smelser, in order for there to be a craze; structural conduciveness, social strain, shared generalized beliefs must lead to a trigger for mobilization(Beamish 2016b). In the case of the Juggalos structure conduciveness is already in place where people do not feel belong in the society. They state, “We worry about about society and what they think, they control what goes in our bedroom, what we dress like, what our hair color is, why let it control it here, this is where we have our

There is a shared generalized belief of the purpose and message of the band that these Juggalos connect to. It is because, “they feel loyalty to this band and this music because they experience it as their own, it has not been digested by corporations” (Merchants of Cool). The belief that the music only belongs to them because it is not part of mainstream society only makes the shared purpose of the crowd stronger. However, this causes a wish fulfillment fantasy because when they attend shows and gatherings it only provides an immediate fulfill of generalized beliefs. When they leave the concert they are still part of a larger society outside of their group, but they can preserve that through mobilization. Mobilization is done by attending concerts, covering their faces with make-up, getting tattoos of the band logos, purchasing music, ticket, and/or merchandise. By mobilizing they start participating in a craze that allows them to vent out their societal strain. This becomes a cycle because the craze is based on wish fulfillment fantasy which is temporary therefore, societal strain will recur until the next craze. Smelser’s Value Added Theory can be used to explain how fashion becomes a craze and how crazes formed. However a collective action perspective could also