Media theorist Marshall McLuhan wrote that the dominant media environment is invisible to people just as water is imperceptible to fish. Likewise, car culture is invisible to the vast majority of Americans. We are too immersed in stalled traffic, alienating suburban sprawl, and an endless barrage of expensive ads to really see what our environment has become.

New York City is different. It's the only place in the nation where car owners are the minority and motor vehicles operate as a hostile, invasive species. Like the horn of a Ford Crown Vic blasting you out of your shoe leather, it has always been the case that, in New York, the extremes of car culture are more jarring than just about anywhere else.

Lately, these extremes are ratcheting up to a new level. In the face of mounting evidence that the American motoring habit is one of the most destructive forces on the planet today, we seem to be working overtime to convince ourselves it’s all OK. Rather than face facts and fix problems, we're desparate to move one more sports ute off the showroom floor before the whole thing falls apart. In the process, American car culture is moving to a place of relentless absurdity, so far beyond the realm of irony that it has become the very parody of itself. Evidence:

Exhibit A: The magazine ad for the Lincoln Aviator that has been running in high-brow magazines for months, starts with a bio of "Carlos," the classic New York City bike messenger. It goes on to compare the cyclist, "nimble, alert, and able to anticipate" to Lincoln’s 3-ton, 16-foot, 13 m.p.g. urban artery clogger. Like Carlos on his bike, the Aviator maneuvers by "by reflex and bursts of acceleration. It’s a constant adrenaline rush."

Exhibit B: On December 2, a few days after hundreds of heavily-equipped police decimated November's Critical Mass bike ride, midtown traffic ground to a halt for a NASCAR rally in Times Square. After revving engines, squealing tires, spewing noxious crap, and taking a spin around the neighborhood, 2003 champion Matt Kenseth noted, "That was pretty amazing to be able to shut down the city like that. I don't think traffic will be the same all day."

Exhibit C: The proliferation of gigantic, grotesque vehicles with magnetized "support the troops" ribbons stuck to their rear-ends.

The ribbons in particular are either so brazen or so clueless, they raise some obvious questions. Do Americans not see the link between their plush-bucket-seat-lifestyle and the necessity of a massive military presence alongside our Middle East gas station? Or do we understand the connection perfectly and have simply decided that blood for oil is a pretty good deal? After all, if Air Force aviators make it possible to cruise the city with eight cup-holders and a porn video playing in the dashboard of a Lincoln Aviator, the least we can do is slap a yellow magnet on the back and say, "Thanks, troops."


11:20 PM | Link |