Culture is such an interesting thing; "Tracking Bigfoot" Review/Quick thoughts

Just this morning, I've read an interesting article called, "Tracking Bigfoot Through 1970s North American Children's Culture: How Mass Media, Consumerism, and the Culture of Preadilescence Shaped Wildman Lore" published in 2011 by the independent scholar, Dr. Joshua Blu Buhs. It's a very pleasant read on how the Big Foot/Sasquatch myth is depicted in American media and how adults and children interpreted it.

For adults, the Big Foot/Sasquatch myth is used to teach children to be self-disciplined, to not be afraid of, and reign in on their desires and become better people. The myth entered popular thought during a time when fathers went out to work while women stayed at home. People wondered over whether mothers are equipped to raise their sons, and so stories like these became popular.

For children, fixating on this cryptid means hours spent collecting merch, talking to friends and even researching the subject by reading books and watching movies. It's about taking initiative to learn about something and become an 'expert' in it, to feel more 'adult-like' and form an independent identity outside their parents.

This much is interesting enough. The popular legends and stories people watch on television, read or share with friends, reflect the concerns of the time. Everything has context and no work of art—whether trashy or 'high—lives in a vacuum. Hence, Buh's arguments demonstrate why the Big Foot/Sasquatch myth matters to people.

However, the interesting thing is how Buh relates it all back to one thing: consumerism. I'll return to my adult/child binary to establish this. 

By 'reign in on their desires', I mean finding comfortable conclusions to resolve these tensions. In Buh's view, and also since American society cared about this, this means relieving the Oedipus responsibility young boy-protagonists had in their respective narratives. However, one must also be comfortable with these desires and 'let them be', so to speak. The implicit solution to be 'comfortable' with these desires is to channel those urges into being a consumer.

The idea of 'fixating' is easier to relate. It means buying merchandise, buying books and buying movies to watch. To participate in this culture of learning more—to feel like an adult—children must spend money and be a consumer early. From a young age, they are taught that you need to buy things to express yourself and, potentially even maintain social relationships.

I find this profoundly fascinating. It implies that the Big Foot/Sasquatch myth ultimately works to reinforce capitalism and consumerism, to emphasise that you need to buy stuff to participate in mainstream culture. I doubt this is what Buh means but that's what I got, at any rate. It's a very pleasant read overall and I got a lot out of it!