Benjamin's Grandville

        There is so much to look at Benjamin's writing, so I decided to focus on the chapter that jumped out at me. Chapter III, "Grandville, or the World Exhibitions" brings forth the subject of commodity, commercialism, consumption, entertainment, modernity, and just about anything that would be cause for anxiety for that matter! We are presented with the World Exhibitions as a type of entertainment for the working class, a festival that allows them to entertain themselves as well as also be consumers for a moment, but what is interesting is whatBenjamin says regarding the exhibitions, " World exhibitions glorify the exchange value of the commodity.They create a framework in which its use value recedes into the background" (7). It seems to me that what he is saying that these exhibitions do not necessarily offer quality goods, or essential goods, but instead are used to inspire consumption. They excite people into becoming consumers of unnecessary products just for the sake of entertainment.
       What also caught my eye was the opening sentence, "World exhibitions are places of pilgrimage to the commodity fetish" (7). Benjamin immediately comes out swinging, there is no doubt that he is not a fan of such exhibitions. The use of the word fetish immediately jumps out, it has such strong sexual connotations. I would go on to say that it implies almost a type of sexual deviance. The sexualized language continues as he goes on to say "World exhibitions propagate the universe of commodities" (8). We get a sense that this propagation is a consensual act, that with the consumer there is an offspring that will come for from the coupling of these exhibitions and the commodity. These commodities are represented in Fashion, at least that where I think he goes with it- which would make sense because fashion is a driving force of consumerism. The idea of Fashion in opposition to the organic, and through the "coupling" of fashion and the "living body", we are left with unnatural state of being. We lose our human-ness through this obsession with the commodity, it is not natural to raise the value of items unrealistically. I don't know if I made sense of this, but I think Benjamin is trying to reveal an unnatural relationship that his become all consuming, and will spread throughout society if it is allowed to continue reproducing itself.