So it's the middle of July and the television presentation of the Tour de France is going on for two more weeks. That means cycling fans watching the Tour will be exposed to another 200 or so showings of the Cadillac Escalade commercial. The spot is on high rotation. It plays every 10 minutes or so background music of David Bowie's "Fame" playing loud, but not so clear. The commercial is titled "Evolution of Indulgence."
It's a very beautiful piece of video to watch. The spot opens with a fit drummer pounding on an Egyptian drum as a beautiful queen with face wrapped in gold jewelry rides through a sunlit landscape. All the trappings of wealth and power are evident. The message is clear: Fame and power are wonderful. You have risen above the lowly attendants hauling your throne.
Then we see an Indian prince riding on the back of an elephant. The exotic look in his eye is enchanting. The scene smacks of exotic lands where royalty enjoys the fruits of existence.
The third sequence shows another woman of power riding in a horse-drawn carriage. A child runs waving outside the window, as if the person inside were a rock star, not just a wealthy bitch who can barely muster the energy to wave back.
Finally we meet a couple riding in their well-appointed Cadillac. They are obviously well-to-do, which is great, because they also happen to be black. As they couple arrives at their home a white attendant walks out to carry their bags from the car to the house.
There's at least one problem with this diverse celebration of wealth: It doesn't get the fact that the song Fame is not a celebration of the merits of fame at all. The lyrics tell an entirely different story, lampooning the hubris of those obsessed with fame to the point where they can't see their ugly worldview exposed for what it is.
The song makes fun of everything the Cadillac commercial portends to celebrate.
"Fame...what you like is in the limo...Fame what you get is no tomorrow...Fame, what you need you have to borrow...
The song doesn't stop there either. "Fame, "Nein! It's mine!" is just his line...To bind your time...It drives you to crime....Fame."
And the closing lyrics nail the point home. "Is it any wonder, I reject you first? Fame fame fame fammmme. Is it any wonder you are all too cool to fool? Fame...."
All this Bowie crypticism is echoed by the cynical falsetto of John Lennon, one of the most famous people in human history, who for several years rejected his personal wealth and fame to preserve his own sanity.
So the idea that using the song Fame somehow affirms the idea that driving a Cadillac Escalade is the pinnacle of achievement is not just ironic. It's pitiful.
While the commerical is being challenged on grounds of being racist both in its presentation and its messaging, the great problem is its clueless use of a song that means the exact opposite of all it is used to promote. It winds up showing us that having money does not prevent people having no idea what life is really all about.
Instead the commercial points out that America is very likely vexed by a class of people who are clueless as to why their money does not make them better people.
And that is where that kind of fame gets you. Bully for you. Chilly for me. Got to get a rain check on...pain.
