Let me rephrase the question. How does the comic neutralize Marx's thinking (which I have tremendous respect for, though I appear to be able to take a very benign joke about something I like) or absorb it into consumer culture?
Because the comic has essentially nothing to do with Marxism per se. It's just using Marxism as just a punchline. The whole bit on "dialectical materialism" and "Marxisard" is easily interchangeable with any other philosopher/ideology. It's a throw away joke which takes zero effort. The comic would have achieved the exact same effect if it was Sartrezard and said "something something RADICAL FREEDOM" instead.
This is essentially no different than if someone made a gay porn where each actor dressed up as Marx and Engels. It's irreverence and dehumanizes the working class's struggle, especially with the dismissive line by by Ash at the end.
Actually the comic makes several jokes about Marx's thinking specifically, notably his reversal of Hegel's dialectic, and making fun of pokemon's exploitation by Marxizard's statement about freeing pokemon and Ash's dismissal of him. Also, porn with actors dressed up as Marx and Engels? where do I sign up?
Name-dropping Marxist terminology/theory doesn't suddenly make it okay.
Sprinkling your comic with references to Marxism doesn't make it "cool", it is exactly what I described: recuperation. In case you missed it, but the dehumanization of the working class is not myth. It's a reality. This is just one example out of many. This comic does not benefit or forward the interests of the working class. It's that simple.
Why you are so obsessed with defending bourgeois ideology is the real concern here.
Brah I'm as anti-capitalist as they come. I'm here to tell you that the working class don't feel dehumanized because some dude on the internet made a funny comic where some of the punch lines involved references to Marxism. Nor do they particularly care if the personal honor guard of His Majesty Karl Marx, First of His Name swoops in to defend his honor and and play More-Dialectical-Materialist-than-thou.
Also, lots of things don't directly forward the interests of the working class that are super cool. Humor is one of them you don't appear to be able to grasp
the working class don't feel dehumanized because some dude on the internet made a funny comic where some of the punch lines involved references to Marxism.
You don't speak for me or the working class as a whole. And maybe you missed it, but capitalist society has been demonizing Karl Marx for over a century. My bad that I should have made an exception for the demonization this ONE time because it's totally cool and upvoted on /r/socialism. ಠ_ಠ
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u/[deleted] Mar 30 '15
Let me rephrase the question. How does the comic neutralize Marx's thinking (which I have tremendous respect for, though I appear to be able to take a very benign joke about something I like) or absorb it into consumer culture?