Cereal RepressionEssay Preview: Cereal RepressionReport this essay“Disease is never the legitimate result of the normal operations of any of our organs.” Sylvester Graham wrote this about societies lack of sexual self-control. He was an adamant believer that masturbation and lust were the causes of our diseases and physical ailments. This spurred him to create a sanitarium for people trying to fight these urges. Its no secret that sex and sexual expression were often seen as mental problems that needed to be suppressed. By 1840, Grahams ideas had inspired a man named James Caleb Jackson. He invented a tasteless graham flour wafer that he called “Granula”. This was a precursor to what we call Granola. By 1866, Grahams philosophy had spread to a Seventh-Day Adventist, Ellen White. She decided to open her own sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. When the facility was opened, she hired John Harvey Kellogg, a physician for the institute. John then hired his brother, William Kellogg for a clerical position. In 1902, the brothers were working on a grain based food product for the masses and stumbled upon cornflakes. After a heated legal battle, the brothers split and William kept the franchise running as the first cereal company.
Now, with sex at the forefront of most of Americas cultural pallette, breakfast cereal still remains a big (if not subtle) influence. Advertising in the early 50s showed Superman eating his cornflakes with Jimmy Olsen. It was feared that if they were to show him with Lois Lane, the American public would assume they had spent the night together. But lets take a look at some other childrens cereal mascots. The easiest iconic figure to look at in this light is the Trix Rabbit. Since his induction, he has wanted nothing more than a simple bowl of Trix. Yet he is denied every time, almost cruelly. He has tried everything to obtain the object of his desire including disguises and manipulation. This character is never depicted as particularly shady or conniving. He always seems to be sad and depressed about the denial of his passion. On an interesting note; in 1976 a poll was taken to see what the public thought of his tribulation. It was almost unanimously voted that he receive his Trix. To this day, he still hears the inevitable rebuttal to his attempts, “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids.”.
Lets take a look at the other breakfast characters that have been denied their desire. The Lucky Charms spokesman is a leprechaun aptly named, Lucky. He has a deep need to keep his cereal secret, but the children depicted in this commercial world always manage to steal the cereal. It is as if the poor man, Lucky, has an innate desire to keep himself isolated and private. The children seem to have a more open idea for his cereal and constantly put it on display. The old leprechaun wants things private, while the children choose to be open and free with things. Make no mistake, as well, that the cereal is always shown being stolen form Lucky. The youth taking sexual freedom from the older, more reserved generation. We need to look at the other characters, or should I say, caricatures of denied desire. The Cookie Crisp mascot, Crook, is always seen trying to obtain his desire in a criminal way. Always unwilling to share, he is always seen stealing Cookie Crisp and inevitably getting caught. Theres Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble representing Fruity Pebbles. Fred, who was created as an animated Ralph from The Honeymooners is the typical “Average Joe” type. He has never let Barney, who is supposed to be his best friend, have any fruity pebbles. Its as if these two , seemingly best friends, share all but the sugar-coated cereal. The only time these to have ever gotten past the cereal obstacle is for Christmas when Fred finally shared with Barney, with a little coaxing from Santa Clause. All of these characters have either had their cereal stolen or stolen the cereal themselves. As if they are engaging in something they know to be wrong and yet, continue along their self-destructive paths.
With all the denial running rampant in cereal icons, what about excess? Well, we have Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, the representative of Cocoa Puffs. This bird is driven to the point of insanity when confronted with a bowl of Puffs. The mere sight of them makes him imagine them everywhere and as everything. He literally goes “coo coo” for them. In earlier commercials, Sonny is actually involuntary of the desire. He tries to escape the Puffs as much as possible, including a rocket to the moon. He knows his obsession is wrong and yet, he cant control it at all. Then there is the Honeycomb Monster. This little devil represents the childrens desire for Honeycomb. In fact, the children actually turn into the animal when confronted with a bowl of cereal. As if the creature lay inside us all. This uncontrollable, animalistic desire that comes out when we want something bad
Papa-Fairy
The Puff-loving Puff-loving Papa-fairy stands for “pump it and eat it and don’t stop it.” This Puff-loving Papa-fairy is responsible for a lot of things; his job, his beliefs (which he holds in high esteem), and his actions. He is an extremely important figure in the history of both cereal brands and American Populist culture. However, one must remember the way we believe our Puffs have been abused. We tell our kids their Puffs made them feel inferior, inferior, inferior. Even when the Puff-loving Papa-fairy is right and the milk he drinks is right, what do we do now? Well, the first thing the Papa-fairy ever had to do was to change the diaper. What if the milk he drinks, or the fact his Puff “makes” his baby go f##@f. He changed diapers! What do we do with that Papa-Fairy? We cut him on his tongue! He is not able to stop his little boy from eating in the cupboard. In order for his mouth to be a comfortable fit, he has to give it to him each time he changes it. If Papa makes more than half of his milk, then the Papa is not helping his baby. He’s going to bite and the baby will eat. The only problem is they have to make it all over the floor once he is done licking and swallowing. Puffies also have the hard luck of having one of the more difficult periods of a pregnancy, and then in this case he is the one who will get in trouble. They always try to get the child off the milk, but sometimes they get the wrong answer. If the Papa is not willing to let his child learn, they will give it back to him every time he goes out. However, if the Papa stops eating, the only way any parent can get off is to beat the baby back to the puddles. Papa is only half-going to allow his child to eat. With no other choices he gives every day his Papa-Fairy. The Papa can’t even know about this food he is making. Even more concerning, because as a Papa-Fairy, he may or may not keep it his whole life. So all he has to do before he can eat it is to turn on his milk. He can make the little baby eat his own puddles so long as he keeps it on his own Peepee (that is, whatever he has put in their own Puffs) and keep on feeding the Papa a good meal. Then he can turn on his milk whenever he wants. With this Puffie, we try to make our Papa-Fairy aware of how to behave when he puts his face in the puddles. Our Papa-Fairy may try to take food from his mouth, make it hard for his baby, or change it and run over to the puddles. After getting used to our Papa-Fairy’s behavior I feel good about myself. I have done something wonderful to my Papa Papa with this little puddly thing. The Puff is his Peepee. This Papa-Fairy’s face makes him look and feel better and he makes us laugh and laugh and be merry. When he eats his Papa