Althusser 10/16

Louis Althusser’s “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses” focused primarily on the important concepts that we focused on in CMC 100, especially the idea of “hailing.”  I remember finding the concept of hailing extremely interesting in CMC 100, and this week’s reading definitely added to that interest.  While the entirety of Althusser’s essay is extremely important, especially when pertaining to the differences between Ideological State Apparatuses and Repressive State Apparatuses, I still find that the concept of hailing speaks directly to my interest in marketing and advertising.  With that in mind, Althusser states “All ideology hails or interpellates concrete individuals as concrete subjects, by the functioning of the category of the subject” (47).  I think this idea presented by Althusser is really important, because in other words, it states that we are all concrete subjects to everything around us; we are always being hailed by somebody or something at all times.

The reason I find hailing to be so important is because as a Critical Media, and Critical Cultural Studies major, I have been taught to realize that we as individuals, are always subjects, whether it be to advertisers and marketers, or as subjects to the messages portrayed on television shows.  My media example – the infamous poster of Uncle Sam with the caption “I Want You for U.S. Army” – illustrates this idea that we are always, in some form, being hailed, whether we as individuals understand it or not.  In this example, it is very obvious that Uncle Sam is hailing us – or rather those individuals at the time – to sign up to be in the United States Army.  The caption stating, “I want you,” directly correlates to Althusser’s example of an individual on the street turning around after being hailed in the form of someone calling out “Hey, you there!” (47).  In this instance, a random individual is being hailed by another through calling out, and yet the sentiment is shared with the Uncle Sam poster.  Two different forms of being hailed, and yet the outcome is still the same.We still see this idea of being hailed everyday, in the form of television commercials, magazine advertisements, and billboards as we drive down the road.  No matter where we are, we will always be subject to a greater power hailing us to give into them.