Think big’sti ! Who does not remember this statement from Bob “Elvis” Gratton, a colorful character, played brilliantly by Julien Poulin, created and directed by Pierre Falardeau, in 1985? An anthology scene in this film which wanted to denounce the submission of the Quebec people to American culture. For Gratton, everything has to be big. He lives in a big house and drives a big vehicle. Gratton himself is rather well-rounded and fatty. Fatness, in Falardeau’s film, is a representation of abundance, prosperity and success.
Last year, sociologist Dahlia Namian published, with Lux Éditeur, The provocative society. Essay on the obscenity of the rich. The sociologist’s work deals with the totally uninhibited exhibitionism of the ultra-rich in our society. A very interesting essay that I invite you to read.
Yes, the better off in our society do not hesitate to show off their prosperity and their success through their assets and their possessions. This illustration of prosperity, among the well-off, is intended to be ostentatious and very often obscene. Its aim is to draw a very clear line between the rich, the successful, and ordinary mortals. But what about the representation of success among people who are part of what we call, more or less correctly, the middle class?
I am a motorcycle enthusiast. From April to November, it is my main mode of transport. I use my motorbike mainly to get to work. I get real pleasure from driving the latter on the small country roads leading to my office. For me, riding a motorcycle is an almost meditative act. Driving my motorcycle is also a way to reduce my environmental footprint. It is a means of transportation that consumes very little gasoline and produces few emissions.
Last year, I decided to change my aging motorcycle (a “vintage” built in 2000) for a new mount. I was looking for an economical model with a small displacement engine. Quickly, by consulting the websites of motorcycle manufacturers, I noticed that the manufacturers were offering increasingly larger, ostentatious models with increasingly impressive engines. In short, besides scooters, there are virtually no small motorcycles left on the North American market.
I had the chance to travel. In the majority of countries I have visited, the motorcycle is, along with the donkey and the bicycle, the vehicle of the less fortunate, of the poor. It allows you to travel at low cost. In many of these countries, motorcyclists ride on Chinese mounts, which are lightweight and have very small engines. This is not the case in Quebec.
A few months ago, my partner decided to change her car. She owned a subcompact car, built in 2007. We noticed that subcompacts are virtually absent from manufacturers’ catalogs. Even compact cars seem to have disappeared from these catalogs. We are in the age of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and stylish trucks pickup ! Vehicles that are increasingly larger and equipped with a multitude of electronic gadgets whose aim is more to inflate the bill than to provide real driving pleasure.
Show the world that they exist
I see more and more large vehicles on the roads of Quebec. Strangely, the increase in the price of gasoline does not seem to want to slow down this phenomenon of increasing vehicle size. Why is that ? Are we not aware of the environmental impacts caused by overconsumption of fossil fuels? What explains this phenomenon?
The increase in the size of properties is also observable in the real estate sector. Houses are getting bigger and bigger, more and more spacious and luxurious. As we experience an unprecedented housing crisis, new housing construction seems designed for very large families. However, families are becoming smaller and smaller in Quebec. What explains this fact?
Humans tend, by their nature, to frequently want to rise above the fray. Some by ideas, actions, others by their assets. For a large part of the population, self-representation occurs through the reflection of others. Social success is demonstrated by the size of the assets owned. I actually have in mind the image of a mayor of a small municipality who drives a large luxury SUV with a personalized license plate bearing his initials… He surely wants to be recognized!
Bob Gratton’s statement is over 40 years old. Everything suggests that it is still relevant today. Gratton was not one of the ultra-rich in our society. He represented the “middle class” of Quebec society. This class of which several members advocated, and still advocate, the exhibition of their goods and the size of their assets to show the world that they have succeeded. To show the world that they exist.
Think big ‘sti!