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Jason Bradley
Instructor: Charley Henley
English 3000 001
3/24/14

Repressive Desublimation in Sleeper

In Wood Allens Sleeper, hapless New Yorker Miles Monroe is cryogenically frozen in
1973, and revived 200 years later in the dystopian American Federation. Monroe encounters a
woman named Luna, and together they become embroiled in the plot of a revolutionary
movement called The Underground. Sleeper suggests that the ideology of productivity
maintained by the U.S. during the Cold War will result in a dystopian future of repressive
desublimation.
Sleeper reflects the culture of the U.S. in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which was still
very much focused on the Cold War. The first round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks,
known as SALT I, were not ratified until October of 1972, one year before the release of Sleeper
(Garthoff 1). SALT I correlated with a de-escalation of tension between the U.S. and Russian in
the early 1970s, which is known as dtente (Weber 56). Prior to the early 70s, however, the U.S.
was still very intent on the Cold War strategy of Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD. The
intent of MAD was to deter a Russian nuclear attack by virtue of the Russians knowing that a
retaliatory attack would result in their total annihilation as well (American Experience). While
one might conclude that MAD was a successful strategy in light of the absence of a Russian
nuclear attack; the policy left both sides vulnerable to accidental nuclear conflict and rapid
escalation of smaller incidents into nuclear war (American Experience). Sleeper reflects the
culture of the late 60s and early 70s in which Cold War tensions were very high, nuclear

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destruction was quite possible, and the U.S. was only just beginning to pursue less aggressive
tactics in dealing with the Russians.
Aside from the military strategy of MAD, the U.S. also implemented an economic
strategy against their Russian adversaries. As Charles Maier indicates in his essay The World
Economy and the Cold War in the Middle of the Twentieth Century:

Indeed, as Cold War confrontation congealed at the end of the 1940s, the
economic ideology that came to play the greatest role in the nonCommunist
theory and in the

world was the idea of sustained economic growth both as high

applied form that I have earlier termed the politics of

productivity. (48)

Maintaining economic productivity which outpaced the Russians was essential to the U.S. Cold
War strategy because, the two economic systems had to provide the resources to sustain the
military confrontation and subsidize allies. National power depended on economic achievement
(Maier 45). This macroeconomic political emphasis on maximizing productivity necessitated a
microeconomic cultural emphasis on increasing individual consumption.
Sleeper suggests that the emphasis placed on consumer expenditure would result in
repressive desublimation. Repressive desublimation is a concept which is framed on the idea of
the dissolution of art as a separate entity as it is appropriated and integrated into commercially
produced material products (Marcuse 51). In the process of marrying art with commercial
products, the transcendental values which are unique to sublime works of art are destroyed
(Marcuse 51). The ideals of the sublimated realm of the soul are annihilated as they are

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rationalized and converted into consumer products (Marcuse 52). What is sublime in a work of
art cannot exist in the form of a consumer product. Consumer products are designed to be as
profitable as possible, and consequently are made to have qualities which are aesthetically and
sensually appealing. It is these very qualities which are antithetical to sublimity (Henley 1).
Marcuse points out that as artistic works are incorporated into this society and circulate, they
become commercials they sell, comfort, or excite (56). In a culture with an ideological focus
on consumption, art becomes a tool of economic propaganda which is meant to increase
economic productivity.
In Sleeper, one can see repressive desublimation in the way high culture has merged with
commercial culture. This is especially appearent in the scene where partygoer Harold presents
hostess Luna with a painting hes created. Lune exclaims, Oh, Its Keane. Its pure Keane. No.
No, its greater than Keane. Its Cugat (Sleeper). According to Katherine Bishops article on
Margaret Keane, Keanes sappy paintings were widely lampooned by critics, while still gaining
considerable commercial appreciation. Its a similar case with musician Xavier Cugat, who is
described as being primarily remembered for his highly commercial approach to pop music,
and while his band was, criticized for their middle-of-the-road approach, Cugat remained
committed to his commercial-minded sound (Xavier Cugat). Lunas comments suggest that
in the dystopian future of Sleeper, very commercial works are considered classics; works of high
art. In a similar example of the dissolution of high art in Sleeper, Luna recites a trite poem for
Harold, to which he replies, Its deep. Youre so obviously influenced by McKuen. Rod
McKuen, like Keane and Cugat, is an artist that experienced considerable commercial success
while receiving little critical praise. It is said of his literary work that critics didnt always
accept it, and some derided it as simplistic and sentimental (Huey). In praising Lunas poem

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by comparison to McKuen, Harold indicates the high esteem that McKuens commercially
minded poetic works are held in. In each of these scenes, one can see that in Sleeper the values
of high art have been lost to mundane and commercial works.
Luna, Harold, and other citizens of the American Federation, are repressed by the
destruction of high art and the absence of the cultural values they embody (Marcuse 51). As
Marcuse indicates, the value of the transcendental ideals of high art is in their antagonism
towards the social reality of the status quo (51). The destruction of these values results in a
one-dimensional reality which is devoid of the sublime and contrary content of high art. The
one-dimensionality that results from the absence of the contradictory voice of high reinforces the
rationality of the status quo (52). The transformation of high culture into material culture is a
process of repression; it is the repression of the sublime dissenting voice of high culture (52).
This repression is evident when Harold tells Luna about a man who was arrested for associating
with the underground, to which Luna replies:

This world is so full of wonderful things. What makes people suddenly go

berserk and hate everything anyway? I mean, why does there have to be
an
theres the

underground? After all, theres the orb, and theres the telescreen, and
orgasmitron. What more do they want?

Its hard for us to understand the criminal element. Were artists. We only
respond to beauty. (Sleeper)

In this instance one can see how the displacement of the sublime and transcendental qualities of
high art by the sensual aesthetic pleasures of material culture represses the dissenting voices of

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the underground. Absent of any works of alienation, Luna has no way of conceiving, let
alone relating to, a dissenting voice (Marcuse 56). Conformity is all she knows; she is repressed
by the one-dimensionality of her existence.
Sleeper portrays the dystopian future of repressive desublimation produced by the
ideology of productivity necessitated by the existential threat of the Cold War. In this world,
artistic works of high culture no longer exist, and only commercial works of material culture
remain. The one-dimensional reality that results from the loss of artistic transcendental values to
sensual material pleasures yields a population of repressed consumers who are indifferent to
anything except the rationalized status quo.

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Works Cited
American Experience, The Cold War in 1970. PBS. WGBH, 2/14/06. Web. 3/20/14.
Bishop, Katherine. The Waifs Return: Paintings of Saucer-eyed Children, Popularized in the
60s, Find Their Way Back into Favor. Chicago Tribune 19 Apr. 1992. Web.
Garthoff, Raymond L. Salt I: An Evaluation. World Politics 31.1 (Oct., 1978): 1-25. Web.
Henley, Charley. The Sublime. Intro to English Studies. University of Cincinnati. Lecture.
Huey, Steve. About Rod McKuen. MTV Artists. Web. 3/20/14.
Maier, Charles S. The World Economy and the Cold War in the Middle of the Twentieth
Century. The Cambridge History of the Cold War. Vol. 1. Ed. Melvyn P. Leffler, Odd
Arne Westad. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 44-66. Print.
Marcuse, Herbert. One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial
Society. Boston: Beacon Press, 1964. Print.
Sleeper. Dir. Woody Allen. MGM, 1973. DVD.
Weber, Steve. Realism, Dtente, and Nuclear Weapons. International Organization 44.1
(Winter, 1990): 55-82. Web.
Xavier Cugat. Itunes Preview. Web. 3/20/14.