June 15, 2006 Crunch Time is not a Breakfast Cereal David Lahn
The technology industry is ever changing, and so are the people that run, and are involved in it. Some may say that it is the most dynamic of all industries. At times it is an industry thriving for new employees, and others there is a limitation on the availability of spots for those with creative minds. jPod written by Douglas Coupland is about just that, a group of people in a video-game design company thriving for more, to be creative, and to be involved in the next big thing. In jPod, Coupland uses a lot of postmodern writing techniques to attempt to make it very effective. This can be seen through his use of the “anti-Doug”, his use of profiling and various reports to develop the characters, his use of various games within the novel, his utilization of “the every man”, and the constant parallels that Coupland draws between reality TV and jPod. The postmodern techniques that Coupland uses in jPod are utilized very effectively to achieve a good novel.
Firstly, Coupland uses a character best classified as “the every man.” He uses this character to give a sense of a very neutral narrator. This character, “the every man”, is exactly that, the most average man that you can get. In jPod, “the every man” is named Ethan. He goes to work every day, and then he goes home. There isn’t really much substance to his character. Ethan’s girlfriend in the novel identifies him as just this. “My boyfriend, Ethan, is a seemingly average NT (neurotypical)” (334). When he profiles himself in the novel, he identifies that he enjoys work, and yet he appears to do absolutely no work at all. He says “The greatest challenge is to have a job without actually doing work, which is really hard to pull off in a company where workspace productivity is measured with just about every conceivable for of metrics” (38). Coupland very effectively creates a narrator that is fairly neutral. It is very interesting how Ethan manages to maintain his character considering the influence he receives from his parents and those around him. His mother is very atypical. First, she has a marijuana grow operation in her basement. Furthermore, his mother is constantly calling him requesting assistance with burying or digging up people she accidently killed. His father is not much better. He is always calling Ethan asking him to come and meet his mistresses, who often went to high school with Ethan, and is often found consuming gatorade and gin when he finds out his wife ran off to live in a lesbian commune with a power-lesbian named freedom who feels that she shouldn’t capitalize the first letter of her name because it gives the first letter a sense of power over the other letters. Regardless of all of this commotion in his life, Ethan seems to maintain his character of “the every man” very well.
Furthermore, Coupland uses techniques of profiling and reporting to help develop the characters. For example, towards the beginning of the book, all of the members of jPod, which is the name of the group of cubicles they all belong to, are asked to write a profile of themselves, asking generic questions such as name and non-work e-mail, but then move on to more in-depth questions such as “What is your favourite karaoke song?” This use of character development was very effective considering the context of the book. It gives a very structured sense to the development, much like the workspace which they are accustomed to. Additionally, another use of character Coupland uses is by the delivery of written reports, from the perspective of Kaitlin. Throughout the novel, reports of various topics were pieced randomly in between occurring events. For example, as quoted above, her report on how she felt that all of her co-workers were autistic in some way, shape, or form. Her reports help develop many characters individually in depth as well. “Steve Lefkowitz, forty-five, is project director of a game I’m working on called SpriteQuest. Recently, Steve had a remarkable but not unpleasant change in personality . . . but why tell you, when you can meet Steve for yourself?” (351) She then goes on to interview him in depth. These profiles and reports reveal a lot about the characters that could not be revealed within the text itself.
Thirdly, Coupland introduced a character in the middle of the novel that can be referred to as “the anti-Doug.” This character is the author, Douglas Coupland, but an evil version. When the character was introduced into the novel it was a very different twist that was very unexpected. “I looked over to the seat opposite mine, and I couldn’t believe my eyes-- it was Douglas Coupland in 3K. What a bringdown.” (294) Coming from the narrator’s perspective, Douglas Coupland, or, the “anti-Doug” was portrayed as an evil character. This was primarily because Douglas Coupland persuaded everyone in jPod to leave the company to join his own, and wouldn’t let Ethan in on the secret until the end. “And then John Doe told me that he and Kam Fong were involved in some kind of business deal with Douglas Coupland.” (347) Douglas Coupland was the main antagonist in the novel, along with Ethan’s mother and father.
Many times within the novel Coupland draws a lot of parallels from jPod to reality TV. A character within the video game that they were working on within jPod was modeled after Jeff Probst. “John Doe also lobbed out an idea that stuck. He suggested that a universally appreciated buddy-type personality was that of Jeff Probst” (76). He included this in jPod because regardless of what everyone says, he feels that everyone loves reality TV, even if they belittle it. In this year, 2006, reality TV is a reflection of what we are. “I want jPod to be a reflection of that” (qtd. Coupland). From the perspective of the narrator, reality TV is portrayed just as Coupland had identified it as, in an interview with his publisher. “FUN FACT: Jeff is an accomplished director of art house films. His 2001 thriller, Finder’s Fee, netted Jeff awards for Best Picture and Best Director at the Seattle International Film Festival. First step Seattle--next stop . . . the world!” (96)
In the novel jPod, Douglas Coupland employs a lot of different postmodern techniques that have a very good effect on the novel. They really keep the reader aware of what is happening. Additionally, Coupland’s intention of jPod being a reflection of 2006 was also achieved. His use of the “anti-Doug”, the “every man”, references to reality TV and his use of reports and profiling helped achieve this.