By
Cory Spiller
Arizona Summer Wildcat
Eiffel brings people together with air of decadence, capitalism
PARIS - When traveling to Paris, there are a few things you expect to see. Icons like the Mona Lisa and Notre Dame come to mind, but one image is consistent with the City of Lights across the world - the Eiffel Tower.
The tower is Paris's most famous landmark and one of the world's most famous structures. Most people that travel abroad make it the first thing they see once landing in Paris.
But why?
When I thought about it, the only answer I could come up with was, "Well·it's really big." And I am here to verify that. If there were any questions in your mind concerning the actual size of the Eiffel Tour, put them to rest.
I was there yesterday afternoon. I stood directly under it, and I said, "It's big, it's metal, and it's useless." And, yet, I had to come.
Everyone comes. Tour buses full of elderly midwesterns hell-bent on getting the perfect group photograph come, usually barking instructions such as, "Frank, please don't flick off the camera."
American students lugging around giant backpacks - and shameless stupidity - come, most of them clueless as to what country they're in. And of course, your ultra-hip Euro-trash that ride around on rollerblades doing tricks all day until they become exhausted and take a break at any number of chic cafes where they sip espresso, chain-smoke, and laugh just a little too loud about things that are only funny to people who can afford Gucci watches and Italian sunglasses come. Even for locals, it's the place to be.
Granted, it's fascinating to see so many different people. At any given time you hear a dozen different languages and observe incredibly contrasting styles of dress and personal hygiene. It's truly bizarre to see so many different people in one place, but they choose to do it here, in front of this glorified lightning rod. Going to the Eiffel Tower has become a secular pilgrimage for modern humanity. But, mon dieu, why?
The Eiffel Tower serves as a symbol for many things, each deserving its own discussion. It can be seen as a symbol for modernity, or as the pride of France, and of course as one of the world's greatest phallic symbols - but considering my mother occasionally reads my column, I'll refrain from commenting on the latter.
While it has become a symbol for the glory of France, the tower initially was met with bad reviews when it was built for the World's Fair in 1889. At the time, many Parisians thought it was terrible - an eyesore, a blemish on the beautiful face of the city. Times change, and they quickly realized that it attracts millions of tourists eager to buy crepes, posters, and little plastic miniature models of the engineering wonder. With that in mind, I think they've postponed tearing it down for the time being.
I learned in some UA gen. ed. class or another that in the Middle Ages, people often made pilgrimages to cathedrals. Gothic architecture was the "in thing" then, and they were built narrow and tall, drawing the observer's eye up, towards heaven and God. The Eiffel Tower does sort of the same thing. But at the Eiffel Tower you pay about ten bucks and take an elevator to the top, at which time you stare straight down. Instead of climbing the Eiffel Tower to reach toward God, we climb it to observe ourselves from above. In essence we become gods ourselves, observing the absurdity of modern life, removed, in the sky.
Besides offering an incredible view of Paris, the Eiffel Tower is almost completely useless, but we like that. It suits the extravagance of modernity and capitalism. There are taller buildings in the world but none quite as famous as the Eiffel Tower. Here we have a structure that was incredibly expensive, took years to build, and it serves no other purpose than decoration.
We like that, too. After all, it's really big.
