Poetry #1

"The Laughing Heart," by Charles Bukowski is an inspirational and joyful type of poem that is used in a Levi's ad commercial for the UK. There is irony behind the commercial because the ad reflects rebellious youth riots going on at the same time the commercial aired. The poem isn't supposed to be reflected in a dark setting where people get rid of any opinions they have and buy into the "Go Forth" idea that was produced by Levi's, and compares Bukowski's poem to the youth movements. The commercial is also ironic because I didn't even realize it was a commercial for Levi's until the end, it seemed more like a commercial for Free People Clothing but not for a jeans brand. The producers of the commercial should've not made the ad so controversial and threatening and done an ad that represented the jeans more and not all nonsense in the backgrounds. I do believe the poem reflected the reputation of Charles Bukowski because of his traumatic past experiences. Bukowski was abused by his father as a child and knew what undeserved pain felt like. He was influenced by the cultural and social atmosphere of L.A. where he moved to from Germany. He also suffered from alcoholism and had many affairs with women. Bukowski himself is reflected as a dark and suffering man who had to deal with many social battles in his life, as reflected in the ad. The poem I found by typing in the name Charles Bukowski, because you accidentally told us that in class, and then there was way more poems than I expected there to be so I typed in the words, "Go forth" from the commercial and compared poems that came up from the ad and found that it was "The Laughing Heart." I found information on Dubowski by reading a biography on him and then I researched the controversy of the commercial and found out why other people believed it to be taken down.