I Can't Believe It's Not Intimacy

I remember the first time I ever saw a commercial for I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. Some people were so excited about a lower calorie spread for their toast in the morning. My family never bought since we didn’t eat a whole lot of butter in the first place. I was at a friend’s house the first time I ever had I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and I remember thinking, “there is no part of me that would ever believe that this is butter.”

Today you can find several types of fake butter lining the shelves in the grocery store. Although it freaked my Dad out a little when it first came out, he has succumbed to the fake butter craze. His favorite brand is Benecol, which I guess has some other health advantage besides having half the calorie count. I will admit, the fake butter is all right if you sit down to eat your meal not expecting the “butter” on your bread to taste like butter... Some people have a strong preference.

The butter and the faux butter kind of remind me of Turkle’s idea of intimacy and faux intimacy. There are intimate relationships in person, which have more to do with others physically being there for you. Then there’s also virtual intimacy, which is still intimacy but in a different way. People can’t physically be there for you; however, they can still be there for emotional support.

Because butter isn’t really a snack, I don’t have a recipe for this post. My apologies.