'Century of the Self' Task 1

1. The way business can make us want what we don’t need, product linking to our unconscious wants/fears – the ideal life/self.
2. We become docile characters when we are satisfied – easily led.
3. People use their impulses to make decisions – not rational.
4. Emotional desires and irrational feelings/needs – meaningless objects can become symbols of personality traits – expression through things they buy.
5. Politicians play to our unconscious fears.
6. Men who fought in the war and suffered post war mental trauma was brought on not from the fighting but often from emotional traumas caused in childhood – attacking their venerable state of mind.
7. Analysis of the psyche – make society a better place the ‘happiness’ of people became important, slightest unhappiness was a cause for concern.
8. People seek affection in their peers – affections/attentions they didn’t get from their parents – unconscious phobias of loneliness.
9. Peoples fear can become a weapon, instead of consoling and helping against fear – fear was wanted, manipulation techniques used – fear is a way to control and anger therefore a weapon.
10. Politics now appeals not just to out rational feelings but to our unconscious feelings, the need and want.
 

 

Image analysis – consumerism, desire and the unconscious

MAC make-up / Barbie collaboration advert.

This image relates to consumer culture, desire and unconscious because it shows the way advertising is designed to appeal as a reaction to women’s unconscious insecurities. In the advertisement there are two models, both overly airbrushed to look like Barbie, this would play to the women viewers unconscious on what is deemed to be perfect and beautiful, thus they will want to buy the product to satisfy their needs, making them feel perfect. Much like the key points from century of self, the advertisement can work in a way to trigger emotional desires of the consumer into feelings of need and want – they feel that if they buy the product, it will act as a symbol to something that they feel they are lacking, in this instance, beauty. Consumers are people who buy products, which stem from a ‘need’ to have the product in their life, though it is not a necessity, it won’t make the consumer any more beautiful, successful in reality – but may enhance there confidence as they feel they are no longer lacking something. The women who are looking at the advert most likely do know the images are airbrushed, but in the short space of time a consumers mind goes from looking to want to needing, it doesn’t process all parts of the advertisement, simply see then want. We live in a society where people buy to fill the void feeling as if they are missing something, through disposable products and fad fashions.