The Century of the Self

It greatly fits the popular "Black Friday" occasion to watch again one of the greatest documentaries on what has happened to the human "self".

Adam Curtis' The Century of the Self, as a mini-series TV show in 4 episodes and originally broadcast by BBC Two,

asks questions about the roots and methods of consumerism and commodification … the modern way people see themselves, the attitudes to fashion, and superficiality.

Stuart Ewen, a historian of public relations, believes that now public primitive impulses are drawn upon by politicians to control the mass society; instead of being about serious engagements of "people's rational, conscious minds, as well as facilitating their needs as a group", such impulses now "have little bearing on issues outside the narrow self-interests of a consumer society."

Business products and political speeches are created and "customized" using psychological insights to please the consumers' senses and fulfill public desires - which have not existed before and don't have a rational reason for their existence now. Products are believed in just the same manner as the political speeches are consumed.

To many in politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly, the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

And here is the great paradigm shift loved by all the global marketers and corporations, as well as taught by all the marketing gurus - from Needs to Desires:

We must shift America from a needs- to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man's desires must overshadow his needs.

Paul Mazur, a leading Wall Street banker

Curtis builds his ideas on how the work of Sigmund Freud has been abused and tailored to serve the interests of politicians, large businesses and corporations.

This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy.

The full 4-part documentary can be found and watched on YouTube.

Happy Black Freuday!