Abstract

With this final project, I initially wanted to address the topic of our society's emergent narcissism, but I decided a better way to tackle the ideas present would be to address consumerism and consumer dependency. The topics I address under the umbrella of consumerism (consumption of virtual goods, reality television, and anti-consumerism) tackle the alienation from reality and consumer dependency is creating and the response against this dependency. For the creative portion of my project, I documented my own consumption and judged its merits. When my consumption is not particularly telling, I tackle other elements of consumerism that I felt were left unaddressed otherwise but deserved attention nonetheless. The consumption web log is in reverse chronological order.

The Research Paper

Nick Kogan

4/27/11

SPCM 2360

Final Project- Essay

Consumerism: An American Tradition

Introduction

Merriam-Webster defines consumerism as “the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable,” and living in the extremely capitalist country of the United States does little to diminish this notion. In this paper I would like to examine consumption in America through the lens of reality television, testing how we consume simulations, virtual consumption, which tests how we consume in simulations, and the currents of anti-consumerism available.

Reality TV: The Dead End of Western Civilization?

Reality television initially emerged as a realm for the audience to view standard normal behavior, weaving plotlines from non-scripted interactions. The next generation seeks to generate interest by manipulating a few lucky people’s external reality by throwing material objects at them that are sure to guarantee happiness (Dixon 53). On Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, a deserving family is chosen to have the interior of their house completely replaced. Each member of one family gets their own flat screen television, and the mortgage is ritualistically burned in the conclusion, guaranteeing the family will live in hyper-consuming bliss in to eternity (Cherrier 260-265). All of the signposts of happiness for the families in the rebuilt homes are the objects representing status they are now provided with. How could a family be happy without eight flat screen televisions with which to watch reality television? And of course the entire series is sponsored by Sears, essentially offering pornography for home improvement enthusiasts, while the stories of down-on-their-luck families serve as emotional pornography for the rest of the audience. Not to mention that many of the families involved could not afford their new property taxes and had to sell their houses, putting them back at square one.

MTV’s I Want a Famous Face presents an even more horrifying scenario. In this reality series, people surrender their identity for the opportunity to look like their favorite celebrity. Though potentially doomed to serve as simulacra of their famous counterparts at convention centers across the country, a majority of the subjects are pleased with the results. One, named Sha, believed that by achieving the look of Pamela Anderson, she would subsume the other positive traits of Ms. Anderson- style, charm, business acumen. She purchased her body and identity at the same store. Much of these pursuits lie in the name of achieving the “perfect body,” a pursuit which can only lead to dehumanization as one reaches for an unconscious archetype instead of developing oneself to their ultimate potential.

Virtual Consumption

As a strange tangent to the pervasive consumerism in day to day living, the virtual world of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) are experiencing a boom in these tendencies as well. In purchasing an RPG, the consumer implicitly understands they are spending money on a product that allows them to experience to acquire wealth and simulate more spending in a fantasy, creating a hollow cycle. Now, a strain of gamers seek to make money by playing the games to what many would call excess in order to hoard items to which they sell to other gamers using real world cash. Besides creating issues regarding the ownership and taxation of virtual goods, many argue that young gamers are being preyed upon and that they are experiencing a detachment from reality (Lehdonvirta et al 1060).

However, it is hard to presume that an activity enjoyed by so many would completely avoid monetization. Sweat shops now exist in China where workers play games in 12 hour shifts to sell items and entire characters to Western consumers. In a method under much less scrutiny, the social networking website Facebook.com sells virtual trinkets to its members to be given as virtual gifts to other members for special occasions. These economies can operate similarly to Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS), where they serve as alternate to the larger economy, though the interweaving use of sites such as eBay interrupts this dichotomy.

Further, does this even count as consumption? Miniscule amounts of content are being created, and no wasteful byproduct exists afterwards. However, not all goods depreciate in value, and the context behind the content can change over time. Also, many businesses serve as middlemen between other corporate entities, seeing goods and stock as only numerical representatives of goods, removed from any physical manifestation or byproduct. Services rendered do not require creation and waste, only cash. Structures such as Facebook also serve as commodity and media, where information is exchanged and each user metaphorically owns a slice of the media portion, but must pay their way in to the commoditized portion.

Custodians

To give additional perspective, we should note that anti-consumerist undercurrents do exist. One manifestation of this is a group who call themselves custodians (Cherrier 261). Instead of the neo-Transcendentalist mode favored by many anti-consumerists, custodians favor the notion that humans are inseparable from our material reality, so denying the influence of products and brands amounts to rejecting our own identities as well as tangible reality. The action of protesting consumer culture cannot exist outside of the consumption paradigm, and thus the best way to protest is to utilize the products themselves.

A great deal of the consumer culture invokes waste and a lack of sustainability. The average American consumer generates over 4.4 lbs. of waste a day, compared to 2.7 in 1960. Custodians attempt to moderate this wastefulness, by any means necessary. Some are designated by their desire to hoard items, anticipating future re-use, while others are dedicated to repairing and extending the shelf-life of what they already possess. This allows for a broader of definition of anti-consumerist behavior that allows less entitled citizens to participate outside of standard displays such as protests, boycotts, and festivals.

Conclusion

Examining consumerism through these various instances, we know that it is not an isolated phenomenon, nor is its vice-like grip due to weaken anytime soon. It is also necessary to acknowledge that not all aspects of the culture are negative, and that opposition does exist in multiple forms. Technology allows people to create new fantasies, remove themselves from disappointing reality, and recreate themselves in someone else’s vision. However we cannot refute all products in and of themselves, and our reality will always be reflected in our choices of how and what we consume. The desire to consume is merely the cog in the wheel of capitalism, and our material welfare is dependent on the consistent base desires of our peers. For the system to thrive people must overspend and waste, damaging ecosystems and creating jobs, and balance can only be restored when we stop fantasizing about perfection, or at least something better than what we have right now.

Work Cited

Cherrier, Helene. “Custodian Behavior: A material expression of anti-consumerism.” Consumption, Markets & Culture, Sep2010, Vol. 13 Issue 3, p259-272

Dixon, Winston Wheeler. “Hyperconsumption in Reality Television: The Transformation of the Self through Televisual Consumerism.” Quarterly Review of Film & Video, Jan2008, Vol. 25 Issue 1, p52-63

Lehdonvirta, Vili; Wilska, Terhi-Anna; Johnson, Mikael. “Virtual Consumerism.” Information, Communication & Society, Oct2009, Vol. 12 Issue 7, p1059-1079

Aftermath

4/28/11

Parental Allowance: +$515

Gilt Groupe: $55.95

Chik-Fil-A: $9.38

And then the bubble burst. The payments will not show it on this date, but I can remember it easily. I nearly got evicted and had to pay my roommate's rent. That roommate no longer lives with me. My car insurance went up to $170 (!). My rent went up by an additional hundred dollars. I can no longer offer people whatever they like. After the credit card debt is paid, I will have as much money in my account as I did at the beginning of the month, just without credit card debt. And that is nice. Has anything really changed? My credit card debt is microscopic compared to my impending college loan debt. I have a spare room in my house and a lease to break. I also apparently subsisted on food from my work at Barberitos and Chik-Fil-A, which is not a terribly palatable implication. I have made credit payments, bought flashy technology, fancy clothes, meaningless candy, and all manor of other things that I will likely never give a second thought. My consumption certainly made sense at the time.

Heaven is a Place On Earth

4/25/11

Yoforia: $9.23

The Globe: $14.23

Oak Street Package: $19.25

Agora: $21.40

Shell: $45.28

Agora: $80.25

Wal-Mart: $95.17

Gamestop: $380.18

Easter Check: +$50

I officially hit the consumerist jackpot! Naturally I felt entitled to spend nearly ten dollars on a deluxe serving of frozen yogurt in the nouveau riche section of town. Yoforia allows you to place whatever you like in a cup, be it fruit, nuts, candy, or cookies along with your choice of eight yogurt flavors. They weigh it, you pay it.

I also bought a handle of vodka. One would think this would be a decently sound investment that could conceivably last a little while, but I have three roommates and somehow doubt this.

I spent over a hundred dollars at a vintage clothes store on a pair of boots and a designer shirt. I have a pair of frye boots, designer boots, and work boots, but I did not have cowboy boots yet. Some reason always emerges to buy something, even though odds are I am not going to be in a rodeo any time soon.

The best purchase was probably the combined Mother's Day/Father's Day gift from Gamestop. While I bought my parents a game, I bought myself an entire $300 Playstation 3 videogame system. This seemed excessive, but I thought this would last (it plays Blu-Rays!) and I needed comfort food.

I reached spending nirvana, where heaven could be a place on earth, supposedly. But was I happy? My lunch at the Globe was decent, not great. I'm too busy to play the videogames. My boots give me blisters (should I wear two pairs of socks?).

The Good Times Are Killing Me

4/22/11

Credit Card Payment: $436.82

Kroger: $26.37

Chick Piano: $25.67

When a large sum of money is acquired, you immediately think you have found a certain security. And then you look around, and see the debt you have acquired. That credit card payment does not even make for a third of my total debt. At least the interest is a little lower. Party on credit until you do not enjoy partying anymore.

Who's That Chik

4/21/11

Chik-Fil-A: $13.88

Paycheck Deposit: +$204.98

More money pours in, but there is very little in the way of notable purchases outside of more fried chicken. I'd like to tackle instead the nature through which we consume celebrity, and I would like to use Rhianna as the prime example. American's favorite narrative to embrace is that of redemption, and our current favorite female pop star is flush as the manifestation of schadenfreude. A few years ago, Rhianna broke up with her fellow pop star boyfriend Chris Brown shortly after images leaked of her battered face. Rhianna's lurid photographs were inescapable from tabloids, and her narrative was written before it could have been executed. Rhianna was momentarily humanized as we knew she felt highs and lows equal to our own, but then she was immediately dehumanized as she was subsumed under the larger banner of battered women. As a celebrity, she must be a symbol, and not a person. Though the goals of these two dimensions are not mutually exclusive, they are entitled to different emotional depths. As a symbol, Rhianna immediately created product for us to consume, namely two albums within a year. The first album was darker and dealt more specifically with the trauma, but by the second album she had returned to her dance-floor goddess sex kitten persona in full. Rhianna will always have a contingent of support because the burden of abuse, but now as a celebrity she is required to always be discussed in that dichotomy, and with that baggage.

Whatever You Like

4/20/11

Grandfather's Inheritance: +$2000

The inheritance from my grandfather put me in a position relative to my life station that is not terribly common: I wanted to throw around money. We are conditioned to think that money can solve our problems, and in many ways it can. In this music video, the rapper T.I. offers a bevy of things to women, particularly jewelry and expensive tequila. Are the women attracted to his money, or his ability to make money? Does this money guarantee things in all social strata? Now that I had the funds to buy the majority of things I would want, how would I be affected?