Century of the Self: Consumerism

The documentary 'Century of the Self', focuses on the relationships of Freud's psychoanalytical theories and consumer culture. The documentary introduction presents Freud's theory, that primitive and sexual forces live inside the minds of all humans, much similar to that of animals. Freud believed that these forces if ignored (as part of our natural makeup), could potentially develop into violence, should these desires not be fulfilled. Century of the Self explores how this theory was put into practice by government forces, to control the masses in the interest of consumerism.

Edward Bernays, the American nephew of Freud, was the first person to put his uncle's theories into practice to control the masses. Bernays believed that he was able to link produced goods, to people's unconscious desires. These desires include feelings of power and lust. Freudian theory explained the feeling of threat: the dated idea that showing one's emotions to others was seen as a sign of weakness, much like 'selling yourself to somebody'. In turn, this was believed to make your empire look weak.

Psycoanalysis helped explain the idea of repressed feelings being highly dangerous. As these instinctive feelings are dismissed, Freud believed that they would erupt into other outlets, most commonly, violence. This is evidenced when in 1914 the Austrian Hungarian empire lead Europe into war. Although this was unexpected by many, Freud used the war as a perfect example of human violent tendencies, as a result of suppressed natural behaviours: 'this is exactly the way we should expect humans to behave'.

Years later, Edward Bernays was working as a press officer in New York, employed by president Woodrow Wilson. Bernay's job was to aid in promoting the idea that war would benefit the US. Bernays developed a strategy that made Wilson a hero of the masses, and as a result, created peace in of the masses. The phrase 'public relations' was then born out of Bernay's practice, which is still used in business and government relations to this day.