BBC's 'The Century of the Self' tells the untold and controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society. How is the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interest? (This BBC Doc. will provide context for.... everything)
To many in both business and government, the triumph of the self is the
ultimate expression of democracy, where power is truly moved into the
hands of the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge,
but are they really? The Century of the Self by Adam Curtis tells the
untold and controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer
society. How is the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose
interest?
The Freud dynasty is at the heart of this compelling
social history. Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis; Edward
Bernays, who invented public relations; Anna Freud, Sigmund's devoted
daughter; and present-day PR guru and Sigmund's great grandson, Matthew
Freud. Sigmund Freud's work into the bubbling and murky world of the
subconscious changed the world. By introducing a technique to probe the
unconscious mind, Freud provided useful tools for understanding the
secret desires of the masses. Unwittingly, his work served as the
precursor to a world full of political spin doctors, marketing moguls,
and society's belief that the pursuit of satisfaction and happiness is
man's ultimate goal.
Part 1-Happiness Machines:
Part one
documents the story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his
American nephew, Edward Bernays who invented 'Public Relations' in the
1920s, being the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate the
masses. He showed American corporations how they could make people want
things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to
their unconscious desires.
Part 2-The Engineering of Consent:
Part
two explores how those in power in post-war America used Freud's ideas
about the unconscious mind to try and control the masses. Politicians
and planners came to believe Freud's underlying premise that deep within
all human beings were dangerous and irrational desires. They were
convinced that it was the unleashing of these instincts that had led to
the barbarism of Nazi Germany, and in response to this, they set out to
find ways to control the masses so as to manage the 'hidden enemy'
within the human mind.
Part 3-There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads, He Must Be Destroyed:
In
the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence
of Freudian ideas, which lead to the creation of a new political
movement that sought to create 'new people', free of the psychological
conformity that had been implanted in people's minds by business and
politics. This episode shows how this idea rapidly developed in America
through "self-help movements", into the irresistible rise of the
expressive self: the Me Generation.
Part 4-Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering:
This
episode explains how politicians turned to the same techniques used by
business in order to read and manipulate the inner desires of the
masses. Both New Labor with Tony Blair and the Democrats led by Bill
Clinton, used the focus group which had been invented by psychoanalysts
in order to regain power. Both set out to mold their policies to
manipulate people's innermost desires and feelings, just as capitalism
had learned to do with products.
