Abstract
A product’s utility has evolved over time. In today’s world, the commodities possess the power to define us. Every product that we own today, through its branding, reflects our social status, values and vice versa. It is difficult to refute the negative influence of capitalism that we witness in form of obsession with possession. The aim of the paper is to study the extent to which the products of the modern society like the protagonists in the following two movies suffer; whether it is possible to imagine an end of consumerism and not the world or has it become an inherent part of the late capitalist world in which there is no completeness but the perennial emergence of substitutes (objects). This paper studies the aforementioned issues through the movies “Fight Club” and “Confessions of a Shopaholic”. The first section of the paper uses the case of soap industry as the foundation and analyses “Fight Club”. The second section examines the role of credit card companies in compulsive buying disorder through “Confessions of a Shopaholic”. Despite the similarity between the two movies on the grounds of the modern world “suffering”, the paper highlights the difference in their treatment of the main theme of consumerism and links it to the gender politics. The final section draws a comparison between the endings of the two movies and investigates the premise of disorder in “Fight Club” and its existential threat to capitalism.
Highlights
A product’s utility has evolved over time
It is difficult to refute the negative influence of capitalism that we witness in the form of obsession with possession
By taking the case of the soap industry, this paper studies how advertisements, with their clever strategies, have a major role to play in consumerism
Summary
A product’s utility has evolved over time. Every commodity that we own today not just reflects our social status and values but it possesses the power to define us. It is difficult to refute the negative influence of capitalism that we witness in the form of obsession with possession. Credit card companies further help realise this desire by making “limitless” funds available. By taking the case of the soap industry, this paper studies how advertisements, with their clever strategies, have a major role to play in consumerism. Under the main theme of consumerism, the sub-theme that this paper touches upon is that of gender and its relation with consumerism as depicted in popular culture. The paper attempts to link these issues and analyse two movies, Http://www.granthaalayah.com ©International Journal of Research - GRANTHAALAYAH [205]
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