The False Promise of Consumer Culture: Commodity Consumption's Deleterious Illusion of Empowerment
Author:
- Kylo-Patrick R. Hart (Plymouth State Univ)
Many Americans construct their identities through various forms of consumption. In this regard, commodity consumption has been perceived as a powerful form of empowerment when, in fact, it frequently results in startling forms of consumer disempowerment. That is the argument of this essay, which demonstrates how the lifestyles and culture predicated on consumption -- as promoted by Hollywood films and related influential messages -- have produced a false consciousness about the (dis)empowering potential of widespread consumption.