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theshowpodcast.comThe Century of the Self (2002)

"This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy." - Adam Curtis

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, changed the perception of the human mind and its workings profoundly. His influence on the 20th century is widely regarded as massive. The documentary describes the impact of Freud's theories on the perception of the human mind, and the ways public relations agencies and politicians have used this during the last 100 years for their "engineering of consent".

Among the main characters are Freud himself and his nephew Edward Bernays, who was the first to use psychological techniques in advertising. He is often seen as the "father of the public relations industry". Freud's daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in the second part, as well as Wilhelm Reich, one of the main opponents of Freud's theories.

Along these general themes, The Century of the Self asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality.

The business and, increasingly, the political world uses PR to read and fulfill our desires, to make their products or speeches as pleasing as possible to us. Curtis raises the question of the intentions and roots of this fact. Where once the political process was about engaging people's rational, conscious minds, as well as facilitating their needs as a society, the documentary shows how by employing the tactics of psychoanalysis, politicians appeal to irrational, primitive impulses that have little apparent bearing on issues outside of the narrow self-interest of a consumer population. He cites a Wall Street banker as saying "We must shift America from a needs- to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man's desires must overshadow his needs."

In Episode 4 the main characters are Philip Gould and Matthew Freud, the great grandson of Sigmund, a PR consultant. They were part of the efforts during the nineties to bring the Democrats in the US and New Labour in the United Kingdom back into power. Adam Curtis explores the psychological methods they now massively introduced into politics. He also argues that the eventual outcome strongly resembles Edward Bernays vision for the "Democracity" during the 1939 New York World's Fair.

To quote the BBC site:

To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

1. Happiness Machines[1]
2. The Engineering of Consent[2]
3. There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed[3]
4. Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self


This movie is part of the collection: Community Video

Producer: theshowpodcast.com
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: freud,sigmund,psychoanalysis,mind,human,engineering of consent,mass democracy,perception,father of the public relations,wilhelm reich,consumerism,representative democracy,philip gould,matthew freud

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Reviewer: ieatpeoplehate - - March 23, 2011
Subject: Promotes a simplistic view of a consumerism driven by mass psychology
Despite making some bold claims about how Freud's nephew, Bernay, acted as advisor to some US presidents and utilized his uncle's theories to influence consumption patterns, there is a complete lack of reference to any documentary evidence or any citations of Freud's or Bernay's work. Most of the evidence presented in the film comes in the form of (informal) interviews. Furthermore, the strategic use of dramatic images and music, including those of soldiers marching in Nazi Germany, conjures up images of mind control and facism in a modern consumerist society already consumed by paranoia.

Overall, the film tries too hard to explain consumerism in terms of psychological and political factors while economic and social factors are ignored or mentioned only in passing. Also it says nothing new about how pervasive (and possibly harmful) consumerism is or how politicians don't always act in people's best interests.

Reviewer: jean-marc - - March 8, 2010
Subject: soustitres en français partie 1
Les sous-titres en français pour la première partie sont ici :

http://www.archive.org/details/FrenchSubtitlesFortheCenturyOfTheSelfPart1

Reviewer: Dark Moon - - November 27, 2009
Subject: Part of the picture.
Curtis has made some other documentaries that examine different aspects of the rise to power of Big Business in the 20th century. See also:

'The Mayfair Set' tells the story of a group of "buccaneer capitalists" who sought to make quick money by buying up going concerns, then dismantling them and selling off their assets. These men did not actually create any wealth, but instead grew rich by cannibalizing what others had created. The subtext of this series is an illustration of what happens when government resigns its role of regulating business on behalf of the people, and allows the free market to operate uninhibited.
http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtis_TheMayfairSet

Portions of 'The Trap', which explores "how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic creatures, led to today's idea of freedom," includes the role consumerism has played (because simplified, self-seeking people make ideal consumers).
http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtis_TheTrap

'Black Power', which is part 5 of 'Pandora's Box', describes how Kwame Nkrumah's vision of economic independence for a newly freed Ghana was turned into a smelting plant for Kaiser Aluminum, with almost no benefit accruing to the people of Ghana.
http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtis_PandorasBox

Then see 'The Corporation', which offers many more examples of exploitation like Kaiser's, and examines how large corporations operate in a culture of social pathology.
http://archive.org/details/The_Corporation_

The Adam Curtis documentaries detail how we got to be where we are, while 'The Corporation' examines where we are with it all today. None of these films critique capitalism as a beneficial social institution, but they instead examine how individuals have violated the public trust in their unrelenting pursuit of wealth and power, and used capitalism as a tool to exploit the rest of society for their own benefit-- and the price that we have paid for it.

Reviewer: bdwc - - October 11, 2009
Subject: Essential
As Capitalism and predatory psychological manipulation are not identical, it is essential to educate the world about the ways the mind may be controlled and freedom curtailed. It is even more necessary to provide evidence that this is, in fact, the way Capitalism has been spun, on purpose, and continues to be developed around the world. As covertly training people to buy what they can be made to want rather than what they need is clearly at least a disservice and at most a profound and mercenary betrayal of humane conduct, this series remains vital and unsurpassed.

Reviewer: gdsila - - August 12, 2009
Subject: Freedom!
After watching almost all of this propaganda piece I feelt like a man suddenly freed from a Soviet Gulag.
If you must watch it then spare yourself 3+ hours of painfully anti-capitalist propaganda and just watch Episode 4. It pretty much summarizes the previous 3 episodes.
Pity though the subject matter IS interesting but the agenda of the filmmaker is soo heavy handed it makes watching the entire thing an ordeal.

Reviewer: Jason Scott / TEXTFILES.COM - - December 18, 2008
Subject: Skip in Episode 1.
Just to note, the first episode has a skip in it, at about 50:01.