The Blog
Re-watched something incredible that I want to recommend here: THE CENTURY OF THE SELF. Adam Curtis’ BBC series focus on the 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 and the first person to take Freud’s ideas to manipulate the masses.
Although the series were released in 2002, I found them very current as they tackle the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. They question fashion, individuality and superficiality. As the creator says “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”.
The series are now all up on vimeo, although you can probably find a better quality if you know where to look…
