HUMANITIES 006: POPULAR CULTURE - Thinking · PDF fileORIGINS OF THE TRUE LOVE MYTH Where do you think they came from? Why are these such a prominent part of cultures around the world?

W K 1 0 , D A Y 1 : M Y T H S C O N C E R N I N G A C O N S U M E R C U L T U R E

HUMANITIES 006:

POPULAR CULTURE

ORIGINS OF THE

TRUE LOVE MYTH

Where do you think they came from?

Why are these such a prominent part of cultures around the world?

Myths:• True love is passionate and emotionally charged.• True love is mind altering, causing people to do strange

and extreme things.• True love is instantaneous, striking in an instant.• True love sweeps people off their feet.• Everyone has a one true love.• True love is everlasting.

“TRUE LOVE” MYTH

Archetypal Myth

Archetypes:

• Universal pattern; universal symbol

Archetypal Myth:

• Myths that represent archetypal experiences; experiences common to people regardless of culture.• Example: “The Hero’s Journey”

• Symbolic; metaphorical in nature.

TRUE LOVE

Symbolic Meaning #1

Integration of two sides of ourselves.

Feminine & Masculine

TRUE LOVE

Symbolic Meaning #2

Do you recognize any of these poems?

TRUE LOVE

Symbolic Meaning #2

Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,

absentminded. Someone sober

will worry about things going badly.

Let the lover be.

TRUE LOVE

Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi

Sufi Mystic/Poet

(1207-1273)

His experience of the Sacred; the Divine.

True love myth = union with the Divine.

TRUE LOVE

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek

and find all the barriers within yourself that you have

built against it.“ - Rumi

Psychological: Sensory Adaptation

When sensory receptors respond less to unchanging stimuli

• It’s good to feel good. But often don’t last or lose their impact.

TRUE LOVE

TRUE LOVE

Re-Enchanting The World

TRUE LOVE


TRUE LOVE


TRUE LOVE


TRUE LOVE

Maybe the myth is NOT about a search for something outside of oneself.

Maybe the myth is about searching for (or the development of) the capacity to experience our ordinary world in a deeper, more extraordinary way.

But why do we always think solutions are outside of ourselves?

LIST #1 – GATHERING DUST

Reflect on material items you have in your possession at home.

• Make a list of any that you really were excited to purchase, but now do not use much.

• Or a list of items that did not give you as much joy as you thought it would.

In Groups:

• Discuss these items and list them on one sheet of paper.

• Now think, are there any artifacts of pop culture that may have perpetuated the myth that your life would improve with it’s purchase.

LIST #2 - OPEN TO ADS

Groups:

• Last week I asked that you keep your eyes open to advertisements.

• Let’s make a list of the advertisements you spotted and what they are telling us we need.

What are they really selling us?

• Dreams, Meaning, Purpose

• Happiness


HUMANITIES 006:

POPULAR CULTURE

ISSUES AND CONSUMERISM

Two Lists

1. Is our first list indicative of any issues faced by a consumer based society?

2. Are they any potential issues we need to watch out for because of how advertisements inherently work?

#1 Gathering Dust #2 Open to Ads

WHAT ISSUES?

Trash and the Voluntary Simplicity Movement- By James Twitchell

(English Professor, Pop Culture Scholar)

Twitchell seemingly criticizes both the recycling movement and the voluntary simplicity movement.

What are his main points about both?

WHAT ISSUES?


From Page 216-17

“People who would never dream of telling you not to

have children out of wedlock, or who would never

criticize you for filing for bankruptcy, will express eye-

rolling dismay if you use a plastic fork or get your

smooth cardboard mixed in with your egg cartons.”

WHAT ISSUES?


From Page 218:

• “Our concern about garbage is really, as the psychologists might say, a displaced concern about consumption.”

• “We want these objects (manufactured objects) and, if the price we have to pay is the ritual of sacramental separation, then so be it.”

WHAT ISSUES?


Questions:

• What point do you think he is trying to get across about our culture’s relationship with recycling?• The obsession with recycling is simply our overreaction to

guilty feelings about our consumption habits.

• Is his point valid?

WHAT ISSUES?


Regarding the Voluntary Simplicity (VS) Movement, Twitchellsays…

• They have a passionate belief that we can live well with less if we buy and use the right stuff.

• VS says we’ve developed a Social Disease.

• VS claims that symptoms include…• Swollen expectations• Shopping fever • Chronic stress• Broken-down families.

WHAT ISSUES?


• What is Twitchell’s criticism of this movement?• That the solution is often the purchasing of self-help

literature, tickets to workshops and seminars.

• Is this a fair criticism of the movement?

WHAT ISSUES?


Twitchell’s response to both movements:

• “We are continually being told our bloated consumption comes from greed, and that greed results from our making wants into needs, and then making false needs into real ones.” – pg 233

• “I think there are no false needs…Furthermore, I will contend that we are not too materialistic; if anything, we are not materialistic enough.” – pg 233

WHAT ISSUES?


Twitchell’s response to both movements:We don’t need social movements to address these issues

• Recycling:• Just pick up after yourself.

• Voluntary Simplicity Movement:• Don’t buy what you can’t afford.

Do you have any issues with Twitchell’s response?

THIS WEEK

Our goal this week will be to objectively explore myths

perpetuated by pop culture artifacts pertaining to…

• Material Goods

• Food and Drink

• Services & Experiences

My goal is that we become more conscious of these

myths and where they come from.

You can be the judge of whether you want to use them or

not.

COMPELLED TO PURCHASE




Why?

Need

Drive

Response

Goal

(need reduction)

Model of Motivational Activities

Internal deficiency

Energized motivational state: hunger, thirstAction(s)

TargetOf Motivations

COMPELLED TO PURCHASE:

MATERIAL GOODS

• Need for sex

• Need for affiliation

• Need for nurture

• Need for guidance

• Need for aggress

• Need to achieve

• Need to dominate

• Need for prominence

• Need for autonomy

• Need to escape

• Need to feel safe

• Need for aesthetic sensation

• Need to satisfy curiosity

• Other physiological needs

• Need for attention

Advertising: 15 Basic AppealsBy Jib Fowles (Based on psychologist Henry A. Murray)


MATERIAL GOODS

Ads That Make Sense?Proactive http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP3r3SPXgKs


MATERIAL GOODS

Ads That Make Sense?Toyota http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EI0LrAumfE


MATERIAL GOODS

Ads That Make Sense?Swiffer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvxEtBE314A


MATERIAL GOODS

Ads That Make Sense?Ipad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP8wKtFA4Io


MATERIAL GOODS

Ads That Make Sense?Sketchers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkuc0XHC29Y


MATERIAL GOODS

Ads That Make Sense?Charmin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFh1TItwRug&NR=1&feature=endscreen


MATERIAL GOODS

Ads That Make Sense?Detergent http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhnPblfsIoY


MATERIAL GOODS

But how does this make sense?Geiko http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP-mDvLqMJM&feature=player_embedded


MATERIAL GOODS

But how does this make sense?Kia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0B5vuAYk94


MATERIAL GOODS

But how does this make sense?Chanel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGs4CjeJiJQ&feature=player_embedded


MATERIAL GOODS

But how does this make sense?Charmin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6Z7FZ_rtw8


MATERIAL GOODS

But how does this make sense?H & M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il21FZuIUY&feature=player_embedded# !


MATERIAL GOODS

But how does this make sense?Child of the 90s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qkM6RJf15cg

Need

Drive

Response

Goal

(need reduction)

Model of Motivational Activities

Internal deficiency



HOW DO THESE WORK?

Classical Conditioning

Associating positive feelings

with a conditioned stimuli.

“Pavlov’s Dog” Experiment

HOW DO THESE WORK?

Classical Conditioning: BehaviorismJohn B. Watson

After psychology made a living in ___________.


HUMANITIES 006:

POPULAR CULTURE



Why?

Explanation # 1:

Selling us a way to meet our needs, even if the needs are really just wants

and even if we didn’t know we wanted the thing before they told us we did.


Secondary Needs/Motives

Need

Drive

Response

Goal

(need reduction)

The Need Turns into a Drive

Internal deficiency





Why?

Explanation # 2:

Through classical conditioning, advertisements train us to UNCONSCIOUSLY

associate products with positive feelings.

PAVLOV’S DOG

PAVLOV’S DOG

PAVLOV’S DOG

PAVLOV’S DOG


BIASING YOUR UNCONSCIOUS


It’s not The Product

How are the following commercials stimulating positive feelings?

IT’S NOT THE PRODUCT

Priushttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw20ssNMQlU&feature=player_embedded


Ship my Pantshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I03UmJbK0lA


Axehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tWZB7OUSU


Beer


M&M’s


Evian Water


Yogurt


Hamburger


McDonald’s

HARMLESS ARTIFACTS OF

POP CULTURE?

IS THIS A PROBLEM?

MCDONALD’S CONDITIONING

Researchers have found that young children and adults will begin to drool when they see the golden arches of McDonalds.


HUMANITIES 006:

POPULAR CULTURE

IS THIS A PROBLEM?

Twitchell: There’s nothing wrong here!

“Just pick up after yourself and don’t buy what you can’t afford!”

UNCONSCIOUS MOTIVATIONS:

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Pavlov’s Dog


BIASING YOUR UNCONSCIOUS

UNCONSCIOUS PROGRAMMING

OF CHILDREN


Taste Test w/ 3 to 5 Year Olds :

Food in McDonald’s Packaging

vs.

Same food in Packaging w/out McDonald’s Logo

Preferred most often?

More TVs in the home, the more likely they were to prefer

the McDonald’s packaged food.

2007 Stanford University School of Medicine Study


Researchers have found that young children and adults will begin to drool when they see the golden arches of McDonalds.

FOOD AND AMERICAN POP CULTURE

• Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, and new cars.

• They spend more on fast food than movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos and recorded music combined.

FOOD AND AMERICAN POP CULTURE

• A generation ago – 75% of $ was used to buy food for meals at home. • (25% used to buy from restaurants)

• Today about 50% of the $ is used to buy food at restaurants – mainly fast food restaurants!

MCDONALD’S GLOBALIZING

AMERICAN POP CULTURE

Fast Food NationBy Eric Schlosser

7000-person, Six country study (Australia, Germany, India, Japan, England and the U.S)

• 96% of American schoolchildren could identify Ronald McDonald.

• The only fictional character with more recognition was Santa Claus!

• The Golden Arches (88%) are now more widely recognized than the Christian cross (55%).

MCDONALD’S GLOBALIZING

AMERICAN POP CULTURE

• McDonald’s is in every continent except Antarctica.

• What values and customs are they spreading?

• Many countries have experienced dramatic increases in obesity as the number of McDonald’s franchises have increased.• South Africa, China, Japan, England

MCDONALD’S & CHILDREN

TOYS & CHILDREN

What are kids learning from advertisements at a young age?


Why?

Explanation # 2:

Through classical conditioning, advertisements train us to UNCONSCIOUSLY

associate products with positive feelings.

WHAT ARE BUSINESSES

REALLY SELLING?

Happiness

WHAT ARE BUSINESSES

REALLY SELLING?

“Our personnel sincerely sell happiness.

Hell! That’s what we all want, isn’t it?”

-Walt Disney

In fact, is Disney offering the same “products” as religion?

NOT JUST DISNEY…

MYTH ANALYSIS

What myths are all of these artifacts perpetuating?

• That our lives are lacking – unsatisfied, unfulfilled, not enough pleasure, not enough comfort, incomplete, etc…

• That the solution (happiness) can be found by searching outside of oneself.

• That happiness can be purchased.

Therefore, what do we most often believe is the key to our long-term happiness?

Money

LAST SLIDE FOR THE WEEK

• The myth of Lost Treasure:• Often buried.• Hidden in a dark place.• Somehow “beneath the surface”• Often times closer than we think.

• This is another archetypal myth. • Symbolic Interpretation – Describes the drive we have

transformation of consciousness, growth by unconveringsomething beneath the surface. But the surface is symbolic for consciousness awareness and the treasure is a psychological one, not materialistic one.

• In other words, growth and transformation is part of life, but some take advantage of our inherent drive to make us believe it is the result of changing our circumstances rather than psyche.

SERVICES & EXPERIENCES

• Look here:

• http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/articles/10-most-annoying-commercials-2012

• http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/10-most-viral-ads-2013-so-far-149832?page=9&js=1&view_name=news_gallery&view_display_id=node_content_1&view_args=149832&view_path=node%2F149832&view_base_path=node%2F149832&view_dom_id=1&pager_element=0#dove-real-beauty-sketches-1


• Trader



What are they all really selling?

Happiness

Evian Water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pfxB5ut-KTs

Pepsi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Q5mHPo2yDG8

Budweiser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2prAccclXs&feature=player_embedded# !

PROGRAMMED

• Not just with ads.

• With every exposure to pop culture artifacts we are being unconsciously programmed to want and desire.

THIS WEEK

• Material Goods

• Food and Drink

• Services & Experiences

Documents

HUMANITIES 006: POPULAR CULTURE - Thinking · PDF fileORIGINS OF THE TRUE LOVE MYTH Where do you think they came from? Why are these such a prominent part of cultures around the world?