The Century of the Self

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Movie
Original title The Century of the Self
Country of production England
original language English
Publishing year 2002
length 240 minutes
Rod
Director Adam Curtis
script Adam Curtis
production Adam Curtis, BBC
occupation

The Century of the Self is an award-winning British documentary directed by Adam Curtis . She is concerned with the question of what influence the work of Sigmund Freud , Anna Freud , and Edward Bernays had on the behavior of companies and governments in dealing with people, analyzing and controlling them.

Episodes

1. Happiness Machines (March 17, 2002)
2. The Engineering of Consent (March 24, 2002)
3. There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed (March 31, 2002)
4. Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering (April 7, 2002)

content

"This series is about how those in power used Freud's theories to test and control the dangerous crowd in the age of mass democracy."

- Adam Curtis' introduction to the first episode

Sigmund Freud , the founder of psychoanalysis , changed the perception of the human mind and its function. The series describes the propaganda derived from Freud's theses and their use by Western governments and corporations.

Freud himself and his nephew Edward Bernays , who were the first to use psychological techniques in the context of public relations, are discussed. In the second episode, Freud's daughter Anna Freud , a pioneer in the field of child psychology , is the subject of discussion. The third episode is about Wilhelm Reich , one of the main opponents of Freud's theories.

The Century of the Self questions the causes and methods of consumer society , representative democracy and commercialization and their effects. In addition, the modern self-perception is called into question, the attitude to fashion and superficiality.

The world of business and politics uses psychological techniques to identify, create and meet our needs, to make their speeches and products as engaging as possible. Curtis questions the causes and intentions of this behavior.

Where the political process once consisted of promoting rational and self-confident action and conveying social values, today, the documentation shows, the tactics of psychoanalysis are used to appeal to primitive instincts and the addressees to a close self-interest in a consumer society to focus.

Paul Mazur, a senior Wall Street banker with Lehman Brothers , is quoted as saying:

“We need to transform America from a need culture to a desire culture. People need to be trained to demand new things, even if the old ones are not yet completely used up. [...] A person's longings have to put their needs in the shade. "

- Paul Mazur, in an article in the 1927 Harvard Business Review

The subject of the fourth episode is Philip Gould and Matthew Freud, Freud's great-grandsons and PR consultants. These were part of an effort to bring the Democrats in the US and New Labor in the UK back to power in the 1990s . Adam Curtis examines the psychological methods that both of them have massively introduced into politics. He notes that the result is ultimately strongly reminiscent of Edward Bernay's vision of "Democracity", the city of the future, which was presented at the 1939 New York World's Fair .

music

Awards

  • Best Documentary Series, Broadcast Awards
  • Historical Film Of The Year, Longman / History Today Awards
  • Best Documentary, Royal Television Society and Indie Awards

Individual references and original quotations

  1. ↑ Tim Adams: How Freud got under our skin . In: The Observer , March 10, 2002. Retrieved January 13, 2013. 
  2. ↑ "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."
  3. ↑ “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. ", Cf. Häring & Douglas 2012 , p.  17 .

See also

Web links