''The Century of the Self'' is a 2002 British television
documentary series by filmmaker
Adam Curtis
Adam Curtis (born 26 May 1955) is an English documentary filmmaker.
Curtis began his career as a conventional documentary producer for the BBC throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The release of ''Pandora's Box (British TV series), ...
. It focuses on the work of psychoanalysts
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
and
Anna Freud
Anna Freud (3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian-Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father and contribu ...
, and PR consultant
Edward Bernays
Edward Louis Bernays ( , ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American theorist, considered a pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, and referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". His best-known ca ...
. In episode one, Curtis 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."
Episodes
# "Happiness Machines" (originally broadcast 17 March 2002)
# "The Engineering of Consent" (originally broadcast 24 March 2002)
# "There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads; He Must Be Destroyed" (originally broadcast 31 March 2002)
# "Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering" (originally broadcast 7 April 2002)
Overview
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
, the founder of
psychoanalysis
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...
, changed our perception of the mind and its workings. The documentary explores the various ways that governments, global organizations and corporations have used Freud's theories. Freud and his nephew
Edward Bernays
Edward Louis Bernays ( , ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American theorist, considered a pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, and referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". His best-known ca ...
, who was the first to use psychological techniques in
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
, are discussed in part one. His daughter
Anna Freud
Anna Freud (3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian-Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father and contribu ...
, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in part two.
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich ( , ; 24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian Doctor of Medicine, doctor of medicine and a psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst, along with being a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author ...
, an opponent of Freud's theories, is discussed in part three.
Along these lines, ''The Century of the Self'' asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of
consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...
and
commodification
Within a capitalist economic system, commodification is the transformation of things such as goods, services, ideas, nature, personal information, people or animals into objects of trade or commodities.For animals"United Nations Commodity Trad ...
and their implications. It also questions the modern way people see themselves, the attitudes to
fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
, and
superficiality
What social psychologists call "the principle of superficiality versus depth" has pervaded Western culture since at least the time of Plato.
Historical sketch
Socrates sought to convince his debaters to turn from the superficiality of a worldview ...
.
The business and political worlds use psychological techniques to read, create and fulfill the desires of the public, and to make their products and speeches as pleasing as possible to consumers and voters. Curtis questions the intentions and origins of this relatively new approach to engaging the public.
Where once the political process was about engaging people's rational, conscious minds, as well as facilitating their needs as a group,
Stuart Ewen
Stuart Ewen (born 1945) is a New York-based author, historian and lecturer on media, consumer culture, and the compliance profession. He is also a Distinguished Professor at Hunter College and the City University of New York Graduate Center, ...
, a historian of public relations, argues that politicians now appeal to
primitive impulses that have little bearing on issues outside the narrow self-interests of a consumer society.
The words of Paul Mazur, a leading
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
banker working for
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...
in 1927, are cited: "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 part four the main subjects are
Philip Gould
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
, a political strategist, and
Matthew Freud
Matthew Freud (born 2 November 1963) is head of Freud Communications, an international public relations firm in the United Kingdom.
Early life
Freud is the son of the actress June Flewett and the writer and German-born British politician Sir C ...
, a PR consultant and the great-grandson of Sigmund Freud. In the 1990s, they were instrumental to bringing the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
in the US and
New Labour
New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...
in the United Kingdom back into power through use of the
focus group
A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar people or participants who have other common traits/experiences. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are ...
, originally invented by psychoanalysts employed by US corporations to allow consumers to express their feelings and needs, just as patients do in psychotherapy.
Curtis ends by saying that, "Although we feel we are free, in reality, we—like the politicians—have become the slaves of our own desires," and compares Britain and America to 'Democracity', an exhibit at the
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
created by Edward Bernays.
Contributors
Music
*
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...
: ''
Billy the Kid (ballet)
''Billy the Kid'' is a 1938 ballet written by the American composer Aaron Copland on commission from Lincoln Kirstein. It was choreographed by Eugene Loring for Ballet Caravan. Along with ''Rodeo'' and ''Appalachian Spring'', it is one of Coplan ...
''
*
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in pa ...
: ''
Spiegel im Spiegel
' ( 'mirror(s) in the mirror') is a composition by Arvo Pärt written in 1978, just before his departure from Estonia. The piece is in the '' tintinnabular'' style, wherein a ''melodic voice'', operating over diatonic scales, and ''tintinnabular ...
'', ''
Für Alina
''Für Alina'' (English: ''For Alina'') is a work for piano composed by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. It can be considered as an essential work of his tintinnabuli style.
History of composition
''Für Alina'' was first performed in Tall ...
'', ''
Fratres
' (meaning "brothers" in Latin) is a musical work by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt exemplifying his tintinnabuli style of composition. It is three-part music, written in 1977, ''without fixed instrumentation'' and has been described as a “m ...
''
*
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...
: ''
24 Preludes and Fugues (Shostakovich)
The 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 by Dmitri Shostakovich are a set of 24 musical pieces for solo piano, one in each of the major and minor keys of the chromatic scale. The cycle was composed in 1950 and 1951 while Shostakovich was in Moscow, an ...
'', Prelude 1 (C major)
*
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...
: ''
Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90'', beginning of the third movement (poco allegretto)
*
Kano
Kano may refer to:
Places
*Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria
* Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State
**Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries
**Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
: ''She's a Star'' (from the album
New York Cake)
*
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
: ''
What a Wonderful World
"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single. It topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed poor ...
''
*
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
: ''
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
''Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis'', also known as the ''Tallis Fantasia'', is a one-movement work for string orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The theme is by the 16th-century English composer Thomas Tallis. The Fantasia was first perf ...
''
*
Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow; September 10, 1908 – February 8, 1994) was an American composer, band leader, pianist, record producer, and inventor of electronic instruments.
Though Scott never scored cartoon soundtracks, his music is ...
: ''Portofino 2'' (from
Manhattan Research Inc.)
* ''
The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)
"The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)" is a song from the 1933 Warner Bros. film ''Gold Diggers of 1933'', sung in the opening sequence by Ginger Rogers and chorus. The entire song is never performed in the 1933 movie, though it introduc ...
'' (from the film ''
Gold Diggers of 1933
''Gold Diggers of 1933'' is a pre-Code Warner Bros. musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy with songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics), staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It stars Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline ...
'')
*
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...
: ''Quelle foto'' (from the film ''
Le foto proibite di una signora per bene'')
*
Felix Slatkin
Felix Slatkin (December 22, 1915 – February 8, 1963) was an American violinist and conductor.
Biography
Slatkin was born in St. Louis, Missouri to a Jewish family originally named Zlotkin (though it is not certain) from areas of the Russian Empi ...
: ''The Green Leaves of Summer''
*
The John Barry Seven
The John Barry Seven was a band formed by John Barry in 1957, after he abandoned his original career path of arranging for big bands.
Origins
Barry contacted three musicians with whom he had served in the Army and three local musicians and in ...
: ''Hit and Miss''
Awards
*Best Documentary Series,
Broadcast Awards
''Broadcast'' is a monthly magazine for the United Kingdom television and radio industry, owned by Media Business Insight.
History
''Broadcast'' was started in 1973 by Rod Allen, who went on to work at LWT, HTV and HarperCollinsInteractive. ...
*Historical Film of the Year, History Today Trust Awards
Nominated for:
*Best Documentary Series, Royal Television Society
*Best Documentary Series, Grierson Documentary Awards
*Best Documentary, Indie Awards
References
External links
*
*
*
The Century of the Self – BBC Documentary (by Adam Curtis)' by Dan Haggard in ''Reviews in Depth,'' 25 January 2010
* Episode guide:
*#
Happiness Machines' at BBC Online (archive copy)
*#
The Engineering of Consent' at BBC Online (archive copy)
*#
There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed' at BBC Online (archive copy)
*#
Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering' at BBC Online (archive copy)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Century of the Self, The
2002 British television series debuts
2002 British television series endings
2000s British documentary television series
BBC television documentaries about history during the 20th Century
2000s British television miniseries
Cognitive biases
Self
Works about public relations
Films about philosophy
English-language television shows