The home and consumerism in films

lmtduffy

Hi,

I'm putting together a presentation on the home as a place of consumption and will be using some film clips to illustrate its different facets.

So far I have the catalogue shopping scene in Fightclub http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYxu9ng8mIc

And the brief dialogue between the couple in Aki Kaurismaki's Drifting clouds about buying a book shelf and then maybe trying to buy books for it.

If any one can think of any other interesting scenes like this they'd be much appreciated.

From the start of the 1900's on, I'm sure there's a few good science-fictions ones that I'm drawing a blank on.

Cheers!

AnonoBoy

There's a discussion about a wagon wheel coffee table in When Harry Met Sally I think.

kitakyushu

Some that spring to mind.

"Le Petit Théâtre de Jean Renoir " There's an anthology episode in this movie about a woman who's obsessed with buying and using a floor waxer. It's probably close to what you're looking for.


For sci-fi try THX 1138 : They have a scene where consumerism is taken to it's logical conclusion. After a days work characters buy seemingly useless coloured shapes in a store and then throw them into an incinerator on the way out of the store. The whole transaction has become merely about consuming as a function or experience and nothing else.

krudler

there's a good scene in Being John Malkovich where we see his pov as he's pottering around the kitchen ordering bath towels from a catalogue, that kind of thing? kinda the same as the Fight Club one

Mickeroo

I'm sure some scenes in American Psycho would fit the bill too.

lmtduffy

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

I'm trying to think of a good post-war movie set in America. The Laura Brown character in The Hours almost fits, but I'm sure there's a more straightforward example...

Goldstein

Here's a sci-fi one. In the film One Point O

the protagonist is intentionally given a virus as part of an advertising experiment that clinically compels him to buy increasingly expensive products of a specific brandname.

bnt

I thought of the opening to American Beauty: it's not just Things that fall under the heading of Consumerism, but Style too. In a way, Carolyn Burnham is as much of a Consumer in the way she built and runs her household; note how she objects to Jane's appearance as she walks to the car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tTnDcS-PqE

"See the way the handle on those pruning shears matches her gardening clogs? That's not an accident."

johnny_ultimate

Ozu's Good Morning is a lighthearted but engaging look at Japanese consumerism, amongst other themes. It critiques without judging its characters (as is Ozu's way), and is overall a look at the varying effects modern capitalist culture can have on people - from young kids to bored housewives.

Would this count, OP? From Stranger than Fiction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDwTQ57YyzI

kitakyushu

bnt wrote: »

I thought of the opening to American Beauty: it's not just Things that fall under the heading of Consumerism, but Style too. In a way, Carolyn Burnham is as much of a Consumer in the way she built and runs her household; note how she objects to Jane's appearance as she walks to the car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tTnDcS-PqE

"See the way the handle on those pruning shears matches her gardening clogs? That's not an accident."

Good call. Perfect example imho....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xCCoull3I4

JohnFalstaff

lmtduffy wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

I'm trying to think of a good post-war movie set in America. The Laura Brown character in The Hours almost fits, but I'm sure there's a more straightforward example...

Revolutionary Road would be a good example of a film charting the American post-war obsession with the idea of a home in the suburbs and the emerging consumer culture.

There's a very good article on this subject here: http://www.uiowa.edu/~ijcs/suburbia/moreno.htm

The article deals with Yates' novel but many of its points can also be applied to the film.

Sleepy

Are you sticking purely to film?

Because I'm sure you could find hundreds of scenes of Don Draper talking in Mad Men which would act as perfect book-ends to such a presentation...