Visual Essay

My topic for this visual essay is consumerism.

before i start i want to say sorry for this being meg late lol :) well enjoy :) ...

Alrighty so where to start.. I chose this picture because it immediately reminded me of the book. This is how i imagined them looking; sick like on the verge dying, not to mention pretty damn stupid looking, and the feed screaming so many different things at them at the same time. This picture was perfect.

This picture represents the kinds of advertisements thrown at us everyday. Companies provide these "deals" which of course just make us buy more because we think its better.

First off, squint to see the picture more clearly if you can't see it now. You can see a whole bunch of brand and company names in the body. Okay. I really liked this picture because it explains what consumerism is; it is and illusion that we are drawn in by time after time. We see something and want it so we buy it but what we get isn't really what we saw. The product is shown as perfection and companies don't show any of the flaws because if they did we wouldn't want it. But yet we keep buying and buying. We just never learn. Yes, it is free choice of what we want or "need" but not necessarily. Companies will sell a version of one item and then sell a new version not months later and you must have the new version or youre just not good enough, its not your choice. There is a ton of pressure involved.

http://thebreakfastclubclan.org/graphics/cartoons/cartoons_bloom_county_runaway_consumerism_01_mall_walkers(1000x332x256).gif

http://thebreakfastclubclan.org/graphics/cartoons/cartoons_bloom_county_runaway_consumerism_02_velveeta(1000x331x256).gif

http://thebreakfastclubclan.org/graphics/cartoons/cartoons_bloom_county_runaway_consumerism_03_salad_scooper(1000x330x256).gif

While surfing for pictures to help get my message across I found these three comic strips. If you take the time to visit these links this further proves my last thought from the previous picture.

The reason i didn't put these in my blog directly is because they were not clear at all. But go have a look. :) They're funny in that oh-my-god-that-was-so-stupid kind of way. :)

I'm glad I found these two pictures I think they tell the perfect story of consumerism. We buy and buy more then we actually need and think we need more but in the end we never needed it at all and we end up "throwing it up". We get rid of what we never actually needed. What a waste...

Okay so I will admit this is kind of a depressing way to end the visual part of this essay but this picture is so true. In the end everyone dies and it doesn't mater who had the most you're still dead. A dead millionaire is just as dead as the dead guy who lived in a van down by the river. There is no difference between the two except that the millionaire might get buried with some of his crap but then again who wants to buy all that stuff just to have it thrown in the ground in the end. See i just don't get it but that's just me. Its really pointless to buy buy buy because in the end it doesn't mater.

Reflection part:

I guess the message of this blog is to show that the idea of consumerism is horrible. My blog focused more on the anti-consumerism topic because to me there is no good aspect of consumerism. You spend all this money to buy things you don't really actually need just to be trendy or simply because you want it. But there really isn't away around buying things. You need to buy things to A) live and B) not be bored off your ass all the time. I chose all you those picture because they all prove a strong point about consumerism and why in my opinion its horrible especially if you cant control yourself. Throughout my life my family has helped me the most develop the values that i have today about some of the topics in FEED some of them include consumerism, individuality or conformity, and media. My family has always told me to be a "smart shopper"-only buy what i absolutely need and every once and a while its okay to go on a little spree just as long as i don't let it get out of hand. I mean money is there for you to use it but not to waste it. I try to stick to being a "smart shopper" but sometimes its nice to know that because i have been a "smart shopper" i can buy more what i want than what i may actually just need. With individuality vs. conformity my family has always told me to be myself and to never change for others. I think its such a vital lesson that some people just don't know, which is really sad. I think its stupid to change yourself for others and if your not going to just be yourself in life then really whats the point.