REFLECTIONS
Jeremy
In an age of growing consumerism, the lines
between desire, demand and deserve have
henzell-ThomAs
become blurred.
This morning I received an email entitled Apply for your In a previous essay for this magazine (“Of Stones and
Diploma, with this message: Glasshouses: The Pursuit of Forgetfulness”, February 2008
“BECAUSE YOU DESERVE IT! Is your lack of a degree holding issue) I drew attention to the pervasive culture of narcis-
you back from career advancement? Are you having difficulty sism which thrives in our consumer society. Walking through
finding employment in your field of interest because you don’t Bath a few days before Christmas two years ago, I could not
have the paper to back it up – even though you are qualified? If fail to notice a large poster in the window of a hairdressing
you are looking for a fast and effective solution, we can help! Call salon in the heart of the city. In the centre of the poster was a
us right now for your customized diploma.” There followed tel- glitzy handbag surrounded by various vanity products with
ephone contact numbers for inside and outside the U.S.A. the caption ghd Christmas Giftbox. Above, in bold letters, the
What struck me about this invitation was not the existence of message was a blatant and insolent parody of the language of
outfits selling diplomas and degrees, for they have been around Christian supplication: Grant me the Power to be the Centre
for quite a while, especially in the USA, nor the speed with which of Attention this Christmas, with the added blasphemy of a
they promise to deliver your piece of paper (often within 24 direct citation of words from the Lord’s Prayer, the Christian
hours), but the language of pseudo-worthiness and narcissism equivalent of the Muslim Fatiha: Thy Will be Done. And at the
designed to ensnare potential clients. BECAUSE YOU DESERVE foot of the poster, these words: A New Religion, ghd Hair.
IT! is a thinly disguised variant of the trademark motto of the It was Christopher Lasch who used the phrase The Culture of
French cosmetics giant L’Oréal: YOU’RE WORTH IT. There is a Narcissism as the title of his influential 1979 book describing how
long-standing association between the senses of ‘deserve’ and life in America was increasingly in thrall to self-absorption and
‘being worthy’ in English, but the original sense of the Latin was self-gratification – how, in effect, we were falling in love with
to ‘serve well’ and to become entitled to praise, esteem or reward ourselves. His prophetic observations apply equally, of course, to
through meritorious service. How utterly remote from this our own consumer society.
exalted conception of worthiness is the deluded fiction that we Narcissism is named after the ancient Greek myth of
are deserving of something solely and simply because we desire Narcissus, a handsome youth who rejected the desperate
and demand it, and, what’s more, we deserve to get whatever we advances of the nymph Echo. In punishment for his cruelty, he
want (and more) now, this instant, and before anyone else can get was doomed to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water.
their hands on it. Unable to consummate his love, he pined away and changed
30 emel magazine |
www.emel.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104