Consumer Camouflage

Cute, Quaint, Hungry and Romantic: The Aesthetics of Consumerism is a quotable examination of American shopping habits, from collecting antiques to dressing like a hoodlum. Daniel Harris explains and analyzes the issues and paradoxes that arise, or are pointedly ignored, when most of us encounter any advertising in an amusing and concise manner.

"One of the primary functions of the aethetics of consumerism is to provide us with an emotional cushion, a form of camouflage, a credible disguise for a culture that refuses to admit the truth about itself, that self-righteously insists on its own anti-consumerism even while enjoying the luxuries and conveniences of mass production." Harris is firm in his belief that all Americans are in this together, whether we like it or not, because we are raised in this environment and cannot get away from it. The pervasiveness of advertising is so strong that even if you don't have a television you are still bombarded by ads everywhere from the post office to your neighbor's tee-shirt.

Harris looks into the secret societies that worship Glamourousness, Cuteness ("a ready made race of lovable inferiors...homely dolls and snugglesome misfits"), Quaintness, Cleanness, Coolness ("thumbs its nose at good taste on moral grounds"), the Romantic, Deliciousness, the futuristic, and the Natural ("gorging ourselves on dandelion greens and milk-thistle, we achieve intimacy with a deity whom we once knew on a daily basis.")

"In a society intolerant of unconventional behavior, we have devised a symbolic method of achieving the illusion of rebelliousness by practicing controlled nonconformity." We now purchase our outstanding characteristics.

Many of the observations are startling. What Harris says about Glamour is freshly stated, how he sees the Romantic is uncanny, the presentation of Delicious food is grotesque and the psychology behind it bewildering. In short, there is a lot to be learned in this fun to read, insightful and sometimes harsh examination of American consumerism.