Doll and Consumerism Lures

Consumerism has to confront people in order for them to actually take action and resist it. The concept of consuming is drilled into us from a young age and as we grow older we see the detrimental effects of it on children. The attraction of consumerism lures people in to the temptation of it without realising and after we have gone too far we acknowledge that we have to resist it. Everyone is affected by texts that force them to encounter the results of consumerism and how it is instilled into us without even knowing it.
The process of planting consumerism into a child’s mind is evident throughout all of society. It is driven into us from such a young age that we don’t notice that it has happened. In Bruce Dawes’ poem Americanised he talks about the child’s “…toys that mark his short life.” Juxtaposition is used here between ‘toys’ and ‘marks’, which highlights the significance of the mark and triviality of toys. The word ‘toys’ is a marker for his life which is being compared to an object and the word ‘short’ is re-emphasising his youth in which he has already acquired so many toys. The child longs for the escape that other children have because he can hear them “…scream and run.” He not only longs for this escape, he fears it because it is something outside of his experience due to him being conditioned since birth. There are connotations of fear in this quote because screaming and running isn’t necessarily good in this text even though it seems to be portrayed as freedom but even though they have escaped they are still running. This provokes people to feel sorry for the children and the boy and think about the similarities to everyday life. In the photographic essay American Girls, by Ilona Szwarc, the repetition of the series and the sequencing of the images destroys the concept of individuality and the relationship with the dolls are not in any way special. This shows that the girls are lead into a false reality and that they have been told to think that they are unique but the dolls really aren’t. This confrontation provides the audience with the emotional attachment to the young girls to aid them in making a change with their attitude towards resisting consumerism.
Without realising it, people are pulled into the trap of consumerism. They are attracted to something and suddenly surrounded by the effects of consumerism. In Bruce Dawes’ poem Enter Without So Much as Knocking, he uses the catchphrase “…all you lucky people.” The use of this cliché here makes everyone feel fortunate for being a part of society and being brought into a world full of the influences and effects of the temptation to consume. The lack of quotation marks also removes the gap between the media and the real world. It is making it easier to relate to for people and it suggests that there should be no difference and that is really the world we live in. Americanised expresses the boys enthusiasm for “…Mummy’s things! What could compare?” The exclamation mark makes it exciting and highlights how thrilled the child is to be able to play with grown up toys. The rhetorical question also emphasises the fact that it would be obvious at that age to idolise such materialistic objects and you couldn’t compare it to anything better because it’s all they know. In the photographic essay, each photo constructs a relationship between the girl and the doll and the way that they hold the dolls shows the extension of their identity and the projection of life. In the photo Kayla, the girl is possessively holding the dolls eyes closed and the amplification from small to big emphasises the idea that they are mothering their own childhood. They have been drawn in to this mesmerising idea of having a replica of themselves without processing the actual situation. It is hard to resist something so powerful and once people are lured into consumerism they need something shocking to bring them out of it.
People only realise once they have gone too far that they should have resisted consumerism. It takes something over the top to happen for reality to set in and let them take control back. In Enter Without So Much as Knocking, a dash is used when he says “…watch it-,” which represents a change. It’s suggesting that the audience has to watch his death because of the assumption that they have just crashed. It highlights the idea that a major tragedy in a person’s life is insignificant because it changes the direction of the poem straight away and the moments leading up to it were so normal that it didn’t stand out enough to notice it. In Americanised, at the end of the poem “…the frightening fact sinks in.” Alliteration is used here to make a fricative sound that highlights the end of the poem and how it closes the cycle of consumerism. ‘Sinks in’ is also a descending vowel which represents him and his spirit sinking because he is trapped. It isn’t until the end of the poem that you realise how bad the child will suffer from the consequences of consumerism. He can’t resist consumerism because he is in it so deeply and his ‘mother’ controls him. The photo Rylan in the photographic essay explores the idea that there is a larger power controlling you and in the visual image the bars at the top represent entrapment and the fact that she can’t get out of consumerism. It’s teaching people that they have to learn their place and that they are stuck in this world with no escape. Once people have gone too far is the time that they actually realise that they should, and need to, resist consumerism.
The only way to resist consumerism is to see the reality of it and to be confronted by it. It is driven into us from such a young age and the attraction of consumerism lures people into the temptation of it. After we have gone too far we realise that we should actually resist consumerism. Texts provide society with the confrontation they need to be able to resist the desirability that consumerism possesses.