How material wealth is linked to self worth
Jonathan
10/28/2013
Writing 122
The Ego Problem What does it mean to be successful in life? Is it having a fulfilling job? Having raised a happy and healthy child? Simply being happy? These are all worthy life goals, and should be an excellent metric for determining one’s success in life, and yet these pursuits are scoffed and mocked at high school reunions across the country. We take the idea of success to mean one simple thing: money. The more money you have, the more you have accomplished in life; the more you have contributed to society. Following the same line of logic, this makes you, as a member of society, more valuable. There are many factors which contribute to this notion that your self-value is directly linked to material wealth, but the biggest is the myriad of superfluous advertisements which surround us everywhere we look. Perhaps it goes without saying that advertisements are superfluous in nature, but ads these days are guilty of promoting appearance over content to a much greater degree than ever before. Take the Blu electronic cigarette publication for example. There are three major elements in this ad, all of which convey this idea. The first, and most noticeable element is the man on the car—Stephen Dorff—a well-known actor. He is portrayed casually sitting on a classic sports car with his face well lit, and an expression of casual interest on his face. His pose and attire play into this idea of casualness and relaxed nature; this idea is closely knit with the idea of freedom: which is prevalent throughout the ad. Next we have the car, which is vibrant chrome that is bathed in a faint blue light tying the color scheme together, but also making the car less conspicuous so as not to draw too much attention from Stephen; while keeping in line with the classy tone of the image. The mere fact that it is a convertible plays into this theme of freedom again, and also
10/28/2013
Writing 122
The Ego Problem What does it mean to be successful in life? Is it having a fulfilling job? Having raised a happy and healthy child? Simply being happy? These are all worthy life goals, and should be an excellent metric for determining one’s success in life, and yet these pursuits are scoffed and mocked at high school reunions across the country. We take the idea of success to mean one simple thing: money. The more money you have, the more you have accomplished in life; the more you have contributed to society. Following the same line of logic, this makes you, as a member of society, more valuable. There are many factors which contribute to this notion that your self-value is directly linked to material wealth, but the biggest is the myriad of superfluous advertisements which surround us everywhere we look. Perhaps it goes without saying that advertisements are superfluous in nature, but ads these days are guilty of promoting appearance over content to a much greater degree than ever before. Take the Blu electronic cigarette publication for example. There are three major elements in this ad, all of which convey this idea. The first, and most noticeable element is the man on the car—Stephen Dorff—a well-known actor. He is portrayed casually sitting on a classic sports car with his face well lit, and an expression of casual interest on his face. His pose and attire play into this idea of casualness and relaxed nature; this idea is closely knit with the idea of freedom: which is prevalent throughout the ad. Next we have the car, which is vibrant chrome that is bathed in a faint blue light tying the color scheme together, but also making the car less conspicuous so as not to draw too much attention from Stephen; while keeping in line with the classy tone of the image. The mere fact that it is a convertible plays into this theme of freedom again, and also