Analysis Of Minimalism

Now, I never really engage myself with documentaries as they have the tendency to be monotonous and put me to sleep rather than capture any sort of my

Firstly, it is important to understand how the documentary form is best suited to illustrate the film’s theme. In order to do this, one must have an overview of the documentary style of filmmaking. Documentaries concern themselves with the “exploration of

The first way we got a jump start was through the article summary assignments based on articles pertaining to contemporary culture. In all honesty, some of them did cause me to look at things with eyes I had not used before. One article in particular that sticks out in my mind, is Stuff is Not Salvation, by Anna Quindlen. Through her use of Ethos, she really brings to light how Americans have this ridiculous obsession with buying stuff. She notes how we are trying to use junk to make ourselves happier, but in the end, as Anna puts it, “The happiest families I know aren’t the ones with the most square footage” (Qtd in Perspectives pg 503). Before reviewing this article, I considered myself someone who didn’t necessarily NEED stuff, but as the assignment went on, I realized how bad it really has gotten for us as a society.

Chris shows his discontent for materialism as he reacts with futility and disgust when his father offers to buy him a new car. Chris exclaims that: “[This car] runs just fine!”, once again justifying his lack of care for materials. Holden similarly sees the human attachment for materialism in a comedic style when he observes his roommate’s actions as stated in this quotation: “The day after I put [my suitcase] under my bed, he took them out and put them back on the rack...he wanted people to think my bags were his” (Salinger, 108). What society fails to realize is that while materials might go away, wear out or disappear, happiness is something that will never expire. Thus in an attempt to show that materials are not advantageous to life, Chris and Holden abandon their homes and go on an adventure in search for something much greater; happiness.

Captioning is used throughout the documentary to display statistics and truths about hydraulic fracturing. The effective placement of captioning when Fox would state statistics over voiceover and they would simultaneously be displayed on screen in bold, large, white text on a contrasting black background to make it impossible for the audience to miss the information Fox was relaying. The bold use of captioning engages the audience and influences them to believe what they are reading and hearing is true. Fox silences the fracturing company’s statistics therefor creating the impression towards the audience that hydraulic fracturing only has negative statistics, which influences the audience to adopt Fox’s negative view on hydraulic

Materialistic items play a key role in the world today. People use these items, such as technological appliances, to fulfill their daily wants and needs. However, most people do not realize the negative effects of such a heavy reliance on material goods. In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato shares his idea that an overdependence on items can negatively affect ethical decisions. This idea is discussed in “The Veldt,” by Ray Bradbury, The Truman Show, by Peter Weir, and Daniel Key’s novel, Flowers for Algernon. Throughout all three stories, characters greatly rely on items and other people, leading them to make unethical decisions. In some cases, people are objectified as a result of being needed, desired, and treated unfairly. In “The Veldt,” The Truman Show, and Flowers for Algernon, an overreliance on items leads to a loss of focus on morals and what is ethically important.

Zygmunt Bauman is the writer and author of consuming life and liquid modernity. He is among the pioneering founders of the post-modernism theory that is characteristic of most theories in sociology and philosophy. The concepts and positions posited by Baunam will be heavily relied upon in the composition of this essay – albeit subject to diverse opinions in analysis and with reliance of critique that is presented from various avenues such as contradictory theories to those of the author. In consuming life, Bauman asserts that consumerism has surpassed the mundane quality of consumption. This means that human advancement has led to the quintessential disorder where consumerism coerces humans into lukewarm and superficial meeting of needs and desires, as opposed to consumption which was individualistic in nature and self-gratifying. Individuality is the opposite of consumerism. Bauman attests that desires and life of worth can be attained only from egoistic search of satisfaction. However, individualistic system and egoism cannot push societies to prosperity and advancement. Insofar as consumerism contorts human culture and introduces dangers of ideology and religion, it is only through consumerism that advances in humanity and advancement that man can utilize ideologies such as capitalism, laissez faire conditions, international trade, diplomacy, and other diverse attributes in transforming human culture.

In this essay I will be outlining consumerism and claims that a consumer society is always a throw-away society. Consumption plays a big part in our lives and causes us to live in divided societies. It may make us feel like we fit in buying new gadgets and clothes and also give us that sense of belonging but we don’t take into account what happens to the old items and packaging. People do not want to look at the problems caused. I will use this essay with the evidence I have read

Anna Quindlen, a novelist, social critic, and journalist wrote an intriguing essay “Stuff is Not Salvation” about the addiction of Americans, who splurge on materialistic items that have no real meaning. The ability to obtain credit is one of the main reasons to blame for society’s consumption epidemic. However, Quindlen feels the economic decline due to credit card debt is insignificant compared to the underlying issues of American’s binging problems. Quindlen’s essay gives excellent points regarding the differences in America’s typical shopping habits. Additionally, she mentions how people acquire all this “stuff” but seem to never realize, “why did I get this?”(501). Quindlen makes her

This documentary has a voice which is the most important part of any movie, furthermore, it has it own way of living and breathing and speaking to

The first one minutes of the documentary were some short Videos and images of Pak and people in Canberra, in order to create a pleased mood and relaxed atmosphere and also to engage the audience with some background music. First, I tell the audience my purpose of this documentary, which is to interview someone, followed by off-camera voiceover of my interviewee, which can brought up audience interest and curiosity about who is the interviewee. I used black background with English title to show the theme of the interview, I had seen this technique used in ReMoved (2014) and I thought this is a clever way to guide the audience and I found it is engaging when the interview have different sections rather than one fragment through the whole interview.

As Austrian writer Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach wrote,“To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.” History and literature have established that the ideal goal every American has wanted is for his thirst for material possessions to be reached, but even then, the individual isn’t truly happy. Money, and the things it can get you, have long been a part of American culture and the materialist culture of society have been examined in numerous ways from novels to the art of those like Andy Warhol. A life free from the economic woes that plague almost everyone seems like the quintessential existence, but material wealth is not a way to mend issues.

What can we do to change? What can we do to stop this perpetual chain of meaningless things, people and interactions? It begins with the consumer mindset; this is what influences our identity, and our communications. When consumerism becomes something we understand and acknowledge we can then bring about change in relationships and eventually

For my entire life, I have been collecting clutter. My life was for taking care of my stuff rather than living; I realized that the amount of clutter I had was a factor in my unhappiness and stress. Upon discovering a blog about minimalism, a devotion to having less, I started transforming my life by purging my clutter. As I decluttered, I asked myself if each item I owned was useful or made me happy; it took about six months, but my bedroom was finally clutter free. Today, I do not own a limited number of items like other minimalists; that was never my goal. What I hoped to achieve from minimalism was to purge my clutter and take control over my life again. I feel much happier and less stressed knowing that I have less stuff to worry about and I can focus on what is important. A minimalistic lifestyle isn’t for everybody, but the idea of purging clutter for less stress is beneficial for everyone. Even though small amounts of clutter can be beneficial, when it becomes excessive, clutter leads to stress by creating mental exhaustion and a competition for attention.

Also, there is a pronounced materialism of the consumer society in which we live, and it brings some new forms of behavior, norms and fashion. Impose its desires and needs, which is not realistic, and the people are raised vanity, as the main motivation and driving force of all activities. Someone managed to find happiness in the accumulation of material goods that he really should not, but many remain empty and dissatisfied with such life. People are always saying that life is one and that we should grab it from you and many more getting lost in the seizing: entertainment, people, business, travel, shopping ... once you meet their material needs in full, or at least in so extent that existence is