Lie on the couch and tell me what you bought

Marketing isn't all boobs and beer. For the studious among you who long for a sober and intellectually rigorous take on the business, the long wait is over!—in New York at least, where Cinema Village is screening the four-hour-long Century of the Self for those who are patient. It chronicles the 100-year history of consumer society in Britain and the U.S. Originally a four-part BBC series, the doc, shown in two parts stateside, interlaces the history of consumerism with a chronicle of Sigmund Freud's family and psychoanalysis work (Freud, sans couch, is pictured here). So far, it's garnering raves from the wonk set. The New York Times calls it "an unusually cerebral filmed essay that demands focus and patience from its audience as it sets about the task of unearthing a secret history of the 20th century." So what are you waiting for?

—Posted by Mae Anderson

September 2, 2005 | Permalink