Affluenza. - video recording reviews

Sierra, Nov-Dec, 1997 by Liza Gross

Bullfrog Films, $34.95; (800) 543-3764

A quick pace and sharp wit go a long way to make a meaty topic--Americans' addiction to consumption--easy to digest in this informative, entertaining documentary narrated by National Public Radio's Scott Simon.

Affluenza, "an unhappy condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more," is responsible for an array of social ills, say the producers, from the abrogation of civic duty to the breakdown of the family. This obsession with accumulating material possessions, they say, is a relatively recent phenomenon. "Until this century, to consume was considered a bad thing," says Jeremy Rifkin, one of many "affluenza experts" interviewed.

So what launched Americans onto the work-and-spend treadmill? The producers trace the roots of the syndrome to the heady postwar boom of the 1950s and the advent of television. A barrage of old print and TV ads--including one that promises you'll find the secret to a good relationship in Strawberry Kiwi Jell-O--along with a clever soap-opera dramatization of an affluenza victim, personal testimonials, and an astonishingly blatant salestraining film clip lay bare the forces shaping popular culture. Thanks to TV, advertisers could reach a mass audience, whom they bombarded with the message that psychological health depends on material wealth. It's a message that hasn't changed in half a century; the messenger has just grown more sophisticated.

What's the prognosis for a society where shopping malls are the new community centers? Left unchecked, affluenza will surely lead to ecological disaster. And while "voluntary simplicity" is clearly a prescription that can help, a larger question remains: how do we convince the millions of people practicing involuntary simplicity that they're really better off doing without?