"Shop therapy" is something more Americans than not have become addicted to over the last few decades in particular. They engage in indulgent overspending to make themselves feel better in the face of all sorts of adversities. At the end of the day, they're more in debt and have more crap they don't need. They avoid hard work and skate by on credit. All of these values are spotlit by an upcoming film, but shown through a very troubling lens indeed.
The most galling part of the trailer for Confessions of a Shopaholic is that it says it's ok to act like an idiot about debt and consumerism now more than ever; however, as much as I decry it, I've been as much part of the problem as everyone else.
Tuesday used to be a weekly holiday for me called "DVD Tuesday" when I was in college. I had a gold Discount Card sold by the Lacrosse team that got you 10% off all purchases excluding TVs & computers at Best Buy. That coupled with the standard release week discounting made my bang-for-buck extremely high when it came to loading up on DVDs. This was great for my film education and in the same stroke, horrible for my credit rating. The lousy credit education I got in high school combined with the easy availability of Student Credit Cards and my lack of interest in learning about what I was getting myself into plunged me into debt I'm still getting rid of years later, no longer buffered by cheap student living and financial aid.
Over the last three or four years, I've become a fervent anti-credit activist, with close friends and relatives sometimes yelling at me about how vehemently I pour hate on lending as a concept. Even at this point, people have such a lack of knowledgeability about credit debt, financing, and the US economy that they are dismissing the "cratering" world markets as something that doesn't and won't affect them. If you want a good look at predatory lending and financing practices that doesn't pull any punches, take a look at Maxed Out, a doc I covered from the 2006 South by Southwest Film Festival that Magnolia released on DVD a while back. Rent it via Amazon VOD here, buy the DVD from Amazon here, or Rent/Buy on iTunes.
I've been shaking my head at what Shopaholic represents since I heard it was announced. Especially in this climate, where things are going to get worse before they get better due to the nature of our economy, I am now anticipating the release of Confessions of a Shopaholic for a couple reasons. I wonder if it will open-and-close thanks to a public who doesn't want to be reminded of the reason we've destroyed our economy, or will the B.H. Chihuahua crowd go in droves, still deluded that "Happy days are here again"?
Culture of Demand is a recurring feature of Arthouse Cowboy focusing on the growing on-demand nature of how people think of and consume media from an anthropological perspective. If I miss a "digital" option of how to watch something, please let me know.