A Consumer`s Report

Peter Porter
 What is Commodification?
Pop culture, advertisements, mainstream, and capital. These are all aspects of commodification—
the act of taking something’s original form and commercializing it, turning it into an object of
trade and capital. Commodification is socially constructed and involves businesses taking things
such as identity and language and turning aspects of them into a service or good (Bhasin 2016).
Commodification plays a large role in how society views subcultures and deviance.

Because of increased exposure to

Discuss: Discuss:
mainstream norms,
commodification has become an
What do you think How do you value
“assessment on human value and is meant by human worth?
worth,” resulting in a set mainstream
expectation of individuals. ( norms?
Greaves et. al 61).
Discuss in groups:
If these images were part of an artist`s curated
work, what would you interpret as the main
message, and why? Be ready to share your
ideas with the class.
 Karl Marx
One of the first studies of
commodification was by
sociologist Karl Marx who viewed
commodification as “expropriating
the means of production from
much of the population in order to
create a supply of labourers who
must labour in order to purchase,
and consumers unable to produce
for their direct use” (Butsch 217).
Capitalists force workers to sell
their labour, producing things
for sale that may have little
meaning to the labourer, and
robbing the worker of their
creativity.

Groups:
To what extent do you agree or disagree
with that final statement? Be ready to
share your opinions.
 Who is the target What is being
audience here? commodified?

The Gay Oreo t s o f

e ff e c
Discuss in groups: n t h e n
n f o o i o n o
o r i f i c a t
F o d i s i t : n n e l
To what extent could m v i g r i
this be deemed an com ltures, r.sites.
b c u n f l e
example of the su / / h a e
s :
ht t p u/
commodification of
culture?
l.ed
How are politics Can you think of
and products any other
intertwined? examples?
Whole Class:
Read the poem two or three times all the way through, checking you understand the basic ideas presented.

Some questions to ask yourself on first reading:

1. What do I think the poem is about?

2. Which lines jump out at me the most?

3. Which lines are a bit confusing for me?

Let‘s discuss these questions after reading the poem.

Groups:
Read the questions on the following slides, discussing and making
annotations as you go. Be ready to share your annotations at the end
of the lesson.

h a t e d m y b oarding
r P o r t e r, t h e poet. I n c a m p! I was
I am P e t e p r i s o
t r a l i a – i t w as like a lassmates
oo l i n A u s , a n d m y c
sch
t m y m u m had died o r k i n g class,
s a d t h a e r e w
so
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bullie d m e n i v e r
v e r a f f o r d to go to u tories to
I c o u l d n e l , f r o m fa c
and b s a fter schoo t e of the
s o m a n y j o i t h t h e s t a
in
I w a s s o d e pressed w . T h i s poem
journa l i sm . t i m e s
p t e d s u i c i de several e n d of t he
r l d I a t t e m n d a t t h e
wo s d a r k pl a c e , a i f e,
comes fr o m t h i
i l l b u y L
o t i c e I s a y t ha t I w worth
m y o u ‘ l l n t h i n k i t ‘ s
poe
o u g h i t ‘ s o verrated, I
and even th living after
a ll !
A Consumer's Report 1. What kind of tone is created in the title? 2. In the title, why do you think the author
Is it one of excitement or mundanity? has made the choice to use the indefinite
BY PETER PORTER Explain your response. article? Explain the purpose of this and its
effect.
The name of the product I tested is Life,
I have completed the form you sent me 3. In the first line, explain the effect of the
metaphor and how it makes you feel.
and understand that my answers are confidential.

4. Why are the author‘s answers described as confidential?

I had it as a gift, Who is the author commúnicating with, do you think?
I didn’t feel much while using it,
in fact I think I’d have liked to be more excited. 5. Why has the author referred to Life as a gift, do you think?
It seemed gentle on the hands
but left an embarrassing deposit behind. 6. The author has about half left. How old would you say he is?
It was not economical
and I have used much more than I thought 7. What instructions for Life is he talking about? Can you thiunk of any
(I suppose I have about half left you have received from parents/teachers/influencers? It is true there are
so many instructions out there? If so, what are the implications?
but it’s difficult to tell)—
although the instructions are fairly large
there are so many of them 8. Can you think of any instructions for
Life that contradict one another?
I don’t know which to follow, especially
I’m not sure such a thing 9. Do you think he is against having
should be put in the way of children— children, based on the first two lines here?
It’s difficult to think of a purpose
for it. One of my friends says 10. Which line makes you think he is
finding it difficult to find meaning in his
it’s just to keep its maker in a job.
life?
Also the price is much too high.
11. Which lines make you think he believes there are too
Things are piling up so fast,
many people on the Earth?
after all, the world got by
for a thousand million years
without this, do we need it now? 12. Are we respondents to Life, and what are the implications here?
(Incidentally, please ask your man
to stop calling me ‘the respondent’,
I don’t like the sound of it.) 13. What labels do you think he is referring to here?
There seems to be a lot of different labels,
sizes and colours should be uniform, 14. Life will not last but you cannot go around killing people/yourself (it is
the shape is awkward, it’s waterproof difficult to ger rid of). To what extent do you see this as a paradox?
but not heat resistant, it doesn’t keep
yet it’s very difficult to get rid of:
whenever they make it cheaper they tend 15. Is Life delivered even if you do not want it? How so?
to put less in—if you say you don’t

I’d agree it’s a popular product,
it’s got into the language; people
even say they’re on the side of it.
Personally I think it’s overdone,
a small thing people are ready
to behave badly about. I think
we should take it for granted. If its
experts are called philosophers or market
researchers or historians, we shouldn’t
care. We are the consumers and the last
law makers. So finally, I’d buy it.
But the question of a ‘best buy’
I’d like to leave until I get
the competitive product you said you’d send
16. Research the phrase: choose life, and explain how the author might be alluding
(in these first three lines) to the use of this phrase in popular culture.
17. How does he contradict or subvert our expectations in
the line: I think we should take it for granted?
18. How does he feel about so-called
experts on Life?
19. How does he provide his view here
towards the end of his consumer‘s report?
What is his conclusion after all?
20. Is there such a competitive product to
Life?
Independent Task:
Read the following analysis paragraph and then try and write your own, focusing on the same essay question.

Essay Q: How does Peter Porter, in his poem A Consumer’s Report, convey his views on the commodification of life?

Topic sentence/links back to paragraph thesis Interpretation Techniques Quotes

Porter suggests that materialistic consumerism has made life less genuine and reduced our agency. By metaphorically comparing life to a consumer’s report,
he is implying we have lost sight of what life should really be about. When he writes that “the name of the product he tested is Life,” in the opening line, he
sets the tone of the poem. He personifies Life as a product which, to me, suggests a criticism of our materialist motivations. Perhaps he is encouraging his
readers to stop consuming and start connecting with people more profoundly. This is reinforced later as he describes the variety of different “labels” that
define each individual human being. The imagery of being labelled like a product encourages us to reflect on the way we define our identities and question
the superficiality of some of the values we hold so dear. The poem holds true today; it could be argued that our identities have become more polarised
since the advent of social media – a less genuine version of ourselves has emerged. Moreover, our agency and creativity is suggested to have been reduced
to solely “responding” to Life’s challenges and stimuli. He refuses to follow in the footsteps of phoney “philosophers and historians” and suggests that if we
are indeed the consumers of Life then we should be the “law makers.” I interpret this last reference as an allusion to the popular notion that the customer is
always right. It seems here that Porter is highlighting a depressing point about consumerism but at the same time hoping to empower his readers into
waking up and taking ownership of the meaning of their lives, reclaiming the agency they may have lost to the aspirational superficialities of material
consumerism.