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B U Y I N G O R D Y I N G ? M E D I A , C O N S U M P T I O N A N D T H E M A K I N G O F S E L F

LECTURE 3
THEORIES OF MEDIA,
C O N S U M P T I O N , C U LT U R E
AND RELIGIOUS
PERSPECTIVES

Mr. Fred Yeung

Division of Communication
INTRODUCTION

 Marxism( 馬克斯主義 ): a basic overview

 Capitalism( 資本主義 ): Marxist reading on
capitalist logics
 Fetishism ( 拜物主義 ): media & consumption
culture
MARXISM: A BASIC OVERVIEW
Marxism:

a critical worldview of power structure, class

struggle and exploitation.
 MARXISM: A BASIC OVERVIEW

Power structure:
 Means of production & production relations: who own
the means of production, who dominate the production
relations
 Means of production: land, labour, capital, and other
production forces
 Production relations: who dominates who

7/24/18
 MARXISM: A BASIC OVERVIEW
 Power structure:
 Infrastructure 基礎結構 determines superstructure 上層
結構
(i.e. The development of superstructure is mostly based on the
foundation of infrastructure)
 Infrastructure: the power structure in the world
 Superstructure: the ideologies / discourses 解說 of society
MARXISM: A BASIC OVERVIEW
 Class struggle
What is Class?
- classified by production relations
 Feudal age 封建時代 : nobility 貴族階級 (usually
were land owners) oppresses general people / slaves
 Industrial age 工業時代 : capitalists (owing capital)
oppresses workers
 Upper class: Superior
Middle class: Bourgeois 布波族
Lower class: working class
MARXISM: A BASIC OVERVIEW
 Exploitation 剝削
 Surplus value: 剩餘價值
- the discrepancy between the market price and production cost
 You buy the coffee box at HKD 50
 Coffee farmers just receive HKD 10 for the amount of coffee beans
 HKD 40: exploited by capitalists
 MARXISM: A BASIC OVERVIEW
Alienation 異化 in a conflict society:

 separating from job and task

 You paint a house for your family  receive joy and
satisfaction on the house  work for leisure and
pleasure
 You take a job and paint the wall daily  just get it done
and receive the payment  work for survival 
creates alienated life
CAPITALISM: CAPITALIST LOGICS
 Marxist reading on capitalism:
 Over-production: capitalists produce more than
what the society needs
 Over-consumption: people consume more than
what they need
 Boom-and-bustcycle 經濟興衰周期 : the ups and
downs of economy driven by over-production and
over-consumption
CAPITALISM: CAPITALIST LOGICS
 Marxist reading on capitalism:
- Over-production & Over-consumption
 Tomaximize the gain from exploitation (surplus value),
capitalists tend to produce more.
 Toenable over-production, capitalists encourage people to
consume more.
 When people consume more and generate new demand,
capitalists could produce more.
 FETISHISM: MEDIA & CONSUMPTION CULTURE
 Fetishism( 拜物主義 ):
worship of objects which do not have substance
 Bible story: worshiping fetish ( 偶像 ) rather than GOD

 Consumption: from functional consumption to emotional consumption

 Functional consumption: you buy what you need

 Emotional consumption: you buy what you want （ instead of need ）
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4s0llOpKrU Ｄ ior
 Examples of “wants”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wafe6kDBb6c Gucci
 Identity construction, e.g. decoration, fashion

 Cultural capital, e.g. wine-tasting, high tea tasting

 Blurring boundaries between two

 Consumption as “religious worship”: I consume therefore I am

FETISHISM: MEDIA & CONSUMPTION CULTURE
 Media: constructing “false consciousness 假意識” of
fetishism so as to encourage over-consumption: consuming
more than what you need
 Advertising

 Brand-building

 Constructing the dominant ideology of a consuming world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Be52jR9v_c
Marlboro country
Fetishism: media & consumption culture
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CONCLUSION

 Marxism: power structure, class struggle and

exploitation
 Capitalism: the capitalist logic of over-production, over-
consumption and boom-and-bust
 Fetishism and media: constructing “false consciousness”
of over-consumption in order to sustain over-production
and the capitalist society
IN-CL ASS DISCUSSION – MICRO FILM I

• 陳志發《東京漂流》 Tokyo Drift

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJTozilzmS4&t=333s
- What is the moral conflict in this micro-film?
- Discuss the “alienations 異化 / 疏離” of the actor in this micro-film. What are these
alienations in the real society? Can you explain?
- Can you suggest any solutions to this “alienations”?
IN-CL ASS DISCUSSION – MICRO FILM 2

• 黃修平《功課》 Assignment
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFe_6BMxujc
- Can you see the “Assignment” of the lecturer? What are these assignments? Please explain.
- Do you think the value of society (Capitalism) is affecting the value of the lecturer and his
wife? What is the Class struggle? Please explain your group’s viewpoints.