The Rise of Glamour

Hubster

Hubster

...
Oct 29, 2003
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Bondi Australia
The Rise of Glamour

Addiction to wealth. Pursuit of physical perfection, American globalised Hollywoodism. A drooling disease of higher social status and recognition. Depreciation of other humans feelings. Disregard of love. Disregard of giving. Depreciation of planet Earth and the environment. Decay of moral systems, rise of pretentiousness, glimmer of fake teeth. The quest to be David Beckham or Pamela Anderson. A sickening revolution in the 21st century social landscape. An addiction to celebrity self-status.

Discuss.
 
I think this is a by-product of our times.
Industrialisation - people wanted money and status
Post-Industrialisation - focus is turned to the smaller details on 'the criteria for high status'. We have increasingly more time on our hands to think up new ways to make things perfect and give us more time on our hands. Vicious cycle.

Beating Rugs and Hand scrubbing floors - Carpets, means less work- Vaccum Cleaners means less work, time to buy aspirational magazines and read about new-fangled ways of minimalising work and effort. Anti aging face creams - you don't need to drink plenty of water and eat healthly.

Actually I think this is one of the buzz phrases of the 21st century 'you don't have to.'

you don't have to have talent to be famous, you don't have to eat healthy and exercise to look good, you don't have to live in the sun to be bronzed, you don't have to be musical to be in the charts, you don't have to have skill to have your work in a gallery, you don't have to save your money to buy a car etc etc

But like I say this idea that anything is possible stems from us having far too much time to think such rubbish up, and it seems that those who benefit from this social mind frame, allow us to see the cases were it 'happened' i.e. reality tv, so that we strive to achieve this even more so.


You are right there is an alarming increase in "Depreciation of other humans feelings"
I was in a McDonalds were two drunk men started making fun of a boy that worked there; arguing with him for a laugh about the price of chicken nuggets - and after leaving one said
'It's ok, they are robots in there anyway.'

People don't see other people anymore, they see commodities that are in (the way of) their lives. Either objects that are getting in their way of achieving or objects that could help them.
 
The Hubster said:
The Rise of Glamour

Addiction to wealth. Pursuit of physical perfection, American globalised Hollywoodism. A drooling disease of higher social status and recognition. Depreciation of other humans feelings. Disregard of love. Disregard of giving. Depreciation of planet Earth and the environment. Decay of moral systems, rise of pretentiousness, glimmer of fake teeth. The quest to be David Beckham or Pamela Anderson. A sickening revolution in the 21st century social landscape. An addiction to celebrity self-status.

Discuss.
Click to expand...
shabang. its everywhere and a great problem which i oppose. as far as i'm concerned, the american media created it, but now there's little hope in stopping it because it has become an international epidemic.
 
Silent Song said:
shabang. its everywhere and a great problem which i oppose. as far as i'm concerned, the american media created it, but now there's little hope in stopping it because it has become an international epidemic.
Click to expand...

I dont think it was created recently, only strengthened over the last fifty years by better and more intrusive marketing and advertising campaigns. You know almost the entire world is victim to all of this. Asians gladly pay top dollar for European fashions, the british seem obsessed with celebrity and a rather vacuous club hopping lifestyle-the same can be said of alot of Europe. South America also places a very high priority in how one looks, the clothers they wear etc. Its human nature really, but it has gotten out of control latelly, as people that cannot afford such clothes and materialism, feel compelled to buy such things anyway as they are brainwashed into thinking that looking good, and having a cute boyfriend or girlfriend will leas to happiness. Unfortunately, such material possessions and empty relationships rarely lead to happiness, but instead lead to acquisitiveness.
 
by all means you're right. i'm just lazy today and thought i'd post a one-liner. its a disgusting problem with society that, if solved, however possible, would eliminate a great many other issues.
 
I see glamour as part of the rise of Crowdism, or mass revolt. Crowdists want to feel important and they like public spectacle.
 
It is almost as if the idea of glamour is an extension of the mob mentality. One person alone might not do what a hundred will if together. From another point of view it's about acceptance. On some level, everyone wants some form of acceptance. Whether it is by the general public, a small group of people, or just a loved one, maybe even acceptance of yourself. "They are the beautiful people. In my mind they are adored by all. I want such adoration." To me the worst are those that go so far as self-alteration. I can understand a person wanting to repair some superficial physical damage done in some accident by going to a plastic surgeon. What I can't abide are those that seek the surgeons to alter them to some fictional ideal of beauty. Its all relative I suppose. The media certainly doesn't help matters by shoving their idea of beautiful down the throats of any who look. I won't lie. Yeah I am attracted to our little Hollywood starlets (Catherine Bell are you out there?), but I'm happy to accept people for who they are not who they might think they must emulate.
 
The overwhelming need to be beautiful, adored, and wealthy and possess many material things has always been around in some form but when industrialization began and travel/shipping were refined that need began to increase rapidly because as goods are exchanged so are ideas, and as ideas are exchanged they can be misinterpereted or amplified. This is often done deliberately, either by individuals wanting to control or by those who possess a weak character, do not or are incapable of thinking for themselves and feel an intense need to be a member of a popular group and wish to persuade others to join them.

This is not solely an American phenomenon or creation, although we do bear quite a bit of the responsibility for the modern version of this belief. I believe that Americans are very suseptible to this of our society. We are told to not speak for ourselves, unless it is in line with the latest sociopolitical rhetoric, that America is the best, most beautiful place on Earth, even though our economy has never been worse and we're destroying our environment, and that the values our slave-to-God Commander-in-Chief are in line with the Founding Fathers even though John Adams said "This would be the best of all possible worlds if there was no religion in it." But it's not like your average American would know that, it requires you to go beyond what you're told by parents, friends, teachers, clergy, and politicians.
 
Wow, some of the responses above are really great. Thanks all.

The funny thing is I've noticed a noticeable increase in "glamourisation" in the last 5 years which I've noticed in my 30 yrs on this earth so far.

Is it possible that in recent times it has mutated into a large phenomena, or am I simply noticing it more than I was before?

Any thoughts? Who else feels/doesn't feel this way?
 
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