John Berger's ways of seeing and visual culture

¶ … Seeing" by John Berger

In a similar vein as argued in Jacques Ellul's discourse on advertising and the "mass man," John Berger in "Ways of Seeing" provided a critical analysis of how publicity helped promote the idea of freedom and democratization through the act of consumption. In his book, Berger identified publicity (synonymous to the idea of advertising) as the main politico-economic force that shaped the nature of human society during the period of modernism and capitalism. Publicity, according to him, had been the primary cause of today's consumption- and materialistically-motivated society. Using this general objective as the foundation of his arguments, Berger set out to argue against the political propaganda embedded in publicity.

One of the important insights that the author expressed as an effect of publicity was its inherent capability to create an alternative reality, a reality that centers on possibilities or what Berger identified as the future. In this alternative reality, the consumer, also the receiver of this publicity messages, become fixated in the eventualities enumerated by forms of publicity, which leads to the development of the psyche that one lives not for the present and future, but for the future alone.

Centering one's attention towards the future is not altogether detrimental to the individual, but it can lead to an unhealthy self-development. Publicity makes the individual feel inadequate and dissatisfied with the kind of life s/he has -- these feelings of dissatisfaction leads to the 'imprisonment' of one's freedom. Thus, the individual becomes susceptible to believing suggestions and ideas promoted through publicity. Beliefs and opinions are no longer formed from the self, but from the publicity instead. The individual becomes a mere agent, receiving and passing information without actively discerning the truth or falsity of these messages' claims.

Apart from the loss of one's individuality, publicity also leads to further consumption, fueled by the belief that one needs to own something in order to feel satisfied in life. As Berger had observed, "[t]he choice of what one eats (or wears or drives) takes the place of significant political choice. Publicity helps to mask and compensate for all that is undemocratic within society. And it also masks of what is happening in the rest of the world." The alternative reality that an individual had cultivated through consumption and the propaganda of publicity led to the creation of a life separate from reality. The consumer eventually denies that what is happening in reality was not the actual reality s/he is experiencing; thus, s/he believes that his/her reality is the true reality. The promises of a bountiful and comfortable future life conveyed through publicity messages made consumers live an alternative reality that centers on promises, not actualities.