Christopher Ayala

Dr. Dietel-McLaughlin

FYC-13100-28

9 December 2010

Greed and Consumerism: The Unifying Forces of America

When I initially started this project, I had the intention of arguing the fact that, although

some Americans contest this fact, Americans are overly greedy and overly emphasize

consumerism. I was going to argue this from the perspective of an outsider, the half of myself

that is irrevocably Filipino, foreign, and somewhat enraged at the amount of material emphasis

that the American culture and people have. Yet, when I began formulating the argument that

would turn an accusing eye at America for something they are known for across the globe, I saw

that this pervasive sense of the material isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As a result, I changed my

argument from an incredibly anti-American piece into a pro-American one.

In this visual essay, I’m making the argument that, although America has a culture and a

people that are incredibly centered on the idea of greed (not strictly greed of money, however)

and the idea of consumerism, this greediness and emphasis on consumerism doesn’t ultimately

affect the character of the American people, but helps define them in a more positive way. The

more positive way to which I refer to is this: with all of the material and financial resources that

Americans hoard as a result of the driving force of greed and consumerism, Americans are more

likely and are more able to act out in a positive way, whether that be sending aid to foreign

countries undergoing some kind of struggle, such as the repercussions of the Haitian earthquake,

or sending aid to their fellow countrymen in some sort of struggle, like the aid that was sent to

the victims and survivors of Hurricane Katrina or the care packages that are sent to the soldiers
on duty in the Middle East.

The steps I took to make this argument were somewhat out of order – out of order in the

sense that I had initially tried to argue the fact that no good comes out of the greed and

consumerism that is so pervasive in American culture. Similarly, the types of footage that I

initially used also underwent a complete-reversal as my argument did. I initially was going to

create a montage composed of famous, stereotypical commercials, quotes, or movie clips from

both America and different cultures and juxtapose them in a way that would reflect the attitudes

that some countries view their relationship with America: as a one-sided impersonal, friendship.

Instead, although I incorporated some well-known images such as pictures of the PS3 and the

Nintendo Wii and a few commercials of well-known games and organizations, the primary

media I used was the personal interview. I did this in order to convey the personal relationship

that much of my audience and I have with America.

In addition to the primary type of media I used, my specific image, video, and music

choices were also important in composing my visual essay. The image of the American flag

waving majestically in an artificial breeze was intended to evoke warm, patriotic feelings, while

the black background in the same image suggests some kind of corruption or issue at hand, in

this case, greed and consumerism. The sound of a coin dropping in the background to abruptly

interrupt the majestic playing of the national anthem, as well as the background shots of coins

and one hundred dollar bills, was placed to bring attention to the central issue of the essay.

After the brief introduction, the interviews that followed with Alfredo, Colum, Caleb,

Michael, and AnnaLee were placed to help fuel the conversation, in this case, the counter-

argument to my thesis mentioned earlier. The images that flash the screen after AnnaLee’s brief

appearance on the screen are familiar images to the audience intended to make the viewer
question him or herself by asking if these familiar things potentially have potentially harmful

facets to them, just like the pursuit of money and objects. Following this series of images are the

political cartoons, intending to illustrate how deeply into our system greed has dug itself.

The lone video of Nicholas after the political cartoons was placed to express a more

foreign voice to the debate because though he comes to school here and is part of our

community, he is from Colombia. The images placed during his speech are placed to point a kind

of accusing finger at American society for having such an emphasis on the material. The video

clips following this, those of Halo: Reach, the juxtaposition of the USMC commercial with the

Condescending Army Commercial and the Call of Duty: Black Ops commercial, and the Gordon

Gekko speech from Wall Street were placed to emphasize the fact that greed and consumerism

has the ability to change the meanings of things we hold dear.

Following this metaphorical absolute minimum, the essay takes an upward path to show

it is good. The song playing in the background, Kiss the Rain (String Version), creates a peaceful

atmosphere, one in which people feel like nothing harmful could happen. The interviews that

follow illustrate Colum’s and Alfredo’s rejection of their initial thoughts of America as an

inherently greedy and therefore base nation, along with Alex’s assessment of why the greed

present in America doesn’t necessarily make America a bad nation. What follows are a series of

photos of Americans in the Hurricane Katrina disaster and Americans helping Haitians after the

disastrous earthquake. These images were placed in order to evoke an emotion of patriotism, just

like the opening image did, in order to reacquaint the audience with how benevolent America

and her people can be. These images also ought to evoke feelings of action, that is, the desire to

serve others in the best way one can.

The final slides, the shots with the white text against the black background, were placed
in order to acquaint the audience with some of my thoughts on the subject, to explain how I think

Greed and consumerism tie Americans together. The video then proceeds into the credits, with

the reassuring music continuously playing in the background to remind the audience that all is

good, regardless of what aggressors to our nation say.