Oct 30 2009
The Quest for Happiness
The short film “More” reminded me a lot of my sociology class. I felt like it represented the consumerist society that we live in and the effects of publicity on society. Publicity (such as advertising) makes us want to buy the product or service that is being sold. However, in order to do this, it is necessary to create a dissatisfaction in our lives or within ourselves. To fix this dissatisfaction, we must buy the product being sold. The main problem with this is that happiness cannot be purchased through material objects.
In “More,” the main character is leading a repetitive life: he wakes up, goes to work, hates it, goes home, and the pattern continues. He then invents a machine that makes the dark, dreary world much brighter and more vibrant. However, he ends up in the same pattern, except this time he is the one yelling the instructions rather than building the products. In the end, he loses the inner light that he used to create the “bliss” machine, showing that despite the success of his invention, he is still not happy.
Material objects do not bring about happiness. Despite the fact that it was sold in the store in “More,” happiness can’t be bought. Happiness is something inside of you that you have to discover.
Learn more about the films of Mark Osborne.
I am a big promoter of this..Money truly does not bring happiness. Even now, we should focus on things that make us happy, not how much money we are going to make. I know so many people that are depressed and buy themselves things to make themselves feel better. It is so frustrating because moments later they’re upset again.
We can not rely on material things to make us happy because we only fool ourselves. If we have to seek material things to make us happy, then we really need to take a good hard look at ourselves. Clearly there’s something else that’s missing that needs to be filled.
It think advertisement is a key factor in today’s society. There are always new products that target the same thing; happiness.
They make consumers believe that by using the product you will fulfill your desires. For example, we always see TV commercials and adds on make up and facial treatments that would make you look fabulous and even ten years younger! But we all know that it is not as simple as just using that product, but it gives us the hope to be closer to achieving happiness.
In “More” it is more like he is buying the life of a child, but that is impossible. The main character is a grown man who is supposed to work, and to think that he will giggle all day in the park is just foolish. Thus I think that when there is no more “light” he realizes that reaching that absolute state of happiness is impossible.
I agree with you. The film even make me have have mix feelings for the yellow smiley face by making me how heavily marketed the symbol is.