Comparing Merchants Of Cool, 'The Persuaders And Generation Like'

The Century of Self episodes depict society as a primitive force. One that can be taught to buy things based on feelings; and has a hidden aggression just below the surface. The ideas presented had been covered in previous documentaries we have seen. Most of which was an idea first created by the Freud family; who used controversial methods in the psycho analysis. We can see these ideas in society today within politics and politicians trying to gain support. There were numerous ideas discussed in these videos; and they tie into what society is today. The ideas covered in the documentary were covered in films we had recently watched. Merchants of Cool, The Persuaders and Generation Like all presented the theme of how advertisers use subliminal

They contributed many ideas and they tested all of these thoughts in there many experiments. Bernays thought that people were stupid and he forced them to accept his choices. The Freuds believed that within all of us are dangerous irrational fears, these fears needed to be suppressed. They would try to control the desires and also use their experiments to create stronger American values because by itself democracy failed to do this. Anna Freud believed that if we were able to change the surroundings of people they would be able to force them into the norms of social conduct. Her experiments with violent children seemed to work. But, when these kids grew up they developed drinking problems; Freuds experiment didn't completely work. Marilyn Monroe was a drug addict and an alcoholic. Ralph Greenson,a popular Hollywood psychoanalyst, persuaded Monroe to move into a house close to him. His family pretended to be her family, this was so she didn't need to constantly be seeking love. On August 5, 1962 Monroe committed suicide. Many blamed the analysts for not successfully helping her. In 1973 the power and popularity of Freudian analysis was over. After the suicide of another Anna Freud patient. The experiments were often harsh and they did not work. The Freuds and Edward Bernays were morally wrong to try these experiments, it ended up costing multiple lives of patients who were more

The C.I.A. has tried to control the minds of American citizens. They believed that to make a democracy work they needed to suppress our barbaric thoughts lurking under the surface. The U.S. have used sociology to persuade the world many times. During the Cold War the government played ads about bomb shelters and drills for a nuclear fallout, this calmed citizens. We also toppled governments using these tactics. An example of this is when we got rid of the Guatemalan government because we wanted to keep our banana republic. There are many examples of the C.I.A. trying to brainwash people. They used electric shocks, LSD, and many other techniques to eradicate the personality of people and then they would try to re-program them. In politics today Donald Trump has tried to use sociology by appearing as a common man to gain support. Another example of how this is used today is when a president persuades us that if we don't engage a certain enemy they will spread and attack us at home. Examples of this are the wars during the cold war, the war against Iran and now it is ISIS. There are many examples and there will be more in the future of how politicians can persuade us to support