In John Berger’s essay number seven from his book ‘The ways of seeing’ he states, “The contrast between publicity’s interpretation of the world and the actual condition of the world is a stark one” is he right? Before I go into such detail I need to address the following: what is publicity? What is publicity’s interpretation of the world? And what is the actual condition of the world?
Publicity is the ability to use multimedia to manufacture the envy of ourselves or ourselves as we could be had we had or had done what they are presenting to us. The envy is generated by wanting to be envied by others. The main technique used to produce such envy is the promise that the event/product being publicised will not only be of pleasure, but will change the life of the potential buyer, for the better, and they will now be envied.
The world in publicity is generally a good place, as it generally is trying to persuade you to purchase something and therefore is promoting good times, places and experiences. Negative publicity does exist however, it must be said. Also there are no events in publicity; it is a world which uses the past to show you the future; the present doesn’t exist. Consider the following quotes from Berger’s Book:
“For publicity the present by definition is insufficient.”[1]
“With this you will become desirable.”[1] (Notice for present tense the language would have been you are desirable).
Publicity is a world that ‘could be yours’ but the promise is never fulfilled, as the lynx advert below shows. It is clear to all that just by using Lynx deodorant, you are not going to find yourself in a similar situation that the man is in here but it is a fantasy, brought to the table by Lynx.
The real world is present tense, what is happening in the world is happening now and often mundane, whereas in publicity “real events are extraordinary and only happen to strangers”. This contrast is best represented in magazines and newspapers, which contain all kinds of publicity. Sometimes, as is shown in Berger’s book, a ‘real event’ showing the ‘real world’ can be juxtaposed with another piece of publicity on the same page. The contrast is best shown when an event is tragic, and pictures are in colour (the combination of the two makes each stand out and thus we are drawn to the contrast) this combination is not necessary however.
The main difference is that the event ‘has happened’ or ‘is happening’, whereas in publicity the event is going to happen.
I believe that John Berger is correct and the contrast between publicities interpretation and the actual condition of the world is a ‘stark’ one.
[1] Ways of Seeing by John Berger, essay number 7 page 144