Hollywood Glamour and Mass Consumption in Postwar Italy
HollywoodGundle Glamour and Mass Consumption in Postwar Italy Hollywood Glamour and Mass Consumption in Postwar Italy ✣ fter 1945 the United States helped the war-torn societies of WesternA Europe progress from recovery to modernization,enabling them to achieve prosperity and political stability. It is not surprising,therefore,that analyses of Italy’s transition to consumerism in the postwar period have as- cribed much importance to the impact of the American example and American techniques. Although the history of this relationship has been extensively as- sessed in terms of diplomacy,politics,and economics,very little has been said about the way mentalities were altered,new desires were created,and material dreams were generated and managed. Sectoral studies of advertising,Marshall Plan propaganda,the impact of Hollywood,fashion,the popular press,and the star system all refer to the formation and diffusion of images of desirabil- ity,but they do not convey the systematic nature or purpose of the develop- ment of a repertoire of images of wealth,beauty,elegance,style,and sex appeal. This article will show that the transformation of the Italian imagination can be explained by the concept of glamour. If properly employed,this undertheorized term can account for the particular seductive appeal that capi- talism was able to take on in the early stages of mass consumption,helping it to bypass arguments about exploitation,imperialism,inequality,and alien - ation. Although glamour was part and parcel of the impact of the American model,Italy did not merely absorb an externally generated allure. Italian capi - talism also gave rise to forms of enchantment of its own.
[Show full text]