1st Edition

The Happiness Illusion How the media sold us a fairytale

Edited By Luke Hockley, Nadi Fadina Copyright 2015
224 Pages
by Routledge

224 Pages
by Routledge

224 Pages
by Routledge

The West has never been more affluent yet the use of anti-depressants is on the increase to the extent that the World Health Organisation has declared it a major source of concern. How has this state of affairs come about and what can be done? Television and advertising media seem to know. Wherever we look they offer countless remedies for our current situation - unfortunately none of them seem... Read more

Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction - Once upon a timeNadi Fadina and Luke Hockley

Section One - There was a Prince/ss

Vignette by Nadi Fadina and Luke Hockley

1 Transnational fantasies of masculinity

TERRIE WADDELL

2 Snow White and the Huntsman: the fairytale of gender and the female warrior

LUKE HOCKLEY

3 The second loss of androgyny: the fairytale of dualism.

NADI FADINA

Section Two - The Quest, The Old Wise Helper and the Magical Object

Vignette by Nadi Fadina and Luke Hockley

4 Crumbling rejuvenation: archetype, embodiment and the ‘Aging Beauty Myth’

JOSIE DOLAN

5 Finding the golden egg: illusions of happiness in an age of consumer capitalism

CATRIONA MILLER

6 The self-knowledge industry and myths of happiness

RYAN HOWES

 

7 The shadow of redemption: the Grail and the self-knowledge industry

JOANNA DOVALIS

 

Section Three - May All Your Wishes Come True

Vignette by Nadi Fadina and Luke Hockley

8 Engaging marriage: rom coms and fairytale endings

HEATHER BROOK

9 The myth of authentic self-actualisation: happiness, transformation and reality TV

GREG SINGH

10 A difficult task: Sarah Lund and the crime of individuated happiness

ALEC CHARLES

 

Biography

Luke Hockley PhD, is Research Professor of Media Analysis, at the University of Bedfordshire, UK. He is a practicing psychotherapist and is registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). Luke is joint Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Jungian Studies (IJJS) and a member of the Advisory Board for the journal Spring and lectures widely. www.lukehockley.com

Nadi Fadina is a media entrepreneur and a managing partner in an international film fund. She is involved in a variety of arts and media related projects, both in profit and non-profit spheres. She teaches Film Business in the University of Bedfordshire, however, her academic interests outreach spheres of business and cover ideology, Russian fairytales, sexuality, politics, anthropology, and cinema. www.nadi-fadina.com

"This book will cure you of feeling entitled to happiness so you can enjoy the pleasure of seeking out a life journey of your own making." - Maryann Barone-Chapman, Jungian Analyst and former Advertising CEO and Creative Director

"Luke Hockley  and Nadi Fadina's The Happiness Illusion: How Media Sold Us a Fairytale frames this anthology of analytical psychology as an exploration of how contemporary media pervert the metaphorical insights of fairytales to sell viewers entrancing representations of endlses yet not quite fulfilling consumption... I would use a number of the chapters in this book in undergraduate film and television studies courses." - Dr Daniel Keyes, University of British Columbia, PsycCritiques

"I would recommend the book to academics and students in media studies. Those with a background in psychotherapy may also find it of interest. Overall, this is a very thought-provoking book, but perhaps not for those expecting a bit of a light read!" - Dr Kate Sparks, Chartered Psychologist, The Psychologist