The Modern Day Consumer (1987)

1987-01-0111m

Depicts modern humanity as a product of the industrial revolution, which formed and cultivated a society based on mass consumption. This consumerism is illustrated through portrayals of our feeding, mating, and grooming habits, as well as ritual gatherings and retirement that manufacture a dependency on the capitalist system. Burman’s highly fantasized stop-motion claymation critiques the absurdity of integrating capitalism and humanity, which has altered the human experience into a measurement of one’s ability to mass produce and mass consume.

Related Movies

280391-thumbnail

Animal Kingdom: Let's Go Ape (2015)

Based on the novel 'Evolution Man' by Roy Lewis, this tells the story about the first man - young Edward - to descend from apes. Edward is ejected by his tribe, but is very resourceful. He learns to walk, discovers fire, manages to hunt - and we follow him as he evolves. He has a generous nature, and search for true humanity - a world where we don't eat our fathers.

283074-thumbnail

Self Portrait (1988)

This extremely brief film was Osamu Tezuka's answer to a challenge presented to the leaders of the international animation community to create animated self-portraits.

8953-thumbnail

Steamboy (2004)

In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.

1446172-thumbnail

People's Limbo in RMB City (2009)

Cao Fei explores a virtual metropolis within the online platform Second Life. The work blends real and fictional elements of Chinese identity and urbanism to comment on capitalism and development in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Marxist iconography intersects with modern corporate structures, creating a dystopian yet whimsical reflection on 21st-century economic realities.

29720-thumbnail

Democracy Is ... (2009)

The film is a controversy on democracy. Is our society really democratic? Can everyone be part of it? Or is the act of being part in democracy dependent to the access on technology, progression or any resources of information, as philosophers like Paul Virilio or Jean Baudrillard already claimed?

1081669-thumbnail

Donks (2023)

An exploration of ocean plastic, avatars and adaptive bottom feeders. The musical!

473215-thumbnail

Propaganda Message (1974)

A cartoon film about the whole heterogeneous mixture of Canada and Canadians, and the way the invisible adhesive called federalism makes it all cling together. That the dissenting voices are many is made amply evident, in English and French. But this animated message also shows that Canadians can laugh at themselves and work out their problems objectively.

1287832-thumbnail

Humanity (2024)

Dark comedy about something we all do - we hate other people for trivial reasons. Life is hard even without having to tolerate other people's annoying habits. The problem is you can't kill somebody just because they chew too loudly. But in this animated world, you can make all your dark visions of fatal revenge a reality.

898811-thumbnail

neolithic (2021)

A grim world is blessed by pre-modern man's wrath and it's beautiful light succumbs to the dark abyss of the neolithic reign of mother natures new conquerors, the Homo-Sapiens and their predecessors. Detailed thematic depictions of man's effects on earth and their ascent to dominance presented in short stop-motion animated segments fantasizing about the human race's beginnings and eventual domination of our world.

50201-thumbnail

The Journey to Melonia (1989)

When a ship sinks during a storm, a slave from the industrial island of Plutonia is washed up on the beaches of paradise island Melonia, where the "all-powerful" wizard Prospero and his strange friends reside.

1246735-thumbnail

Neo New Jersey (2021)

A night in the life of two blacklight gossip queens in the year 2999.

687446-thumbnail

It's Everybody's Business (1954)

Animated propaganda advocating for the importance of unregulated capitalism to the American way of life.

36107-thumbnail

More (1998)

A factory worker in a dark, gray world assembles devices that promise happiness. In his spare time he tinkers to create something better, and finally succeeds in perfecting his invention, which allows people to see life through rose-colored glasses, but he has to pay a price for his success.

348686-thumbnail

Assassin’s Creed - Syndicate (2015)

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate teams up with F. Gary Gray, award-winning director of the Universal Pictures biopic Straight Outta Compton. Illustrated by LucasFilm-Certified comic book artist Pop Mhan, this animated short follows the story of the Industrial Revolution in London, 1868 and the birth of organized crime, led by Assassin’s Creed Syndicate protagonist, Jacob Frye and his sister, Evie.

1316961-thumbnail

African American Express (2024)

African American Express is an abstract animation exploring the impact of consumerism in the Black community. Told in the style of Soviet Propaganda, this animated short dissects the pattern of excessive materialism and consumption prevalent within the Black population.

73723-thumbnail

The Lorax (2012)

A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.

702268-thumbnail

Story of Iron (1962)

One day, Kandume's can boy, who happily lived with his friends in the kitchen, becomes an empty can and is discarded. Eventually, he has a dream about the history of iron and humanity. He sees how iron that melted and flowed out during a forest fire, was discovered by humans once it cooled and solidified. This iron then transformed into knives and machines, leading to the development of civilization. When the can boy awakens, he is taken to a steelworks and reborn as a new steel material.

751863-thumbnail

In Ictu Oculi (2020)

The six-decade transformation of a block of houses, shown by means of artfully featured archival shots, highlights the beauty and sadness of human-made decay. In the blink of an eye 66 years pass by and a savings bank replaces a church.

119855-thumbnail

The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1992)

An animated short film based on the 1877 short story written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It chronicles the experiences of a man who decides that there is nothing to live for in the world, and is therefore determined to commit suicide. A chance encounter with a young girl changes his mind.

116369-thumbnail

The Tragedy of Man (2011)

Jankovics's adaptation of the eponymous play is divided into multiple parts, and depicts the creation and fall of Man throughout history.