We weren’t sure Ryan was going to make it through an entire movie from Netflix, so we flipped through the channels looking for something halfway decent that the rest of us could watch even if he fell asleep part-way through.  He never fell asleep and we all made it to the end of Two Weeks Notice with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant.

It was a cute romantic comedy and everyone already knew the ending a few minutes in.  But having just finished reading The Overspent American by Juliet B. Schor, I found myself watching the movie from a different perspective.

In her book, Schor describes what she calls the culture of consumption.  We Americans are obsessed with stuff.  And we spend lots of money on this stuff in our drive to keep up with others.   This really isn’t news to anyone.  Mostly we  just pretend we don’t know about it.  It helps keep the cycle going which is what I think most people, as overworked as they are, want.   

Schor goes on to write about us as wanting to emulate our “reference group” which she describes as those living a lifestyle just above ours.   We strive to be and act just like them.  And to do that we have to spend a lot of money.  The funny thing is,  there will always be a reference group above us, so the cycle just keeps going.  

So while I was watching the movie I couldn’t help notice all the nice stuff that these fictional characters owned.  And all the expensive things they did.  Although the movie wasn’t about having nice stuff and doing expensive things, it’s hard not to have those messages somehow enter our subconscious.

So what messages are our kids receiving?  And are these the messages we want them to have?  And, if not, how can we balance out what they see with what we believe is important?  It’s tough because we are a nation, as Schor described, consumed with having and getting more.

I think I’m going to give my two weeks notice to my reference group.