Happily Ever After?:
Selling a Consumerist Fairy Tale
Under the Guise of Self-fulfillment
Jackie Annon, MA
Professional Communication
Specialization in Intercultural and
International Communication
Definition of a Fairy Tale
• A story, usually for
children, about elves,
hobgoblins, dragons,
fairies, or other magical
creatures
• After a few trials,
protagonist usually gets
what she/he wants and
lives happily ever after
2
What is Priv-Lit?
• Literature for the privileged
• But targeted to people of
all socio-economic classes
• Preys on readers’
unhappiness
• Marketed as inspirational,
but really about
consumerism
• E.g., “Eat, Pray, Love,” by
Elizabeth Gilbert
3
Eat, Pray, Love
• Miserable with comfortable,
middle-class life
• Thirty-something Gilbert
took year off to travel and
“find” herself
• Left her husband, apartment
in Manhattan, country house
outside NY, lucrative travel
writing career
• Went to Italy for pleasure,
India for devotion and
Indonesia for balance
• All with an author’s advance
4
Book Becomes Sensation
• New York Times
Paperback Nonfiction
Bestseller for over 200
weeks
• Over 10 million copies in
print since 2006
• Movie starring Academy
Award winners, Julia
Roberts and Javier
Bardem, in 2010
5
Study Goal
• To critically analyse
the phenomenon of
priv-lit
• Do women think
these books are
primarily about
enlightenment and
finding oneself?
6
Spiritual Consumerism
• Oprah encourages her
viewers to “Live Your Best
Life”
• Her best is rooted in
consumerism
• E.g., one of her most
popular shows is “Oprah’s
Favourite Things”
• Gives her audience
expensive gifts…and they
lose their minds
• Clip courtesy of VW on
their YouTube channel
7
Method
• Collected data from
amazon.ca, an online
bookseller
• Read book reviews
posted by women
who read “Eat, Pray,
Love” over a threeyear period, from
2007 – 2010
8
Results
• Two rating
mechanisms on
amazon.ca: a rating
out of five and then a
section for comments.
9
Results
• Taking the top two
ratings together
reveals a positive
result
• 24 out of 40
compared to the
bottom two, 14 out of
40
16
14
12
10
8
Rating
6
4
2
0
1
2
3
4
5
10
Positive Comment
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Transcendental
Experience..., Sep 29 2010
– By Machushka (Canada)
This memoir is an amazing
journey trough Gilbert's mind
and soul that touches you
deeply and inspires you to go
on your own soul-searching
quest troughout (sic) the
world.
11
Negative Comment
1.0 out of 5 stars
Self-indulgent pulp for the
affluent and self-absorbed,
Jan 10 2010
– By Debbie Strong
I looked forward to reading this book but
couldn't get through "Eat", let alone "Pray"
and "Love". I tossed it aside in disgust. I
vehemently disliked the protagonist and
couldn't care one whit about her selfindulgent journey. The message I got from
the pages I managed to read was "when
times get tough, take a year off, travel the
world and focus only on your self", as
though the average person has that kind of
luxury or would really even want to do that.
12
Discussion
• None of the women
disclosed their economic
statuses
• However, it seemed most
identified closely with Gilbert
and her “struggle” to attain
fulfillment
• Positive words used
consistently: inspiring,
transcendental, authentic,
and courage or brave.
13
Conclusion
• Study was not definitive
about whether or not
some women were
embracing the
consumerist fairytale to
find themselves and,
consequently, happiness
• Researcher would need
to conduct interviews with
subjects one-on-one or in
a group setting to get a
better understanding
14
Conclusion
• Priv-lit will continue to
thrive as long as there is
consumerism
• E.g., newest members of
the privileged, travelmemoir club are twentysomething, New Yorkers
Jennifer Baggett, Holly C.
Corbett, and Amanda
Pressner
• Wrote “The Lost Girls”
about year-long experience
travelling the world
15
Group Activity
1. How do you define
happiness?
2. What do you do for
yourself to feel
fulfilled?
3. Do you believe that
money can buy
happiness? Please
explain.
16
Questions
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