Buying Image

I have a friend who buys the finest liquors to stock his apartment, yet he doesn't drink them. He bought an Armani suit, yet he can't find the occasion to wear it. He bought a 10 foot beer pong table for a part he never threw. And he buys dinner for "friends" he doesn't really care for. I asked him why he buys these things. I said "so you have a taste for fine whiskey? I can't tolerate the stuff." He replied "No, not particularly-- but this is what CEOs drink."

I have been fascinated with my friend with my friend for the past few years. We have always had a good rapport, but I've realized that this is all have. My friend is a good conversationalist only because his talent is maintaining an impeccable public image. Why else would he buy expensive items he doesn't use? Each item he buys carefully crafts his public self, piece by piece. I'd love to hate him for this. How could you be friends with someone so phony, someone without a real personality. Then I spoke to him about how I felt, and I discovered that he is as conscious of his public self as I am critical of it. My friend cannot be blamed for what he does, nor should he be demonized for it. He purchases things in order to achieve a certain image. This idea isn't foreign or weird, it's distinctly American: it's consumerism in a nutshell. We live in a time and place where advertisements for Keep do not sell the automobiel-- they sell adventure. Advertisements for Rolex don't sell watches-- they sell status. Though I've always turned the commercials on mute when I watch television, who could blame anyone for buying into such an attractive fantasy.