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Abstract
This article will examine representations in contemporary British lifestyle television which express ambivalence about the benefits of a work-dominated, consumerist mode of living, and where a quest for alternative pleasures or practices drives the narrative. Rather than focusing on clearly contestatory voices and practices, such as environmental and anti-capitalist campaigns, groups or internet sites, I am looking at ‘mainstream’ media texts driven by commercial imperatives. My purpose here is to argue that ambivalent consumerism can be seen as a cultural continuum, a set of discursive networks which function across a range of differentiated sites, and are not confined to alternative or marginal contexts.
The article explores the nature of these commercially produced and determined representations. How are narratives of ‘downsizing’ and ‘downshifting’, of escaping abroad or to the country, to a better ‘quality of life’ constructed in contemporary television? What is the significance of ‘eco-reality’ programmes where excessive consumption of the earth's resources is directly addressed? And finally: does a phenomenon which clearly implies the construction of a new niche market have any broader political significance and potential?
Notes
1. The project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)/ Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Cultures of Consumption programme.
2. For further discussion of the term ‘mainstream’ see Thomas Citation2002, chapter 4.
3. Relocation, Relocation attracted an audience of 5.41 million on 7 January, 2004; Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB), figures reproduced in BFI Television Handbook 2005, pp. 30–33.
4. See http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=weeklyterrestrial&requesttimeout=500
5. In episode eight of Escape to River Cottage, Hugh and a market-gardening friend take their chilli pepper harvest to London's Borough Market. This urban excursion is confirmed as dystopic when their car is clamped and they lose all the money they have made paying the fine.
6. See www.rivercottage.net
7. Whilst Englishness is mobilized here, in other examples of the ‘heritage cookery’ genre, Frenchness becomes the focus for nostalgic representations of country life and ‘real’ food. Rick Stein's French Odyssey series (BBC2, 2006), and French Leave (Channel 4, 2003–) are examples of this.
8. The term ‘site’ conveys a cross-media cultural space consisting of television, DVDs, cookery books and website, and the fan cultures which surround them.
9. The Guardian also reports that Simon Shaps, Chief Executive of Granada, shares the view that the programme, along with others, may have been the victim of ITV's overall scheduling strategy, and that ITV may have launched too many new shows within a short time frame, see http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1505306,00.html
11. See www.celador.co.uk
12. These domineering female presenters of lifestyle (though not Poyzer herself) have been satirized by the BBC2 comedy programme Deadringers.
13. Whilst the spin-off magazines from A Place in the Sun and from Relocation, Relocation's sister programme Location, Location, Location are mainly concerned with the financial aspects of moving house, magazines such as Country Living and Homes and Gardens share some of the more nostalgic elements discussed here (see Thomas, forthcoming Citation2008a). Also see Wendy Parkins (Citation2004) on the Tuscan literature.
14. Citing figures from the Office for National Statistics, The Independent reported that 190,000 – 5000 more than the previous year and the highest number on record – emigrated in 2003 (Thornton Citation2004, p. 12).