About half way through the movie Eat, Pray, Love, my husband said, “Have you noticed all the different outfits she’s had on so far?”
The “she” was Julia Roberts, who appeared in an unlimited supply of caftans, casually wonderful skirts, tops, little dresses, necklaces and more. Not only that, but you, too, can have your own dresses, beads, candles and more by Susie Wong.
As Vanessa Friedman said in a Financial Times column, the movie crew took a surprisingly worldly approach to marketing. “Who knew there was so much ‘stuff’ in spiritualism?”
Rather than taking a minimalist’s spiritual journey, the movie maker (Sony) has actually licensed the Eat, Pray, Love logo to brands of fashions. The ads promote the idea of channeling your wanderlust with pieces that evoke dreams of a far-off place.
Will buying the fashions make you want to book a trip to Bali, or Rome?
But wait, there’s more. The book’s writer is all about NOT buying stuff but rather finding answers within oneself. If you follow author Elizabeth Gilbert’s example, you’ll find yourself in less of a consumer mind, not more. The REAL Gilbert’s efforts were to escape the tyranny of her urban existence, after finding herself unhappily married and suffering a sort of early mid-life crisis.
But marketing now includes US cosmetics manufacturer Fresh with perfumes from the film’s location that promise to “transport you to a specific destination.” You can have the smell of a Tuscan pasta restaurant and so on. Will that be basil or lemon, ma’am?
A jewelry manufacturer will connect the movie to the self with a line of prayer necklaces, each containing reminders, of course, to “live in love and gratitude” (translation: give me $150 for the beads and I will love you forever”).
Travel? Take an Eat, Pray, Love trip to fulfill all your spiritual desires. Just $20,000!
Can Gilbert’s experience work for me? Probably not.
Think Disney here. I’m all about reality at this age. I knew a long time ago that having a princess costume on doesn’t make me a princess. And my boys only tried flying with a Batman cape on a couple of times before realizing sofa cushions were a good idea.
Me? If I want to look like Julia Roberts in the movie and wear caftans, beach-inspired tops and “little” dresses, I’ll just go to Goodwill and sooner or later something will turn up in that look.
Reality, however, says I can’t really carry off the Julia Roberts look without shedding a few (several? Many?) pounds.
That takes the fun out of the Eat part of the story. And since I can’t afford a trip to India and Bali, well, maybe I’ll just skip the pray and love parts as well. Even the real Elizabeth Gilbert was all about making life easier, not harder.
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