What Is It About the Mall?

After doing the readings and being at the mall, I experienced something I never have before. I felt extremely overwhelmed and it completely threw me off because the mall is somewhere I have always felt comfortable. Girls love to shop and spend money and I am definitely one of those girls, but after this event I felt there was something wrong with the mall.

Everything about every store invites you in. I noticed that their mission is to get us as close to their doors as possible so they can somehow convince us to come in. I watched as JC Penney gave away free food right in their door and all I think about was why they were doing that. Once they get us right where they want to, they have huge sale signs in bright colors with no other meaning than to get our attention. iI the documentary the Persuaders they talk about how these are simply to get more people to support them so that they can compete in the constant battle to survive in the buisness world. The signs manipulate us into thinking we need the things they are selling. While at the mall I had the sudden feeling that I needed to buy something, even though I came here not needed anything. I think this is because I know that this is what the mall is for, so I somehow think that my being here means I must have something to buy. In a way I felt this weird pressure to buy stuff just to fit in to the mall’s “purpose”. Looking around and seeing the food and people eating made me think that I was hungry even though I had just eaten. All of this made me realize that the mall has a strange effect on people and how they think.

         After reading Jon Pahl's article, I looked at the architecture and how the building was set up I noticed how bland the decorations and walls were that were not part of a store.  I knew this was to further draw attention on the stores and nothing else. He talks about how everything in the mall contributes to how we feel and now I see it too. Whether it is the water, plants, lighting, or sky light, we are influenced by them and they play a key role in controlling what we buy. Pahl explains that amazingly in his article but until I actually stopped and looked around I did not believe him. It was very easy to get turned around because everything kind of looks the same and either gets lost in the numerous people or the signs and advertisements. I found myself asking if they purposely wanted us to get turned around. The way each store functions as a church is that they are all fighting for our loyalty. They will do almost anything to get more people in, and sadly some churches do this too. All they want is more people to increase their income so they can build a bigger building with more features, but what they do not realize is that is a vicious circle they may never escape. With every day the church’s purpose becomes less and less about the kingdom and more about how rich they can get and how many people attend their service. This is not the way things were meant to be, or how churches were supposed to act. Malls were created for the same person, to trap people.