“Money Does Not Stay, It Is a Visitor”: Conspicuous Consumption and the Fleeting Riches in Pursuit of Elusive Happiness

Abstract

This article uses archival material from the South African reality television show “I blew it” to explore the notion of happiness and consumption as it relates to township masculinities in the South African context. The program follows the lives of people who inherited fortunes from their deceased parents, got compensated by government for being involved in a road accident, or played lottery and won millions of Rand. Most of the beneficiaries blew their money becoming poor again. The experiences of these people are usually framed within the framework of conspicuous consumption born out of the need to announce one’s newly found status as the big man signified by, in most instances, having a lot of money, dating different women, and participating in rituals such as “ostentatious consumption.”