By Adam Curtis. CENTURY OF THE SELF asks the deep questions about the roots and methods of consumerism and representative democracy and the implications of the two. The foundation of this documentary is the idea that public relations and politicians have used the theories of Sigmund Freud to engineer a society of consent. This series is about how those in power have used Freud s theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy.  Studio: Big D Films (2009), Actors: Sigmund Freud, Director: Adam Curtis, English, Disc: 1, Run Time: 240 minutes.