AHA! Blog Post 5

In Wag the Dog, there was one part that stuck with me.  Someone mentioned how we don't remember what happened in wars, or even who it was between, but we remember the images that are associated with the wars.  I thought this was a perfect example to explain how powerful visuals are.  They stick with us.  For some reason, our brains can forget words, names, or events, but images are so incredibly memorable.  

http://thooghun.hubpages.com/hub/Touching-War-Photography

http://www.itsallabouttheflag.us/famous.htm

http://brainz.org/10-war-photographs-changed-world-forever/

 

 http://brainz.org/10-war-photographs-changed-world-forever/

Visual Symbols in My Life pt. 2

I am surprised by how little I noticed before this class.  I never read into the advertisement or pictures that were presented to me.  I never understood how font can cause an emotional response.  I never understood the technique behind visuals. In my last post I pointed out some visuals that I see often such as visuals on clothing.  The difference between now and then, is that I understand so much more about how multiple companies, movie producers, advertisers, etc.  that use symbols. I found interesting that people who develop movies use technique to present each scene.  I never thought about the fact that the camera angle can have a hidden meaning.  All of the movies we watched were great examples of using visuals to cause a response that was more than what meets the eye.Overall, I think I am just more aware of how using visuals can be effective.  I also understand they can do bad, such as degrading women.  As a future teacher,  I think it's important to know what visuals can do.  I never thought learning could be done through visuals, but it defiantly can and it happens without knowing.  I now will include reading visuals in my classroom as a way of learning and a way of showing my students what visuals can do.  You can learn through pictures and movies and really any source of visuals and I think this is important to be aware of.

 http://womenandcrime.wikispaces.com/Advertising+Images

Women are shown as less than men, weak, and stupid in a lot of advertisements.  Being aware of the misinterpretation of advertisement can help you get rid of your stereotypes and thoughts about a certain group of people.

 http://8330bhsdirector.blogspot.com/2010/04/camera-angles_15.html

This camera angle can make the characters look strong and intimidating and the person they are looking at weak and scared.  Camera angle is important in making and emotion response from the audience and giving the characters qualities. 

 

 http://www.serviceanimal.org/?image6

I thought the movie "Wag the Dog"  gave a great example of how we are so influenced by what we see.  They made up a whole story about a war that was never happening.  They created visuals that made the appearance of having a war, and it worked.  The country was completely convinced despite the fact that it was all made up. 

Great Movie Scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQlzz6jGCfI

Above is a link to my favorite movie scenes from The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith.  It's a scene where he's talking to his son about how you should not let others tell you you can't do something.  He tells his son he's not going to be a good basketball player, and the little boy throws the ball away and looks crushed.  He goes on to tell me that he shouldn't let him tell him what he can and can't do.  I like the scene because I like sappy emotional scenes in movies, and I also like that the scene is very simple, yet it's very powerful. 

 

 http://careerilove.com/career-changing-movies/

Killing Us Softly

• Does the beauty ideal still tyrannize women?

Yes.  Women still want to look the way they think they should.  Women still get breast implants, and plastic surgery.  The most famous people on television are “beautiful.”  They have a certain image.  Girls like Kim Kardashian are idolized by girls because she’s very skinny and pretty.  She is just one of many girls who people look at in the media simply because of how she looks.  The race of the person, however, does not seem to be as relevant as before.  We are seeing a lot of different races in modeling, which is a positive step forward. 

• Does advertising still objectify women's bodies?

Yes.  Even though this video is not recent, the point of the video still remains relevant.  There are still attitudes that women and girls have to look flawless.  Computers still alter faces and bodies to look how the advertiser wants them to look.  I do think that this may not be as apparent.  I think we see different body types and races in our ads. 

• Are the twin themes of liberation and weight control still linked?

Yes.  I see advertising for weight loss all the time where the women and even the men have bodies that almost no one could achieve with a normal diet and exercise.  They portray it as if it’s very simple to achieve these bodies and that we can do it easily with their product. 

• Is sexuality still presented as a women's main concern?

I believe that sexuality and beauty are intertwined in the media.  If you are beautiful, you are a sexual being.  This is still presented this way in many ads we see.  Women look unnatural and are still put in seductive positions when modeling for advertisement. 

• Are young girls still sexualized?

Yes. I can think of a lot of movies where a guy of any shape size or color, had a crush on a very good looking girl.  Movies like Transformers,  Superbad,  and many others have only average looking guys fall for very good looking girls (or that’s how it’s portrayed)  It gives the message that guys can look average and girls always have to look good.  

http://www.amazon.com/Superbad-Two-Disc-Unrated-Extended-Edition/dp/B000WZEZHC

• Are grown women infantilized?

Yes.  Women seem to look young in almost all advertising.  Women have surgeries to look as young as possible.  We see young women more than anything in advertising.  A lot of the time, the girls we see in magazines such as People, are young girls. 

• Are images of male violence against women still used to sell products?

I do not see violence as a main theme in advertising, but men and women still have some qualities that were in older advertising.  Men are portrayed as strong, and women as weaker.  Although, I think this has gotten better and better over the years.  Women are no longer expected to stay home and be house wives while men go out and work.  There is defiantly a more balanced role in relationships though. However, we do see some violent ads once in awhile still such as in Dolce and Gabbana ads such as the one below.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/fashion/designers-pull-rape-ad/2007/03/07/1173166745075.html

• Do any of the problems listed above also apply to men?

I think it’s rare that these problems apply to men, although I do not think it never happens.  When I think of men in advertising, I think of strong men, athletic men, and powerful men.  Abercrombie models still have the masculine features I’ve saw since I was little, along with other brands that use this to see to only a certain group of people.