Advertisement: The Financial Backbone Of Our Country

In today's society advertisement is seen almost everywhere, its become almost impossible to avoid.  Ads can be found on television, on the radio, all over the internet, and almost on any "App" you can download on your cell phone or computer.  Unless your a alien or living in a 3rd world country you have some contact with these devices daily and while many people argue that they are unaffected by the powers of advertisement they are greatly mistaken. Ads have become a part of everyday American life, and there is no escaping them.

Television has the sneakiest form of advertisement, not only are ads found during commercial breaks, they are all throughout today's programming. Modern advances in technology allow people to fast forward through commercials, so now they are putting the ads in the actual programs.  In a recent 90210 episode, Austin is shown getting State Farm Insurance because his ex broke into his house, he talks about how easy it is to sign up and makes it seem like everyone with valuable belongings in their home should get it as well. While this is a very blunt in your face form of advertisement found in programming there are much more subtle examples.  One example would be when a character in a television show is wearing a name brand designer with a specific logo, or drinks a name brand beverage where the logo is facing the camera.  These forms of advertisement are seen all throughout television, and unconsciously we notice these ads and think "oh I saw Britney Spears drinking Pepsi, maybe I should go get a Pepsi".  

Advertisement has many negative and positive feedback from consumers, but without ads the American economy would crumble. After WWII, television was made as a "advertising medium" so that the government could encourage citizens to spend money again to get the economy back on its feet.  They would put ads in working class family shows; showing them in almost real life situations buying new products that was essential to keep up with the times, hoping this would cause viewers to go out and do the same. This method of advertising is still being used today, for instance the 90210 example above.  Ads purpose is to sell you more than just a item its to sell you a state of mind, which is to spend, spend, spend!!  This idea/state of mind has actually become a main part of American society; "buy the bigger, newer, shinier thing".  This spending is what keeps our economy thriving so they must sneak it into our lives by any means they can.  Ads make you believe that what you have is old and outdated and that you should buy this "new" product or else you'd be out of fashion. Many people might disagree saying "What I have is completely fine and there is no need to change to something new just because I'm told its outdated" but what these people do not understand is that these ads are promoting the flow of currency and without this flow  many large corporations would crumble, leaving many people jobless.  

America, The Melting Pot?

America, "the melting pot", or so it was once called but this melting pot has become predominantly Caucasian, especially in media representation.  Today on television there are very few television shows that have a predominant ethnic cast, and the few that are, appear to be comedies in which the cast are portraying stereotypes of their own race.

We once had great shows like "The Jeffersons", "Good Times", "In Living Color", "Martin" and many more popular television shows with a predominant African American cast but over the years these shows have fallen off of the air.  Tyler Perry has produced House of Payne, and Meet the Browns over the last few years in which the cast appears to be a all African American family, but the cast is portrayed as goofy, irrational, obese and stupid.  This portrayal of African Americans makes these shows extremely hard to relate to.  No one is ever truly successful, and  they all appear to be struggling to achieve some end; is this how society views African Americans?! Are African Americans a race of goofy irrational people who are struggling to make it?  This is a total misinterpretation of our race, Maryland alone has the wealthiest African Americans in the country.  Most African American families no longer have the entire family tree living under one roof, or have tacky outdated "hand me down" wardrobes.   The face of African American families has changed and with it, how we are represented on television should change as well.

There also seem to be few to no shows on television featuring a predominant Asian American cast, or Hispanic American cast on any major networks. But this misrepresentation of minorities on television does not just end at race; women, homosexuals, and handicap individuals are either not seen on television or portrayed to be over- dramatic representation of themselves. With America being a melting pot shouldn't this be represented in our media without racial stigma's or stereotypes?









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Aging Women Still Have It..

It was once said that 35 was retiring age for women in the film industry, after turning 35 women are more likely to be cast as evil, vindictive, or homely types. In an article I read called "The Ageing Dilemna", Melissa Silverstein talks about how women are forced to play roles that make them older than they actually are even when their male counterparts are still older than them.  It is after 35 that women began to lose romantic, and seductive roles, or so it was until recently.  Women over 35 have been appearing in more and more movies playing romantic, seductive roles that were once taboo for a older women.  Some films even show older women with younger men which vice versa is a Hollywood norm but in general is pretty rare to be seen on film.  In "The Proposal" (2009), Sandra Bullock plays a Canadian immigrant who runs a publishing company.  Sandra starts off as an evil vindictive boss to Ryan Reynolds, her secretary, until she finds out that her Visa has run out and the only means of staying in her current position at her job and in the country is to marry him. As they stage their fake wedding, the two characters fall in love with each other. When the film was being made Sandra was already 45 and Ryan was only 33. She was 12 years his elder which is quite noticeable when looking at the two.   However Sandra still was able to pull off romantic chemistry with a younger man which on film is very rare to see. Another example of a woman playing a romantic role with a younger man is "Water For Elephants"(2011) with Reese Witherspoon, and Robert Pattinson. In this film Robert plays a student in veterinary school who drops out to join the circus. Once in the circus he falls for Reese who is the circus owner's wife, who ultimately ended up leaving her husband to be with him. Reese Witherspoon is 35 years old, which is on the borderline of sexy, and homely, for Hollywood films but her costar Robert is only 25.  Reese is 10 years his senior yet on screen they still have romantic chemistry. These are just two examples of dominant female leads in the film industry proving to the industry that they have not yet lost it, but there are many more examples. This sexist idea of men getting better with age, and women turning into old hags needs to end!

http://womenandhollywood.com/2009/04/13/the-aging-dilemma/