The Praise of Molly

     If I've obtained anything this semester, it has been a whole new point of view on the media and how manipulative the industry is. My whole life I've been consuming, from T.V. to radio, newspapers and now the digital plane. Now, I can really see through their obscure messages and underlying control, and analyze how I have been completely influenced! Today, I spend way to much time on my phone, mostly Snapchat and just texting in general. This addiction has effected my focus, and changed even my relationships due to the power of suggestion held over my head by social media. You can always keep tabs on people, but is it always a good idea to constantly know when people are ignoring you on purpose or doing regrettable things? It's similar to a discussion on superpowers, you want something that will allow you to have an edge, many people like invisibility due to the possibilities, malicious or other wise. They could eavesdrop, steal, play pranks, but people cannot s...

     Why do women who kick ass have to be clad in scandalous clothing? It's always great to have a new heroine that isn't in search of a man (but still somehow ends up with one...), but why do they have to wear a bikini and skin tight clothes into battle? Even when block-busters like Wonder Woman inspire young girls and women, there is still glaring stereotypes. Tell me why an all powerful woman warrior falls in love with a sub-par soldier, and why, as she marches though "no man's land", has underwear and a corset on? It's great to see she's "no man," but at the same time she has been constructed to appeal to the male audience. For what reason? All in an attempt to gross more and more money from as many people as possible. It's hard to see if there is any solution to our woes, as no matter how hard we try the clutches of capital driven studios. Should we sacrifice our dignity to whip up role models for young girls, or should we cast these a...

Link to advert at the bottom      Sadly, our favorite Swedish brand has fallen to the clutches of sexism, and it's a lesson to us all how easily our societal view of women seems to resort to a second class citizen. In the advert from China, the mom is displeased with her daughter, until she suddenly brings home a boy friend! The whole basis of their ad is that life for a woman is only easy and complete with a man by her side. Not only is this stereotype present, but the stereotype of a mom being nitpicky and annoying is also included. This isn't the first time that I’ve seen  a woman’s existence portrayed as dependent on a male counterpart. The sad thing about seeing ads like this is that we are not only exposing the bias against women, but are exploding it further by spreading imagery like this around to not only adults but also the youth- the most influenceable and important group in our society. If we want to eventually live in a world where indepe...

     Last summer, Audi released an ad in China for their cars. The point seemed to be that the fine details of their cars would be accepted by any particular person, but they sadly missed the mark by comparing a human woman with a car . This advert is an amazingly obvious example of the prevalence of objectification in the media, and how it can so easily spill into our daily lives, and even precious moments. The ad displays the classic archetype of the over analytical mother-in-law, and how much of a nuisance she can be. It also portrays a very old-fashioned idea of marriage as ownership by the husband in order to continue a controlling patriarchal dominance. What is most shocking of all though, is how this reflects real life, or actually how real life reflects the media.      Our entire identity is based off of what we consume, and the all powerful ruler of what we absorb is the media. Advertisements have so much influence on what we like, di...

Entrance to the Aokigahara Forest      Recently, YouTuber Logan Paul uploaded an insensitive vlog exploiting a man who had hung himself in Japan's Aokigahara forest. His friends and him are in shock, and instead of using the off button, they continue to gawk at the sight and share snickers because for some reason respect is not a trait they are familiar with. Even after filming this and editing the video, he didn't seem to ever think posting the video was a bad idea. The video reached the top of the trending charts on YouTube before it was taken down, and an army of pre-pubecent teens had seen the graphic imagery and the horrid reaction of the vloggers. Paul's reaction to what he found has been seen as disgusting by all (and it is), but is it all that abnormal?     In the film, Merchants of Cool , they cover the whole premise of the "mook." This obnoxious, insensitive character has been perpetuated for decades by the media, creating endless enter...