How Stories Shape Your Reality (And Maybe Your Sex Life)

Stories shape our lives. Even in little ways, the things we hear affect how we think, particularly it affects what we think is normal. The pictures show two examples of abnormal, and inaccurate interpretations of sex.
The first is from a subreddit called /r/incels. This stands for involuntary celibate, and the group is supposed to be a hang out for virgins. However, they end up with some toxic beliefs about women, probably because they don't interact with them much. They think that women, even very ugly, or mean, or unintelligent women can always get sex if they want it. Because of this, they see women as privileged, and often lazy or lacking value, because they don't think women have to work hard to have a good life. These guys join a group that demonizes women, because they have bad luck with the ladies, and as a result end up hating us, making them less likely to ever have a successful relationship, and the cycle goes on.
The next picture is of some sex tips from cosmo. Men aren't the only ones who have weird ideas about sex. Sex tips from cosmo are notoriously crappy, but teenagers or young women may not know how unappealing they are to the men they sleep with, so they will use bad sex tips, have bad sex, and when the guy doesn't seem interested anymore, they will seek out more sex tips to become better, perpetuating the cycle.
When men and women have open communication, both from friends and significant others, neither of these problems would come up, but the stories we hear often come from just one side, deepening the divide.

1984 is an Accurate Prediction of Today's Society

George Orwell's novel 1984 is an accurate description of today's society. It is widely known that the government watches us. They can watch through our computer screens even when they are off. Anything that listens is always watching us 24-7 such as Alexa. In fact I could be watched as I type this. Our laptops are like the the screens that Big Brother watches us on. Like the novel no one has actually met Big Brother we do not know what those in the NSA look like. We do not know how often the watch us. The NSA watches for terrorism, but they collect others just in case. This is in case you commit a crime then they will have all your data. This makes sense, but as in 1984 with their corrupt government. It begs the question of how much you trust that the government does exactly what they say they do? 1984 has a dictatorship. In 1984 the characters are brainwashed to love Big Brother, the figure head. Their media is all biased. Our media is all biased as well. The media is all in favor of one political party or the other. AKA...CNN vs FOX. Some people may regard, our countries figurehead, the President how we see 1984's Big Brother.

In the Farrelly Brothers', Dumb and Dumber, Jim Carey plays the character, Lloyd Christmas whose role is entirely driven to end up with his love, Mary Swanson. Christmas shows how every decision he makes is influenced by Love, Acceptance, and a hint of Sex. He travels from Rhode Island to Aspen, Colorado to return Mary's suitcase back to her, hoping she will then fall in love with him. Sigmond Freud's theory of the unconscious mind is applicable here because Lloyd Christmas almost acts as one's unconscious mind himself. Freud explains how one should not necessarily be in touch with their unconscious mind because it is often too frightening or painful. In my opinion, Lloyd is that scary part due to his obsessive behavior for Mary, and also because he is one of the weirdest humans you'll ever meet.

WestWorld: Fantasy Amusement Park

WestWorld is not your normal Disney Land. It is built for the rich and wealthy to have a futuristic playground to live out all of their fantasies and dreams. The park is looked after robotics "hosts" who play in different story lines around the park. Different people in the show come to do things that they cannot do in real life. Different people in the show are driven by things such as sex, love, power and survival. Throughout the show some hosts begin to remember their previous story lines through their subconscious and become more human than the playmakers ever thought and gain abilities that humans have. Overall, this show is a great example of psychoanalytic analysis because of how this show plays with the pleasure vs reality model. The hosts in the show are both driven by their own pleasure as well as repressed by the playmakers controlling their conscious. The humans that come to the park want to express their power in freedom while by acknowledging there repression of the hosts. 

The Sims Playing God.

Celebrating 17 years of playing God has never been so fun! The game has been around since the turn of the 21st century and features an open-world simulation that let's the player explore and create a world they want to exist. Having the power to a Sim's control life, death, wealth, and sexual orientation gives into the inner god-complex we all have deep inside. I never really knew about the game until my dad bought the Playstation 2 version of Sims 2 when I was around 8 or 9 years old. It was very overwhelming to know that I could create a world entirely on my own in which I make the boundaries, create a storyline for the Sims I create and just have the fate of a fictional human in my hands.
But the real question...how much power is too much? How does this free reign give in to this addiction of control?

Victoria's Secret

When looking at the advertising patterns of big lingerie companies like Victoria's Secret, I think its important to see what internal drives of their consumers are being fed off of to sell their products.  Victoria's Secret, most known for selling lingerie and clothing around the world, definitely feeds into the idea of lack and attempts to fill that void.  For women and men, its the possibility of desirability driven by the pleasure principle of sex and power.  Both men and women have sexual desires, and quite possibly sexual fantasies.  VS has tapped into those desires and has created a market of which one can attain that desirability for themselves by buying into their source.  VS is a company which built up its label so much so that it has become its own exclusive little world; we see this with the annual production of their Fashion Show and their desirous Angels.  The lack, as defined by VS, is one's sexuality, and VS's fulfillment of it is high end lingerie which enables a consumer to become apart of a world of complete sexuality and desirability.  To be apart of that world is a privilege as we are lead to believe by VS's many advertising campaigns.  We see, through the above image in particular, a strength that comes from buying into this world.  These women are turned away from us in a formation of confidence and pleasure.  In this instance VS shows us that not only can we attain that fantasy of desirability, but we can also achieve the power that comes with it in our femininity (aimed at the girls here).  Two birds with one stone, VS gives their consumers both sexuality and power.

Peta, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is an organization that works to make the general public aware of crimes or injustices against animals. They advocate for nonviolence towards animals and encourage people to look into trying veganism. The company motto is “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way." In 2016 Peta released a television ad that was intended to make people aware of how cows in slaughterhouses are forced to reproduce through artificial insemination. Throughout the commercial women tell stories that seem to be them discussing their own personal experience with sexual abuse. As you find out towards the end of the commercial they are actually talking about the cruel treatment of cows in slaughterhouses.  A quote from the commercial is “I am you, only different,” essentially saying that the artificial insemination of cows is the same as a women getting raped. While I agree with some of Peta’s agendas about animal abuse, comparing these two topics seems extremely far-fetched and disrespectful towards women. For starters, personally, as human I would take offence to someone comparing to animal.  Secondly, Peta is using another person’s trauma as a way to attended to there own personal agenda. Lastly the commercial does not seem to take an overly serious tone. I could not find this information but the women depicted in this ad seem to be actresses. In all this Peta commercial is dehumanizing and insensitive to women who have actually experienced sexual abuse.

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

BUd Light Superbowl Friendship

Super Bowl is a special time for the marketing and ad industry. Usually, companies compete against each other for a memorable ad that people will walk away from the game thinking about. During the 2017 Super Bowl Bud Light, like many other years in the past had a very memorable ad. Most Super Bowl ads use comedy as a means of communicating with the millions of viewers. This year they used emotions and friendship as a means of manipulating the audience's feelings. In the commercial, it starts with a man giving a toast at a wedding with a Bud Light. As the ad continues the audience learns about the friendship that has developed over the years between the groom and his best friend. Oddly enough every scene contains a Bud Light. Ultimately this pairing of friendship with ad promotion makes for a very memorable ad that is touching. The use of emotions to attach peoples feelings to Bud Light is essentially genius. Another victory for Budlight at the expense of the manipulative viewer.

For my blog post assignment, I chose this Tipalet Cigarettes advertisement. Scrolling through the world-wide web, there is an endless amount of video commercials and still photos which portray women to be vulnerable to men if for example he is wearing a specific colon. In this post we see a similar idea but this woman is seemingly attracted to this man for his choice of cigarette. Pretty pathetic right? I find this RIDICULOUS! This ad makes women look "easy-to-get" which is terrible. From the aesthetics of this advertisement, it looks as though it was distributed in the 1970's possibly, a time that is clearly different from today. The large bold sentence, "Blow in her face and she'll follow you anywhere," is a clear assumption that if a women smells your Tipalet Cigarette, she will grow to be attracted to you and desire to have sex with you. 

Mr.Clean or Mr.Perfect

This Mr. Clean ad used a tactic that has been used many times before,
sexiness. In this ad Mr. Clean is a fictional figure on the side of the cleaning bottle, who was brought to life for the purpose of the ad. The ad featured a hyper sexualized version of Mr. Clean who was shown dirty dancing in a all white tight fit outfit while cleaning the house. While cleaning the woman was getting hot and bothered. At the end of the ad Mr. Clean says “Sarah” which brings her back to her senses only to realize she was imagining Mr. Clean and it was in fact her boyfriend. The male character then asks “clean enough?” followed by Sarah
running to him for the big make out scene. The end of the ad showcases writing stating “you gotta love a man who cleans.” I thought this ad genre has been played out. The sexy theme has been overused, and as it is attention grabbing. I also find it strange that these types of hyper secualized ads always showcase the real person as a little over weight and not as good looking as the imaginary.

Black Love: The showings of Black and African American love in Film and Televison

When I was younger, I will admit a good majority of "black love' that I was exposed to was very minimal and I would not say that it was discouraging at the time but I would always wonder, "Why don't I see two characters that look like me and who love each other as much as my parents do?".  In popular media's history, black people have been seen as primitive, barbaric, dumb, lazy, submissive and most importantly, not being able to fall in love "properly". It is not until recently we begin to see black love being showcased from the late 70s to present. Such couples include Whitley Gilmore and Dwayne Wayne in A Different World, Carmen and Joe in Carmen Jones, Quincy and Monica in Love & Basketball, Darius and Nina in Love Jones, Martin And Gina in Martin, Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv in Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and I could go on but that would be a long blogpost. These particular couples showed that it is possible for Black and African American people that "Black Love" can be compassionate, supportive, strong and stable. 

- Isaro I. Murenzi

Stereotypes of Pageants- Feminist Analysis

Have you ever watched the movie, Miss Congeniality starring Sandra Bullock? The movie is most well- known amongst pageant girls or those who enjoy watching shows such as Miss USA and the Miss Universe pageants. Many people may also watch reality television shows such as, Toddlers and Tiaras. Though, what you may perceive in this show is not what pageants are really like. From personal experience, I have met other women who have are kind-hearted and true. In today's society, many think that the women who partake in pageantry are big-headed and superior and are chosen to reign for a year because of their physical beauty. However, this is not the case. Pageantry revolves around the ideal of being able to feel confidently beautiful in your own skin. It is very important that women are able to go through their life and not question their self-worth and place in society because of the repression against all women. In acknowledgement of certain portions of the competition; walking around in a bathing suit- this portion, however, is not about how thin they may be. This is about showing the public and the judges that you are confident even when wearing a two- piece and having fun! This portion of the competition also shows how goal-oriented you are in living a healthy lifestyle. Pageantry also dedicates a platform for women who want to make a difference in the world. This gives us the opportunity to represent ourselves, our gender, our ethnicity, and the values we believe in. Becoming a titleholder means becoming a leader for movements that we are most passionate about.

PSA: Don't Die Dumbly

Over two years ago, I watched a video on YouTube where some people were reacting to dumb ways to die.  This animated video sang about multiple dumb ways to die through cute-round cartoons.  As I was watching it, I thought it was associated with Happy Tree Friends.  Then, at the end, I understand this was a public service announcement for the metros in Melbourne, Australia.  After watching it again, they hint that through the last set of dumb deaths involving trains and vehicles.  The text made me feel uncomfortable at first, but once when I figured out its intended meaning, I felt somewhat relieved.  There was an actual purpose behind these cartoons singing about death: to reach multiple audiences.  At the same time, what's missing from the announcement is the audience's reaction, yet was that the point?  

Imagine Art

This is a large advertisement that I saw in Chicago. It caught my eye because it says "Imagine Art," it does not actually display any art. The purpose of this advertisement is to get the viewer to use their imagination to think of something they would like to see. Instead of displaying art that a viewer might glance over and not pay any attention to, they are instilling thought and imagination into the viewer's mind with words. At the bottom is says "Marwen." Marwen is a nonprofit school that offers art education to the under-served youth of Chicago.  At first glance, a viewer might feel uninterested and not concerned with it at all. But when you learn what Marwen is, you might feel a little tug on your heartstrings thinking about all the youth that are able to get free education in art. Viewers think of art that they might like to see, but then they think of the art that the kids are creating. Perhaps if there was a work of art there instead, no one would care about the artist. But with these words, the viewer is incited to think deeper about art and the people creating it.

Rhetorical Analysis: Labels Against Women Pantene Commercial

This Ad breaks down the double standards men and women face in the workforce.  It's clear that the message is about equality and the music and the subtle words help demonstrate stereotypes. The written words deliver the message of the entire commercial and without the words we would be getting a completely different message. The colors in this video also make you think about the symbolism of the message of each segment. For example, at the end of the video the women is wearing a yellow dress and the man a yellow tie. The color yellow is a symbol of confidence and self worthiness which is leading you to think about moving forward and overall thinking differently. Women are seen as bossy when taking initiative and responsibility but men are seen as "the boss" when they act and do the same exact thing. At the end it says, "Don't Let Labels Hold you Back, Stand out and Shine. This commercial is not feminist because it is not passive aggressive or hostile towards men but generally shows the stereotyping that mass media does and the social injustice that is occurring. This video does not set blame to anyone but generally just shows the truth. I think Pantene set a good example of a political and social issue occurring today and starts a fruitful discussion.

Stereotypes of Shoes-Rhetorical Analysis

Have you ever bought shoes based on the name of the product? Everyday guys like me spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars of basketball shoes but people do not realize how that all the shoes are made up of the same product despite the logo. Just to see the differences in logos from Under Armor to Champion to Fubu to Nike to Jordan. The process of making the shoes they all are the same product and materials. But people will drop 150-250 dollars on shoes because the name on the shoe is nike or Jordan but if it was something like champion or reebok it be sold for 50 dollars. The rhetorical analysis is that people are all standardized by what brand people were compared to what the product actually brings to you as a person. For example when I worked in a shoe department I noticed no different in a pair of shoes being sold from Shaq's brand to Lebrons brand which is all name rather than what the product actually is.

Like A Girl: A Rhetorical Analysis

There was an advertisement that came out about two years ago by the feminine product company Always. The advertisement was called "Like A Girl" and it was played during the Superbowl and from there it became very popular. The video shows adult males and females asked to run, throw, and fight like a girl. These adults acted out the stereotypical actions that our culture has made for the phrase "Like A Girl." Then they brought in young girls and asked them to act out the same actions that they asked the adults. The little girls performed these actions true to themselves and not the stereotypes. In the end of the video the producer asks the adults why they did what they did and they all said something along the lines of our culture writing guidelines for how girls act. This advertisement really makes you feel empowered by the end and at the same time embarrassed by our culture for allowing these "guidelines" for girls to exist. The text explicitly says "make #likeagirl mean amazing things" and implicitly says that we shouldn't have these stereotypes for how girls act, but instead we should be cheering on those girls who are running, throwing, and fighting like a girl because they are girls. I love this advertisement and I think it's really cool that a feminine product company put it out to the world because as women myself it makes me feel proud of the fact that I am a girl and I can do everything that man can.

Bud Light's 'Up For Whatever' Campaign

In 2015 Bud Light put out an advertisement that said that to ‘remove no from your vocabulary.’ This is found on the labels of their beers and is part of there ‘up for whatever’ campaign. Anheuser-Busch said that the advertisement was meant to be a fun way of promoting their 'Up For Whatever' campaign. They meant for it to promote young drinkers to try new things. However, this is not how this was received. This advertisement promotes binge drinking and rape culture. No should always mean no. No should not mean go for it especially when drinking is involved. Drinking can lead to dangerous behavior such as rape or drinking and driving. Anheuser-Busch is a very wealthy international company. They should have more than enough resources to ensure that their message comes across as what they mean it to. Anheuser-Busch has more than enough money and power to hire a marketing department and research all their endeavors thoroughly. They should have done focus groups to determine how the public should react to this. The strategy the marketers were going for was having fun, however what they turned out was promotion of dangerous behavior. Bud Light did apologize for this advertisement and say that they missed the mark, however for a company with that much power the promotion of binge drinking and rape is unacceptable.

Let's Taco-bout Taco memes!

These are tacos. These are lies. These are the weird ways we separate "us" from "them", because people love to have teams. What makes a taco a taco instead of a lie? Does having grilled chunks of meat make it a taco, where ground beef does not? Do fresh herb garnishes have more value than pickled jalapeno and shredded lettuce? There are several reasons why someone might make this post. Maybe the poster is a foodie, and believes that fast food like versions of tacos are not worth consuming. Maybe the poster simply prefers soft tacos over hard shell tacos. Maybe the poster is making an ad for their restaurant that sells tacos, tacos that look like the ones on top and their use of humor is eye catching enough to make us read the ad better. Perhaps the poster feels attacked or invalidated by mainstream tacos like the ones below, and made this meme to promote what they see as the "right" tacos. Maybe the poster is latino or latina and is upset about mexican culture being appropriated and americanized by white people, with authentic tacos representing their culture, and the inauthentic tacos representing our bastardization of it.
We have no idea why the poster dislikes crunchy tacos so much, but it's clear their goal is to separate the good taco lovers from the bad, to make teams. To make us want to eat "good" tacos. We might go along with it, even if we like all tacos, because we all want to be on the right team. Maybe this meme will convince us to join the side of real tacos, in order to feel accepted by this crunchy taco hating group. Or maybe it will just make me hungry.

Selling Progressiveness

For my Advertising Theory and Practice class, I had to analyze the third quarter commercials for the Super Bowl. One ad that really stuck out to me as powerful was Audi's "Daughter" commercial as a part of their #DriveProgress campaign. When taking a closer look at the commercial after our class discussion about rhetorical analysis I realized that Audi was employing an associational cluster. By producing a commercial in which the message came from a father worried about how he would explain to his daughter gender inequality, Audi then associated their brand with being "progressive." The implicit suggestion then could be that by owning an Audi car you will be seen as forward thinking like the company. For someone who might not know much about cars, they could be swayed by the message that Audi presented during one of the biggest television events of the year.

The ad was met with some pushback from people, in my opinion most of the comments on the video were just flat out ridiculous, but at the end of the day Audi was being talked about and the ad was memorable so I think the company achieved its goal.

Coors Light Ads

Its always interesting to me to see how advertising becomes so very contextual when it is reaching out to specific audiences.  A company showing their product tries to associate itself with another image/activity/concept so as to persuade a certain group of people to be drawn into what they have to offer.  I think it works really well in this instance - Coors, a Colorado beer, is trying to connect and create nostalgia with its fellow Coloradans, in particular, but also to beer drinkers nationwide.  The image of the white capped peaks, an image known widespread throughout the US to represent Colorado, is meant to stand out as this adventurous and beautiful place that the audience can recognize as home or as a desirous place to be.  The image of the cool and crisp beer is meant to show the audience that this product coincides with those mental images that the mountains evoke, and those who admire adventure and beauty will enjoy this refreshing beer because it was brewed right here in beautiful Colorado.  Consumers from Colorado will appreciate the fact that they are supporting a local brand, and out of state consumers will get a taste of Colorado in every sip.

Coors played up the correlation of Colorado and their product very successfully so as to persuade their audience that their product offers something special and unique.