Critical Thinking

As a child, one of my favorite movies growing up was Catwoman with Halle Berry. After watching Miss Representation, I can tell that this movie is another victim of the objectification of women in the media. In the movie Catwoman, there are some very independent and powerful women but also most of the women were existing in order to please a man or the male- dominated society. For instance, the main antagonist has a beauty cream that is supposed to make people, more specifically women, look more youthful. It’s often catered to women in the movie in way that is expected to please men, this is just evidence of stereotypes being imposed onto women in the media. Not to mention Catwoman, Halle Berry, wears little to no tight clothes and when fighting has very sexual movements. This is to appeal to one large demographic, men. There is no independent woman that fights men and looks good doing it, there is simple a scantily clad women who goes around purring. After rewatching this movie, I can

This has been an issue in Western and especially American media for years, the whitewashing of roles in movies and tv. There are so many actors of color who are robbed of their chance to showcase their talent due to whitewashing and also the status of an actor. For instance, the  movie, The Great Wall, set in ancient China, has a main character of Matt Damon, who is of European descent and identifies as white. Matt Damon is the hero in the movie that helps the Chinese people fight off lizard-alien invaders. This role could of easily, and would have made a lot more sense, if it was given to a person of Chinese decent. There are plenty of Chinese-American actors or actresses that could have filled this role and executed it. But this is just simply another show that American media is being whitewashed, a country with so many different cultures and ethnicities should have movies and actors that represent that, whilst also being successful.

Recently, I was watching a YouTube video on the American beauty community and how the biggest influencers have brand deals that wouldn't be seen by the average viewer. It got me thinking about how an influencer is essentially a vessel for big companies to advertise with. Beauty influencers usually appeal to the younger crowd and can advertise to their audience. For instance, in the back of the video there may be a certain product that is placed just in the view. Or, there is a whole video that reviews a palette, or lip product, that is raved about. These are all instances of advertisement, whatever influencer a person watches, they all do it. Its essentially product placement, like how someone would do in movies. It's crazy how in tv and movies people can always notice product placement, but not on YouTube were people preach to be more genuine and appeal to a more ordinary demographic of people.

TikTok, the main reason for my homework never getting done in a timely manner. I love TikTok just like everyone else, but have never considered the amount of ads on the app that are constantly trying to sell me something. These ads are usually marketed to the right demographic too. Most people on TikTok are young ranging from early teens to mid thirties. Most of theses ads are down by celebrities and major influencers on the app. Just today I saw one for Spotify with a music artist named Yung Gravy. This artist blew up on TikTok with his song and now he’s in a Spotify ad promoting himself and the company. Overall, I would have to say that the advertising on TikTok is perfectly targeted to the audience which is mostly teenagers.

As I was watching TV, not doing the work I should've been doing, I found myself watching an All-State commercial. In watching it I noticed a few things. One, that the person working for All-State was more like a friend to the person in need, rather than a professional relationship. Two, the narrator was a sort of father-figure in a way not only guiding the commercial, but also guiding the person in need. And three, the commercial ended with their slogan,"You're in good hands". This to me was a clear representation of love marks in advertising. Love marks are about telling the consumer what they want to hear. All-State does this perfectly. Who doesn't want reassurance form an older, fatherly black man that everything is going to be ok. Or from an insurance agent who knows that the leak in your roof is going to cost you an arm and a leg, but hey it's All-State so you'll be fine. This type of advertising builds a relationship between consumers and the company

After recently getting DisneyPlus, I started watching The Simpsons since the app has all of the episodes. Though when I did, I noticed lots of product placement for old and new products. It's fascinating to me how even in cartoons companies are able to sell their product. I believe it shows how advertising has had a massive effect on our culture today, and has also become part of our culture in a way. I also saw the way the characters interacted with the product. For most of the products, one character had the product, while the other was willing to do anything to get it. This puts an emphasize on the product, making consumers feel that they have to try it. For instance, there was a Butterfinger ad and it started with Bart teasing his siblings with it. In doing so he describes how great the product is and the ad ends with the classic line:"Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger". This not only left the siblings want the product, but also shows the importance, the n