Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Can't Tell the Difference
Do you ever find yourself faced with something where you can't tell if it's brilliant or mind-numbingly stupid? This is how I feel about this video. I'm not sure if it's making a serious social point about that endearing class of women that survive on their physical appearance or if it's glorifying that behavior as a right and privilege of being an attractive woman.
I felt the same way about some of the submissions I read for Persona this semester. Without context, I couldn't tell if the pieces were fabulous or inane drivel. It's amazing how close those two are when operating in satire. There's a fine distinction between the model and the actual object. So what's the reality? Once they start imitating one another, that distinction blurs. Then we get Hyperreality.
Thank you Baudrillard for keeping me from believing that anything actually exists. Thanks a ton. You know what, Baudrillard? YOU don't exist! How do you like that, huh? That's right, you're dead, so there. That makes me the winner by default on account of dead philosopher.
Where's my medal?
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4 comments:
I really hope that it is trying to make a social point. If it is not I think I might lose my last shred of hope for humanity....or at least for American media.
Don't lose all hope just yet. The singer is from Norway, and they're weird over there in Scandinavia. I have very little idea about their media and pop culture and such. But can't you see this coming out of some teenage pop star in America? That's what frightening to me: my complete lack of shock. Horror: yes. Shock: no.
I was going to say things, but then your friends post + your reply covered everything I was going to say. I want to believe it's a social point but find myself failing to find it so and it saddens / disgusts me that I am no longer shocked at all by this kind of material. This video might be an extreme example but I feel that same feeling of "eugh" more each time I am witness to the way attractive people are regarded.
Anonymous-san
Let's take it easy on the beautiful people for a bit. A lot of hard work had to be done by them to be born within the culturally set criteria for physical attractiveness. And they ought to be rewarded accordingly, like being allotted a higher tolerance for being horrible people devoid of any personality or purpose to contribute to the society that values them. It's only fair, you know.
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