One of the first topics we covered in this class was about the perception of beauty and how it impacts people. Much of the conversation centered around the negative impact that media has on women. America's Obsession: A Documentary explores these issues by interviewing both high school and college students on what they thought about beauty.
The reason I chose to highlight this video is because it shows a major demographic that is influenced by the big media and beauty companies and how they feel about the industry and themselves. It is students interviewing students and the personal stories add much depth and emotion to the video. In a book titled Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies by bell hooks, she states that "...even though most folks will say that they go to movies to be entertained, if the truth be told lots of us, myself included, go to movies to learn stuff. Often what we learn is life-transforming in some way." (hooks, p.2) Much time has passed and now films can be made by anyone and be presented in any format. Even with all these changes, the audience can still watch a movie and learn valuable things such as a new perspective on a common issue
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Many controversies caused by the media revolve around women but, filmmakers and activists also want to get the other gender's view on these issues. The video also asks male high school students what they think about beauty and what they look for in a girl. Their answers are honest and they too have things they would like to change about themselves. In a book titled Film Fatales: Independent Female Directors, authors Judith M. Redding and Victoria A. Brownworth talk about "Women Make Movies" which is an organization created by Debra Zimmerman to highlight female directors. She talks about men in relation to how many watch films by female directors. She writes, "A major problem, even today, is convincing men that films by and about women are important." (Redding, Brownworth p.265) I think the fact that the male students in this video shared what they thought about looks and beauty shows that at the very least they are aware of how much beauty and the media impact their lives.
This video was made as a midterm project by a group of high school students. The assignment was to bring awareness to a social issue and call for people to help and change that issue. In the reading mentioned above, Zimmerman also states the following, "The development of multi-media technologies, including the Internet, and the growth of new cable channels have opened new doors." (Redding, Brownworth p.265) This video is a clear example of the Internet providing people a way to voice their opinions on various topics to many different audiences.
A group of high schoolers were able to voice their opinions on an important subject with just a video camera and some editing.In this day and age people from all over the world are able to express themselves to major companies and how they advertise to them. The issue of beauty impacts both men and women as evidenced by this video. However, this video also shows that the key demographic that the beauty industry is targeting is not afraid to let them know how they truly feel about all these advertisements.
Works Cited
Hooks, Bell. Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies. New York, NY: Routledge, 1996. 1-9. Print.
Redding, Judith M., and Victoria A. Brownworth. Film Fatales: Independent Women Directors. Seattle: Seal, 1997. 261-65. Print.
Link to the Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=n-Do8S0lSqg
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ReplyDelete"In 2009, 10.2 million people were having cosmetic surgeries.." That's a large percentage of people who are going under the knife to change their looks. The documentary is really insightful and it's a bit scary to know that girls AND guys everywhere don't even hesitate when they say looks matter, especially at such a young age.
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