Too Much Reality

I am all for the advancements in media in terms of freedom and diversity. However, watching someone at the gynecologist is something that may be taking it to far. Watching a fictional film allows people to separate real from pretend. Seeing someone having sex on TV isn’t too bad because we know it’s for the sake of the program. Watching a man hit his wife on Lifetime isn’t scary because we know they’re acting. We now can watch a reality show and actually see a gynecologist give an examination on a woman as the entire procedure takes place. Although I’m not offended or disturbed by seeing this take place, it just seems out of place. I understand that this specific scene relating to infertility allows for viewers going through the same to relate. This puts Khloe in a realer light to the audience and her fans. It could have been reduced to the simple screen shot of Khloe changing into a hospital gown, and then a conversation with the doctor. We do not have to watch the actual procedure in full length. To the contrary, this helps the genre of reality live up to its entirety. So many people complain about reality shows being fake, but there’s nothing fake about this ‘gyno’ visit.

Censorship to a whole new level.

The new issue of Dossier magazine features male model Andrej Pejic, who happens to look very androgynous.  Barnes and Noble bookstore have decided to censor this particular issue using an opaque black covering on the magazine's cover in fear of customers mistaking the male model for a woman.  Barnes and Noble is currently the largest bookstore in the continental US and is aware of the fact that when these issues of Dossier came out featuring this model, they knew he is indeed a male.  The problem here obviously lies within the public perception and ignorance to what the gender of this person actually is; it poses a question on gender perception within society.  As featured in the image, Pejic is clearly not the first shirtless male on a magazine cover, but his thin build and feminine face contrast with the built, shirtless models featured on many men's magazines.  Dossier being a culture and arts journal may play a role in the fact that he is not posing in order to promote masculinity, but instead high fashion-which is known to be open to gender ambiguity.  This, not necessarily being the "norm" to the general public, with high fashion having a particular subculture audience, may cause for customer complaints due to offensiveness, lack of censorship, and ignorance.  Barnes and Noble, being only a small percentage of world wide sales of this issue, does not pose a huge a threat in deficit in sales, but it does play a role on social perception of others based on gender ambiguity.  Many people are not used to seeing such individuals portrayed in the media; to them this is not the norm.  Consequently, what is not the norm is also not comfortable and may be viewed as unsafe for a child walking into the store to view as an example.  This poses a commentary on how the public teaches children of "norms" from a young age, and deems anything other than the norm as offensive and uncomfortable, unfortunately.

Article: http://jezebel.com/5802115/barnes--noble-censors-cover-featuring-androgynous-male-model

Logorama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ligDITLoehA

In the short film, Logorama, we see an alternate reality in which there is nothing but “Logos,” which are advertisement. The short get’s us to think about the effects that all of these logos influence our lives, especially living in a society which is now saturated with different advertisements from all over. All industries have a targeted market, but at the same time, each industry want to appeal to as many as possible, a result of political economy, and the Logo’s while making fun of advertisement, is also being critical of how our society has changed. For instance, if we look at how women are portrayed as sex objects through the “Esso,” which is the name of an oil and fuel company. This connotes a sense of being taken advantage of, since the world has abused oil and fuel, much like a woman. We also see Ronald McDonald as the bad guy, which would work to paint a picture of childhood obesity, or obesity in general. This can also be seen as a view on McDonald’s as a brand in general. Furthermore, we see the two boys at the zoo, misbehaving and being disrespectful. The colloquialisms used in the film work to heighten the sense of post-modernity and how norms are redefined from generation to generation. Logorama is touching on several themes that force us to look at ourselves as a whole.