FCC Takes a Holiday

The question: Where is the line between artistic advertising and porn drawn?
The answer: There are so many lines due to varying perspectives that the entire gamut is nothing but a black box due to the infinite amount of lines drawn.

It is not the fault of any one entity in particular that debate rages over suggestive content in advertising and the questions of morality that follow as a result. Is it possible for everyone to accept a certain content limitation placed upon advertising? I would argue no, that essentially every printed media (or most any media) is bound to offend someone, and in this right it is virtually impossible for us to say where any advertisement has crossed the line (except for those that are so blatantly pornography that there is no other possible option but to label them as such), and because of this it is again virtually impossible for us to go back and say that the first amendment should not apply to a given situation when it comes into question. There are some that would argue that the very depiction of the female form is offensive. There are still others that would find a member of any given race being represented in advertising offensive. It is because of these sort of individuals that it is almost impossible to declare what morality is (and is not).



Photo Credit: http://www.homegame.org/news/stories/911mugatotide.jpg

2 Ways Men Can Be Hurt

Let me say, firstoff, that this passage "2 Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt" came across as little more than 23 pages of proliferating the stereotype that all heterosexual men are sex-crazed perverts that will stop at nothing to satisfy their own carnal desires, whatever that may mean to the woman involved. Secondly, this also portrays the female as an ever-innocent angel that never has any impure (maybe "human" would be a better term) thoughts. While I am not endorsing forced sex, domestic abuse, or any other violent, unwilling acts, I will say this, LIGHTEN UP! While it may be ingrained in our nature to be lustful beings (I do not discount females here, either), not everyone with a penis is going to try to make women submit to their desires.

In all seriousness, for a woman living in the global society of today, the odds are not in their favor. It is true that males will tend to act forcefully toward women, especially when it comes to sex. However, many of these men would more than likely do this anyways. I would not go so far as to blame the media entirely as the source of this assumed dominance.

The one passage in which I agree completely with Kilbourne is in the cases of the children being exploited. The case in which the 3-year-old was accused of being "sexually aggressive" seemed absolutely ludicrous to me. People of this age, I would expect, don't know the very first thing about sex, let alone think to equate aggressiveness with it. Furthermore, the Calvin Klein ads featuring what appear to be young children in a porn-esque setting are borderline obscene, as they feature very scantily clad boys and girls acting suggestively.

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Make Tonight a Manwich Night!

During the January 28th 9:00 showing of BBC's "Top Gear," a commercial for Hunt's Manwich sloppy joe sauce came on, blaring Ode to Manwich (Ode to Joy with all the notes replaced with: Manwich, Manwich, we adore you.  Fun and easy and sloppy too.  Napkins now unfold before thee, Manwich joy doth spring from you.).  The commercial goes on to feature a family sitting around the dinner table all smiling and laughing while eating Manwich sloppy joes.  The father goes on to show one of those cliche looks that he is really enjoying what he's eating.  As Lamags said in class, "Kids sell more crap than anything."  This is still the case in this commercial, as the two children, of varying ages, all seem to be adoring the Manwich.  The happy music, combined with the over-exaggerated expressions (unless they'd been starved for weeks maybe) all appeal to our emotions (and quite possibly stomachs) to make us desire the Manwich more and more.