Kilbourne's Argument

I agree with Kilbourne’s argument to a certain extent. I think she has a very good point and backs most of her argument up with sources. However, sometimes I think she goes too far or makes general assumptions based on her opinions. However, I agree with her overall concept that advertisements have made people, mainly women, become dehumanized and objectified.

Kilbourne talks about how advertising has helped cause women to be viewed as objects, especially for sex, and how this leads to violence and women getting raped or harassed. I agree with her on the topic that ads have helped cause women to be viewed as objects. The ads show beautiful women with sexy bodies to attract men. I think that because of some ads that are sexual in nature, women are seen as objects that will allow men to have sex with them and will not say “no” to men, who think they are powerful and superior. However, I do not think that advertisements that are sexual or suggestive are as big of a reason why these women experience getting harassed, raped, or abused as Kilbourne suggests. It could be a factor, but I think there are just some bad people in the world who want to feel powerful, and so the only way they can feel this way is to take advantage of women since women are generally weaker and not as aggressive.

Another thing that Kilbourne mentioned, that I agree with, was that females are held responsible when sex goes wrong. If a woman gets raped or assaulted, it’s seen as her fault for not staying out of a dark place, for wearing skimpy clothes, or for having a few drinks of alcohol. Also, if a woman gets pregnant, it is her fault for not making sure the man had a condom on or from obtaining from sex. It is never the man’s fault.

Wal-Mart Pizza Commercial

Tonight, I was watching the Lifetime channel with my mom. It took me awhile to find a commercial that I thought would be good to write about, but finally one attracted my attention.

It was a commercial about the pizza at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart was advertising that its pizza not only tasted delicious, but it was inexpensive and would make a great meal. The commercial was directed at the people who cook in their households, mainly at wives or mothers, who are trying to decide what food to get for dinner or for parties. It also appealed to everyone else who lived in the households, and especially targeted teenagers to ask their mothers to buy the pizza.

The commercial started off by showing family members or friends all sitting in a family room. They were all nervous, antsy, and some were biting their nails. However, once the wife/woman got the pizza out of the oven and showed it to them, they became lively and happy. They were cheering and jumping for joy. They even said how the wife/woman was their hero. This suggested that if people buy this pizza from Wal-Mart they can become heroes in their family/friends’ eyes. Wal-Mart probably chose to advertise pizza and make references to heroes since the Super Bowl is coming up. The ad wants people to buy their pizza at Wal-Mart, instead of say Pizza Hut or Donatos, by stressing how it tastes great and saves money.

Extra Credit- Student Plays

I think it is very cool how two people from our school wrote the plays and directed them. I think Elise Lockwood’s plays were very good and that she is very gifted.

The first play was about a girl named Kristen (played by Elise V.), who had two dads. Her dads were very loving and caring. She normally did not tell people how she had two dads because then she would get made fun of for it. One day she met a girl named Maggie (played by Tina) and became best friends with her. Maggie had a mom and a dad, but they were getting a divorce. At the end of the play, Maggie starts to like Kristen and paints a picture of her and kisses her. The audience is left in suspense whether or not Kristen and Maggie will be in a relationship or not. I think Elise Vreede and Tina were very brave to act these roles out.

The second play was about an audition for a role. The judge (played by Ian) was very picky and kept putting down the actors who were trying out for the part. Even when Brad Pitt came to try out for the role, the judge turned him down and said he did not like him.

The third play was about a bookseller (played by JP), who knew many quotes from books. He received a story from this girl named Rory (played by Elise L.). The story made him puzzled. Everyone in the end of the book died and the characters were like those of other books besides this one character. The bookseller went mad trying to figure the character out. The ending confused me a bit and I wasn’t paying close enough attention throughout the play to get the ending. However, after talking with some people, we thought that the puzzling character in the story was the actual bookseller. He was the murder of the other characters.

The fourth play was about these two men (played by Tony and Daniel) who supposedly created everything on Earth. They made up God, Jesus, the whole story of Noah and the Arc, and heaven. They were the makers, not God. They were originally going to call God dog. They came up with the name Jesus when one of the men was thinking and he just said “Jesus” out of frustration. For people who are very religious, this play could have been offensive.