Culture Artifacts reflects certain notions of social identify. The film “The Pursuit of Happyness” by Columbia Pictures is inspired of a true story, and it depicts a story of an African American who became a stock-broker in the 1980s. Chris Gardner, the main character, became poor and homeless because of his failure on business. The living conditions, people’s treatments and working areas in this film suggest the stereotypical notions of class and race.
The opening scenes of this film suggest the notions of class and race. The first scene is the “Declaration of Independent” and the word “pursuit of happiness” is highlighted, which give people an image of American mixed-bowl that has people with different races. In the second scene, a black male, Chris Gardner, is waking up his son, Christopher, in a small dark room. Everything is old, and the light is weak. The clock shows it is 5:30 am. The poor living condition and the time they need to wake up represents the life of low class. They have to get up early because they do not have a car, so they will spend more time on the bus. High buildings, Golden Gate bridge which is the symbol of San Francisco, and American flag on the top of the building appear in the third scene. As we know, San Francisco is city with numbers of immigrants due to the Western Development in the past. High buildings represent officers. Thus, this scene also suggests race and class of American life.
However, people who are white seem to have higher status than others who are not. In the fourth scene, a female with long golden hair appears in the middle of the scene, and she is wearing a suit, which emphasize the importance and higher status among those people who walk on the street. We can merely see a black male, who is also in a suit on the right side, and there is an Asian face next to the black male, and he is wearing an apron; a male is light dark on the back of the white female. This scene structures an image of a mixed-bowl of race. Comparing their clothing, the Asian male seems have the lowest status since he is wearing the most improper clothing, which is the apron, on the street. Many interesting thing are seen on the street. In the fifth scene as well, a crowded street where most people are white, and they are carrying cases. They dress elegantly, but when the camera goes downward, there is an old man who dresses poorly, and lying on the street, which send a message to people how the upper class looks like and how the lower class looks like. The great differences are shown in the fifth scene constitute the stereotypes of class.
Nobody talks in or behind these scenes, but the notions of class and race are explicitly suggest through clothing and other arrangements.
Music has become a media to express the idea of love, sex, gender or race. In contemporary, the expression of sex becomes explicit. Timbaland’s music video “Carryout” portrays females as hot, sexy and attractive objects, and males desire them. The lyrics of this song depict the males like these females work in “Hot Cakes”, and they want to take these females home and for the night.This music video represents the distinct characteristics of male and female, which reflects the Devor’s idea of gender.
The clothing of female models in the video suggests the characteristics of femininity. As Devor notes in “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes” … the goals of femininity and, by implication, of all biological females are presumed to revolve around heterosexuality and maternity”. (“Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes”, Michael Omi) Maternal femininity is thought as being responsible for housework and child rearing. There are females wearing maid-dresses and serving cakes in the video, which suggest maternity of femininity. Females in maid-dresses are more desirable because maid-dresses are symbols of servants who were usually females. They dealt with housework, so this kind of clothing gives an image of housewives. They are serving cakes to the male who is sitting on a chair, and there is a female standing next to the male, which suggests the superiority of male and inferiority of female. This scene also gives an image of housewives and being compliant. Besides maternity, another characteristic that the clothing suggests of femininity is heterosexuality.
According to the article “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes” by Aaron Devor, “Feminine styles of dress likewise display subordinate status through greater restriction of the free movement of the body, greater exposure of the bare skin, and an emphasis on sexual characteristics”. (“Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes”, Aaron Devor) Femininity is required to match the ways of heterosexual orientation, which shows the most feminine side. Female models are wearing high heels and thigh-high silk stockings, which limit their free movement and make their legs look longer. High heels and thigh-high silk stockings are symbols of femininity. Female models in short pants or short dresses, naked-shoulder and back-naked tops expose greater bare skin, which look hot, and match the requirement of a heterosexual orientation. As the lyrics note, “Baby, you're looking fire hot; I have you open all night like an iHop; I take you home baby let you keep me company”. This suggests that the female models are desirable and attractive to males. They want these females because they look hot and sexy, which show the feminine sexuality.
Postures of the female models also suggest femininity heterosexuality. Female models put their figures in their mouth and with their charming eyes looking at the males. They are waving around the car which suggests the hot postures of femininity and the purpose of this music video is to express the idea of perfect femininity for masculinity. In the lyrics, “You look good, baby must taste heavenly; I'm pretty sure that you got your own recipe”, and the background words “Hot Cakes” suggests that they images the females are as cakes which are sweet and pretty, but they have different tastes, and all taste good. “Hot Cakes” symbolize females in this music video. Some female models have different cakes and they enjoy these cakes in different ways which show their own style of sex. One female model enjoys her cake directly; one with folk, which represents femininity because sweet is regard as feminine favorite. As the lyrics note, “Have it your way, foreplay; before I feed your appetite”. A female model in pink sexy nightwear pets herself and there is a cake next to her, which structures a sweet sexy woman. This scene corresponds to the lyrics, “Take my order because your body is like a carry out. Let me walk into your body until you hear me out. Turn me on, my baby don’t you cut me out; turn me on, my baby don’t you cut me out”. This part of the lyrics repeats eight times in the song. The use of repetition emphasizes how lovely the females are and how much they want these cake-like females. The lyrics also suggest males in this music video see females as heterosexual objects. Female models dance in the scene; their dance is hot and attractive, which can perfectly show their feminine body postures.
Contrast to the clothing and postures of females in this video, males look masculine with their clothing and postures. There is scene that a male and a female stand together. The male is taller and stronger than the female. He puts on the headphone for the female, which suggests dependence of femininity and masculinity of male. They ask the females their phone number, which suggests males are active. According to Devor’s article, people who expanse their body postures are appeared physically masculine. (“Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes”, Aaron Devor) Males try to maximize their body size, which make them look masculine. A man sits and stands with his legs apart, which contrast to the small body postures of females when they keep their arms and legs close to their body. Males are wearing suits and standing straight, which represent gentle masculinity. The lyrics also show masculinity since is about men pays court to women.
The contrast of the clothing and postures between male and female give an image of ideal masculinity and femininity. Timbaland’s music video “Carryout” suggests the ideal form of male and female, but these characteristics are also stereotypes of gender.
Race stereotypes exist everywhere through media, especially in commercials. It became one of the important factors to appeal consumers. The RBK commercial “I Am What I Am” that I found in Youtube.com portrays a basketball player, Allen Iverson, who is black and he have been looked differently because of his race. The stereotype of race that this commercial tries to explain is related to Omi’s idea of race.
People who are black have the stereotypes of being aggressive and inferior. As Omi notes, minority groups usually engaged in social problems in television and films. Black characters appeared as tough, aggressive and sexual assertive. (“In living Color: Race and American Culture”, Michael Omi) People have stereotypes of minorities, which are usually aggressive and mad. These stereotypes are thought as characteristics of people other than white. Hence, black people portrayed criminals or threats in films. These stereotypical films made people believe these are characteristics of black people, so they are looked differently by others. As Allen Iverson says in the commercial, “People think I’m…always on the tough side, trying to be somebody I’m not. I’m not a gangster; I’m not a thug; I’m not even trying to be hard.” He also says he is hard and tough in the basketball court, but off the court, he is not. (“I Am What I Am”) Basketball is a sport which sometimes people may be hurt and aggressive. However, when people look at him, they do not think about the essence of basketball; they only think he is that kind of person because of his color which is black. He was colored with stereotypes of black, even though he is not that kind of person.
People have stereotypes of Allen Iverson not only because of his color, but also because of his clothes. As Omi notes, “Racial Symbols and images are omnipresent in popular culture.” (“Living In Colors: Race and American Culture”, Michael Omi) Clothing, printings, and music can be symbols of a culture. They present everywhere. In the commercial, he is wearing loose T-shirt and jean, which are considered to be the racial symbol of black, because this is their hip-hop culture. He says that, “I don’t want my kid s to say my dad is a gangster; my dad is tough…because I look the way I look, I act the way I act, I dress the way I dress.” (“I Am What I Am”) When he says “the way”, this suggests the culture that he lives in. The way he looks, acts and dresses are reflecting his culture and his personalities. He shows he is not the black person as people see in films. The culture of black became symbol of gangster and thug due to the stereotypes of black and media dissemination.
The SKYY vodka in this ad symbolized high social class and the ad suggested the social identity of men and women. There are some significance things that showed the purpose of this advertisement.
The scene is taking in a condo. The floor is smooth and reflecting. We can see other high buildings through the French window. These are the evidence of the condo that in the middle of a city. A woman is in an evening dress and wearing high heels. She looks elegance. A man is in a suit base on his sleeve. The place and their dresses represented they are rich. They have goblet glasses in their hands which suggested they are social. There is a bottle of SKYY vodka on the table, which suggested the vodka is a symbol of a high social class that people are rich and social.
The bottle of SKYY vodka is not only a symbol of a high social class, but also serves as a symbol of a sexy woman. The man in this ad sits in a shell-like chair and only shows his sleeve and the goblet glass, so people know nothing about this man. The significant thing he wants to show is the goblet glass which corresponding to the goblet glass on the front table. The shell-like chair is a little bit upward, which showed the man looks at the woman. The woman stands with her high heels, reaches her right arm to the top of the chair and looks at the man. The feminine posture of the woman is sexy and attractive. Her dress is sexy and in dark color, which is corresponding to the bottle of SKYY vodka next to the goblet glass which is on the table. The complex of the shell-like chair, a goblet glass and the woman represented the complex of the white table, a goblet glass and a bottle of SKYY vodka. Correspondingly, the bottle of SKYY vodka remained people the woman in a sexy evening dress, which made the vodka more desirable.
Color is another significant thing in the ad. Color on the left side of the ad is bright and the right side is dark, which structured sharp contrast. Under the dark light, the woman look more attractive and it is good to drink wine. In addition, the white shell-like chair as the background, the blue SKYY vodka bottle in front of the ad is highlighted. The interior of the chair is dark, which made the man inside more mysterious. People can image how the man looks like according to their favorite. The logo “SKYY” on the bottle is silver which is well-marked and easy to see. The color of the ad is cold except the skin color of the woman. The cold color suggested masculine of men.
This ad used symbols and colors to suggest the masculinity and femininity; also made the SKYY vodka desirable.
The ad “Journey in Style” of Banana Republic for Spring 2011 that I found in youtube.com articulated race and sexuality. A group of young people are going on a journey and all of them are stylish. This group of people includes different races and sexualities. They get more friends on their journey and present a harmony sense.
In this commercial ad, women are wearing skinny pants, dresses or colorful and beauty tanks. They are all with supply long hair and they look charming. They are driving a car with their hair waving in the air and smile. They look sexy and desirable in the ad. They usually keep their arms and legs together, which look more feminine. Not only their feminine posture, but also their reaction suggests their relationship with men. Men and women get close in the sense; women in the sense as the attractive model to get more friend in the journey. A woman runs to a man and relies on him are considered dependent of femininity. Men with short hair and in masculine style clothes, which are loose and dark color, look stronger than women. Guitar was usually played by men, so men play guitars and women sing in the sense show different characteristics of both sexes. People with different sexes are attractive to each other with their particular stylish appearance.
There are people with different race in this ad, which suggests that the brand is universal and you can be friend with different kind of people in the journey. The ad expressed its universal by presenting people with different skin and hair colors. They represent Americans, Africans, Europeans and Asians, etc. They are not separated in different groups with different races; they hold their arms and stand in a line, which give a sense of being friend and harmony. In history, people with color skin were discriminated, but they get along with each other in this ad, which suggest that people are equal in this brand. People can find their own race in the ad, so they will feel more comfortable with this brand and be interested in the styles that provide for their races. People have different culture will have different styles, but this brand has all styles for all races. Therefore, people with different races in this ad are in different styles.
The ad “Journey in Style” of Banana Republic has different races and sexes. They all have their own style and distinct feminine or masculine postures. This ad is not only showing how great their styles, but also trying to attract people with different races and people who want to get in good relationship with others.
