Robin Thicke's Banned Video & Thoughts On Sexism
Taking a momentary digression from career advice and swinging back towards cultural observations. Just came across this video of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines (NSFW) via New York Magazine's always entertaining newsletter, The Vulture. It's worth the watch ... probably from your phone, during your lunch break. The gist is that it features three fully clothed men (the singers) and a plethora of mostly naked models dancing around the set, being playfully chased by the men. The video is moderately entertaining and the women have beautiful bodies. Quite honestly, my first impression was that I wasn't overly offended, a bit confused and mostly wondering why they couldn't find models who were better dancers. The models reminded me of the very young, Eastern European women that come to NYC in order to make it in the industry - barely speaking English and at the mercy of their agents.
But what I really found interesting was their explanation for the song and choices in the video. Robin Thicke explained that he and Pharrell came up with the lyrics and song in a half hour and wrote it as a criticism of misogynistic lyrics we so often hear. He explained that the men in the video looked like idiots whereas the women were directed to act confident and in power by looking directly at the camera. He's referencing a concept from art history 101 - the "gaze" whereas a woman looking directly at the viewer is challenging him / her and asserting her power, most famously depicted in Manet's Olympia.
In a recent GQ article Robin explains:
"Women and their bodies are beautiful. Men are always gonna want to follow them around."
Even Thicke's wife points out in response to the outcry that "Violence is ugly. Nudity is beautiful."
A recent TEDTalk by Jackson Katz, an anti-sexism educator, echoes this thinking - showing that the conversation of violence against women needs to change to better understand why men are the perpetrators.
So where am I going with all of this talk about nudity, violence, power struggles and sexism, early on a Thursday morning? The video, Manet's Olympia and Jackson's TEDTalk all flip cultural norms on their head. Each make controversial statements because we view their statements through the eyes of a cultural norm so that their artistry become taboo. Both Thicke and Manet challenge the notion that women are not empowered by their own bodies. They show that women do recognize their bodies are beautiful and have the power to turn on both men, other women and even themselves. Jackson champions the empowerment of women when he proves that the discussion of violence against women is really not a "woman's issue" but rather, a problem men need to tackle as they ask themselves why they are the perpetrators.
So I for one am hopeful that the conversation is changing and I look forward to a time when a woman is no longer seen as a victim, but sees her whole being as the great source of power that it is.
Book Recommendations
I recently set up a feature on the right side of my blog that lists book recommendations for people interested in account planning. Honestly, I would love to finally monetize this blog and had very little luck with Google Adsense on my last blog Wandering & Pondering. I mean let's be honest - unless it's for something super duper cool that you're looking for at this very moment, you're not going to click on an ad. And since I write about advertising and strategy, I can't imagine what physical products Adsense could recommend that my readers would want.So, I'm going to try Amazon Affiliates. The truth is, you're going to buy a product via Amazon anyway so why not click on my recommendations. Now the extra exciting part is that because I don't want to lose your trust as a reader, I'm not going to recommend a book or a product that is crap. Okay, books are open to interpretation but you get the idea. I may not have worked as an account planner yet, but over the course of 10 weeks in San Francisco, I took copious notes and got book recommendations from "industry heros," i.e. senior level account strategists from around the country at agencies such as Grey New York, Goodby, Silverstein, BBDO, Venables Bell & Partners and a slew of others.
As someone on a limited budget, I'm slightly obsessive when it comes to researching big electronic purchases and for every $150+ product purchase, there's probably an excel chart somewhere on my computer weighing the pros and cons of one product vs. another. And I have a knack for meeting new people from all different backgrounds and occupations, allowing me to expand my perspective and absorb a wide range of information like a sponge.
That being said, I'm going to start with my first recommendation that has nothing to do with advertising and everything to do with simple curiosity - a book I'm reading now, [amazon_link id="184809101X" target="_blank" ]The Monuments of Men[/amazon_link]. The book chronicles a special task force within the American Army during the end of World War II whose mission is to save monuments and priceless art from both the Nazis and destructive powers of war. Enjoy!
All Art Is Advertising?
As someone who's slightly obsessed with Italian art history, I found these two videos via Agency Spy extremely informative and entertaining. The case studies, presented by a team of students at VCU Brand Center, explore how famous Italian artists were commissioned to create art in response to various problems the country was facing - like declining birth rates due to obesity and lack of popularity of the Vatican. I'm really curious to know where they got their facts. I can understand how they compiled an increase in birth rates but number of people praying in the Vatican? Wow!This really makes me think about the similarities between commissioned art and advertising. Is there really a difference? Were commissioned artists really the first art directors? When you look back in history, commissioned European art contained symbolism. It was a vehicle for the wealthy to advertise their position in life through their clothing, background, and even the paints that the artist painted with. Italian art is saturated with images that teach people how to behave. The interior of the Florentine Duomo, partially painted by artist and first art historian Giorgio Vasari, depicted graphically violent and sexual images of hell, warning Florentines what would happen if they misbehaved. But the images are so graphic that you wonder whether sexually charged or violent movies and shows like Skins, True Blood, etc. are really a deviation from the type of content humans have always been exposed to.
Speaking of the past influencing the future; architects originally had trouble figuring out how to create the dome and held a contest, open to architects to solve the problem. Were the commissioners of the duomo, the Arte Della Lana, the first to crowd source for a creative solution?
And finally, going back to Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man - it's interesting to see how despite being surrounded by images of beautiful, thin people in the media, Americans are fatter than they ever were and despite knowing that obesity effects fertility, productivity, and our general well being, no amount of perfectly toned, beautiful people in advertising seems to have any effect on our national obesity epidemic. Maybe instead of just writing about the obesity epidemic, we need more advertising to convince people how to eat and exercise, a la the anti-smoking campaigns of the past.
I leave you with the two videos below. Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oo7_eFftuM&w=100&h=100]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0daisveY5wM&w=100&h=100]
The Mona Lisa Curse
My photography teacher told us about a great series of videos by Robert Hughes that discuss what the art world has become. It's become all about the money instead of the love of art. It's an incredibly interesting eye openner. I have often toyed with the idea of taking a year long certificate program at Chrissy's or Sotheby's only to conclude that it would only be about money and may not put me into the art world that I'm interested in becoming a part of. I have never really understood the gravity of pop artists such as Warhol, taking every day objects and painting them, etc. And Robert Hughes seems to agree. The series shows how the entire art world has skewed what's important based on its market value, led by investors rather than art lovers, and culminating with artists like Damien Hurst. I thought that the parts 11 & 12 were particularly enlightening where he interviews a buyer who can't fully articulate why the art work he's paid so much money for is brilliant. I saw this at the Armory show two weeks ago and even at the AIPAD event, well dressed couples, clearly wealthy who are looking for art simply as an investment.
And finally, Robert Hughes believes that "Art should make us feel more clearly and more intelligently. It should give us coherent sensations which otherwise we would not have had." "If art can't tell us about the world we live in, then I don't believe there's much point in having it."
