The Indian Woman in Movies

Miss India America begins with what seems like what would be a show about an ambitious Indian girl, Lily, who has her whole life planned out, and never lost until she loses her boyfriend, a supposed petroleum engineer. She does puts herself in the only situation that makes logical sense. She enters a beauty pageant so she can win Miss India California and then go on to win Miss India National, which just so happens to be the title that Reshma, her ex- boyfriend's current girlfriend, holds. 

Lily is presented as not only the stereotypical smart Indian but also as the stereotypical female that is presented in rom-coms, high achieving, wants to be a brain surgeon (like her father) and incredibly needing her boyfriend. Almost every single parent has a strong accent and high scholarly jobs: doctors, engineers, physicists. Most of the parents also play the typical indian parents that culture makes them out to be, pushes ideas forward, family is everything and so is tradition

In the pageant; however, Lily meets a variety of people who challenge the traditional Indian stereotypes. Sonia, who appears will be the antagonist, is actually friendly and kind to Lily, Lily actually becomes the one who sabotages Sonia and despite sabotaging her Lily still wins the pageant. One of the competitors is really perky and also really into tennis One of the judges is a famous Indian actor who is a drunk who distraught over an ex girlfriend. The dancer who teaches Lily who is presented as the “perfect Indian daughter” has a secret white boyfriend, and does not get along with most of the female characters. And one of the judges is a famous Indian actor who is a drunk who distraught over an ex girlfriend.

After the pageant Lily acknowledges her mom as a writer, she writes poems and while she is successful, her job is more free and artistic than the other parents. And. while competing nationally instead of trying to appeal to “Traditional Indian Beauty” she presents herself as who she actually is instead of that Idea. Lily never gets back with her boyfriend or finds a new guy.

Men, socially acceptable dressing and behavior

So, today I was helping my best friend by borrowing him some clothes of mine for another school's homecoming that he attending. His date was wearing a beautiful black dress. He knew I dressed well, so he asked if I had any black dress clothes. I did in fact have a whole outfit, which was primarily black. It consisted of: nice black jeans, a black dress shirt with a grey vest to go over it, a deep red skinny tie and a pair of grey casual dress shoes. After describing this to him, he happily accepted and we set a time for him to come pick it up. I also had many other ties that would work with this outfit, so I said "Just take your favorite." He had been hanging out with his date before picking up the clothes, so when he did pick them up, she was with him. Happily, I introduced myself and invited them in. Him knowing that she cared a lot more about how they dressed as a date, he pretty much let her decide what he wore. Shortly before they left, he asked, "So what about the vest?" She responded by saying, "This isn't prom, you shouldn't wear a vest," in a snarky tone. He quickly said "Really?" He said this as I held a perplexed and slightly perturbed look. This pricked me, as I often casually wear this to school or to an outing. Is there not only a dress quota for women but also for men? I feel like this annoyed me more than it should have, but is it no longer okay for men to dress fashionably? Are men expected to only wear jeans and a couple variations of shirts? I think that because of this expectation, men have fallen away from dressing nicely or looking "dapper." The new nice is a solid colored polo, plaid or checkered button up. 

As a man, I feel like it is hard to find a varied and personal sense of fashion. There are several factors that contribute to this dilemma. There aren't a lot of different styles or combinations of clothing that men can mix and match. It's hard to break the boundaries in terms of fashion because there are only a few categories men have available and are allowed to fit into. There is: Business dressy, business casual, preppy, casual, and hipster. Of course there are a few deviations from these categories, but those deviations don't go far. I feel like this mostly derives from social norms and girls' expectancy for what guys should wear. Not only that, but men limiting how they dress simply because of how they think a man should act and what a man should be. I see a lot of men and boys stuck in a mind set of "Men don't care about fashion, that's for women," or " "Only models dress like that," or "People would think i'm weird if I dressed like that." 

I have found that defining my own sense of fashion to be very liberating. I personally enjoy wearing a nice dress shirt with a vest, rocking a casual blazer, or wearing a skinny tie. Of course every man doesn't want to dress like this, which is totally cool. I find the look classy, but others may not. The point is to dress to your style and not let society define your fashion. If you enjoy wearing jeans and a graphic shirt from a thrift shop and you feel like that represents you, then by all means, rock it.   

Contradicting Advertisement

This advertisement sponsored by Peta, seems like an encouraging advertisement at first encouraging people to save the whales and go vegetarian. But the underlying message is fat shaming females and their physical appearance by comparing the overweight lady to the whale that they're trying to get people to save. This is what makes it controversial because although they're promoting good things, they're also throwing some negative things into the mix for comedy. People's weight should never be made fun of for people's entertainment purposes.

Wreck-It Ralph: Fun-Loving, Animated Movie or Eye-Opening PSA?

Wreck-It Ralph is a Disney-animated movie that was released in 2012. This movie takes place in an old-school arcade world where the protagonist, Ralph, is tired of being the bad guy in the video game Fix-It Felix Jr.. Though the movie appears fun-loving and a stereotypical animated film, further observation reveals the effect and issue of America’s obsession with materialism and aestheticism.

In the film Ralph is depicted as aesthetically disappointing according to America’s standards. Ralph is tall, stalky, has big hands and feet, tattered hair, a protruding nose and buck teeth. Also Ralph is not wealthy; he is “homeless” and lives in a dump full of bricks and sleeps on a tree stump. The hero in the game Fix-It Felix Jr., is a skinny, well-dressed guy with perfect teeth, a button nose, and full hair. Not only is Felix the hero of the game, he also lives in the penthouse suite of an apartment and carries around a golden hammer from his father that fixes anything it touches. The townspeople in the game praise Felix and demean Ralph not only because Felix is the hero and Ralph is the villain but also because Felix is “pretty” and wealthy and Ralph is “ugly” and poor. The townspeople are depicted as ditsy and fake, blindly following Felix and praising him unconditionally no matter what he does. The townspeople mirror the American people, who blindly follow beauty and consumer trends and praise the ideas of materialism and aestheticism.

The actions of Felix and Ralph during the course of the movie also accentuates and pokes fun at America’s obsession with money, power, and beauty. Tired of being seen as the bad guy, Ralph goes to other games within the arcade in search of a gold medal - which he believes will validate him as a hero. When he returns from another videogame with a medal, he is surprised to find that he receives no heroic praise but instead is presented with an abandoned, out of order game. Ralph relied on material things for approval and success and he ended up coming up confused and short. Americans often rely on material things to bring happiness and use material objects to monitor success. However, material things don’t necessarily fulfil self-satisfaction or validate actions and American’s often end up still depressed and confused why their material excursions came up short.

Felix relies on his golden hammer to accomplish tasks and without it he has little developed skills and success. Disney uses Felix’s reliance on his hammer to poke fun at America's reliance on quick and effective material objects. Not many of today’s teenagers can live without their phones, calculators or other electronics for assistance, which are products of wealth and entitlement. These products once again fuel the large flame of materialism and aesthetics that has spread among the U.S.

The characters and ideas in the movie Wreck-It Ralph may seem fun-loving on the surface and maybe that’s what Disney intended. If Americans take a simple break from gawking over pretty pictures and material possessions, they can look under the surface of the animated film and observe a mirror, reflecting the faults of Americans, right back at them.

Wreck-It Ralph Trailer:

Passenger Story-The Rain That Couldn't Touch Us

Come with us. Were going down to the waterfront, I say. Were in the lodge at camp, and its raining like the sky will never let the rain fall again.

We’ll get soaked, Louanne says.

I go, So what? with a shrug and a grin. She, Luke, and Taylor look at each other, as if they might say, No, We’d rather just stay in these leather chairs by the fire, because, you know, it’s warm. But who are they kidding, these are the nights that make memories. We know it before it’s even gotten started. They get up and follow me, Mindy, Ky, and Trip, out the door.

Some of us have rain jackets, some of us don’t. We all get wet. We walk together down the gravel slope, and little streams of water follow us in a hurry like they have somewhere to be. But we don’t. Time seems all at once both limited and abundant. We walk.

Then we get to the pavilion. I take off my jacket, throw it on one of the rocking chairs, and lift my arms up into the air, feeling a light wind swirl around me. There are still warm coals in the fireplace from the 8 o’clock s’mores gathering, and they give off the smell of bonfires. That smell mixes with the smell of rain and heat, Dr. Pepper and the water bottle, grass and summer. Trip sets up Corn Hole and we all take turns tossing the bean bags and watching them fly up towards the ceiling and back down again.

Ky’s telling everyone about that time he thought he was Batman so he dove into a puddle. Taylor’s telling us about what she did in the elevator of her mom’s art gallery last month. Louanne talks about how her friends gave her sixty dollars to buy them McDonald's when it only cost fifteen dollars. And because she was annoyed with them, and because they didn’t know any better, she kept the rest.

Mindy asks what everyone’s favorite movie quote is. We take a while to think about it, and say them aloud when it comes to us. Ky’s is from this movie “Little Miss Sunshine”. He says, Do what you love, and fuck the rest. The chairs are rocking even though no ones sitting in them. The rain is falling around us but none of us are getting wet. I run out from under the cover of the roof and spin around in circles. I let the drops hit my face. Fuck the rest, I think.

Back under the roof, Luke puts on “Dancing in the Moonlight”, and grabs my hand. Let’s dance, he says. I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know how to dance. Mindy is the dancer, but none of that matters. He swings me, pushes me out, pulls me in.

we like our fun and we never fight
you can’t dance and stay uptight
its a supernatural delight
everybody was dancing in the moonlight

You ready?, he says.
I go, For what? Then he dips me, and I laugh, and I know I’ll never forget it.

The Pursuit of Radical Fashion

This week another scandal broke in the world of fashion. A couple of weeks ago the retailer Zara was under fire for selling a shirt  that resembles the striped pajamas that Jewish prisoners had to wear during the Holocaust. This week a faded, bloodstained Kent State sweatshirt was for sale on Urban Outfitter's website referencing the National Guard's shooting at the school. The issue of controversial fashion was discussed in Meghan Daum's column for the LA Times.

She did a good job discussing the recent controversy. Daum used the balancing act by at first making her opposition to the selling of the sweatshirt obvious but then gives Urban Outfitters the benefit of the doubt. She acknowledges the sweatshirt was not manufactured by Urban just sold on the site.

Daum choses to open up the conversation into something wider about how far is too far when dressing with the idea of freedom of expression. She poses the question of how far is too far when it comes to being in public and offending others but leaves it hanging. I would have liked her to speak on that subject a little more. Urban Outfitters has manufactured a shirt before that said "Eat Less" is it okay to wear in freedom of expression or is it just promoting eating disorders? I would say it is completely tasteless but technically people can wear and make what they want.

Daum makes the point that we have been desensitized due to racy advertisement, "clickbait headlines", and unbelieveable fashion. I have to disagree. I believe that people can generally decide right from wrong or tasteful from tasteless. It is through the rallying of the internet community that Zara and Urban Outfitters have taken down their offensive clothing from their sites. People have been able to answer the call to social justice for the most part and I disagree with her idea that we wage battles we know we can win.

War is Disgrace

War is beauty
Sharp gray eyes, lean
narrow
when he died it was almost      beautiful
the sunlight came around him
sucked him high
into a tree full of moss and vines and
white blossoms
beauty

War is hell
The pictures get jumbled
you tend to miss a lot
They blow away trees and glee clubs
And whatever else there is to blow away
They make those mountains burn

He shot it twice
It wasn't to kill, it was to hurt
Again
the animal fell hard and tried to get up
but this time couldn't quite make it
There was no pity for the baby water buffalo
Curt Lemon was dead

Human beings have issues
far more important
than the lives of the beings
that inhabit our playing fields
All souls die in war

Contra

War is Hell
I can't believe it in my stomach
It comes down to gut instinct
Make the stomach believe.

But war is also beauty
Gape at the majesty
Bright red ribbons unwinding
Through the dark
An impassive moon rises
You admire the fluid symmetries
Harmonies of metal-fire
Admire the glow of napalm
Feel the rocket's red glare.

You hate it, but
Your eyes do not
Hell has an objective
Aesthetic purity from absolute moral indifference.
In it is the pure, implacable beauty.

Hell is beauty
Tainted by the blood of the departed
Ugliness seeps in with the
The other people that surround you.

Kill them or die
Partake in the beauty
Add to the evil
Feel your sacrifice in your stomach
Make yourself believe in the beautiful
Contradiction.

The Things They Found, a Poem About What They Carried

War is beautiful; War is paradoxical,
We got ourselves a nice mellow war today.
All that peace, man, it felt so good it hurt.
It’s about sunlight.
you look up and see the sun and a few puffy white clouds,
you feel wonder and awe at the setting of the sun,
the immense serenity flashes against your eyeballs--
when he died it was almost beautiful,
the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him high
into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms.
-- and even though you’re pinned down by war you never felt more at peace.
The truths are contradictory.
War is nasty; War is fun.
But in truth war is also beauty.
For all its horror,
you can’t help but gape at the awful majesty of combat.
-- a powerful, implacable beauty--
you’re never more alive than when you’re almost dead.
that proximity to death brings with it a corresponding proximity to life.
--your truest self,
the human being you want to be and then become by the force of wanting it.
you love what’s best in yourself and in the world, all that might be lost.
you’re in touch with the far side of yourself.
It was a love story.
It’s about love and memory.
feeling both love and hate,
He hated her.
but it was a hard, hating kind of love.
because he was so much in love,
He loved her but he hated her.
“I love her.”

The Mind Shines

Verizon Wireless' new commercial, "Inspire Her Mind", sends a positive message which our society would do well to listen to. Many girls feel the pressure from the media and people around them to be "pretty". From the beginning of our lives, everyone is constantly saying things like "Oh, your baby is so cute", "Such a pretty girl", or "Who's my pretty girl".

In order to make their point, the video perpetuates that women are expected to be things of beauty with little intellectual or creative value. Until the end where the girl, Sam, is now more interested in improving her appearance than science, when she is fulfilling her "true role", she is always being chastised for her curiosity. However, they make up for perpetuating the stereotype by encouraging everyone to protect a girl's interest in science or math.

The commercial also perpetuates the stereotype that boys are meant to do the work with tools. In the scene where Sam is using a power-drill to build what looks like a rocket with her brother, the tool eventually is handed over to him because it was "dangerous". However, she was under close supervision of her brother which seems like it should have been acceptable since he is obviously responsible enough to use one on his own.

This video also resists the stereotype of what girls should be interested in. Sam is interested in and comfortable with things which girls are supposed to be averse to like strange animals, mud, etc.. In general, I find this video very refreshing, it's brought new perspective and attention to the fact that girls can and should be interested in things more intellectually fulfilling than beauty and appearance.

Wiggle Stereotype Exposed

The music video, “Wiggle” by Jason Derulo featuring Snoop Dogg quickly raised eyebrows when it was released in early May of 2014. The music video shows girls wiggling their buttocks in a provocative manner, hence the name of the song, “Wiggle”. This video raises the strife between women’s right to wear whatever clothing they desire, and men’s desire to sexualise women. It could be argued that this music video is even more controversial than previous ones, however this trend of provocative females in music videos has been occurring for years, this video is simply icing on the cookie. Wiggle is a classic example of the ideology that women in America are objects to be judged based on sexual features.

The music video focuses on the buttocks of the woman as something that is more important than a person's morals. In the song, Mr. Derulo states, “Hot damn it Your booty like two planets Go head, and go ham sandwich Whoa, I can't stand it.” This obviously objectifies women, and expects their butts to be like two planets. This expectation is firstly unrealistic because one’s butt could never reach that size, and secondly demeaning because it takes away an element of humanity from women. It is simple to flip the situation, one never sees Beyonce making songs that tell men to shake their private parts. Another problem with the video is that it reinforces the stereotype that women must wear provocative clothing to get attention from men, this is obviously wrong and reinforces the ideology that women are sexual objects.W It is blatantly obvious that this video runs hand in hand with the patriarchal society in which we live today. The only way to discard of such offencive material is to discard sexism altogether.

The Impossible Standards The Media Sets on Beauty

In our society we are constantly compared and critiqued by our own selves, by others, and by the media. Day by day we see in the media how women and men should look like. Either it be that you should be skinny, tall, beautiful or wear Cover Girl makeup, the media is telling you how to look. It proposes images and ideals for what what we should look like, even though that is not a norm in any way, shape, or form. In America the average height for a women in 2014 is 5 feet 4 inches, and a healthy weight for that height is between 120 and 140 lbs (Rush Hospital). Yet the media shows us, women who are 6 feet tall and 100 lbs as being perfect and ideal, which is not healthy or normal. Since the media is constantly showing us these unhealthy and and unnatural photos, our society has made an abnormal standard for ourselves. Many children even grow up with this abnormal standard for body weight, when playing with dolls, not even knowing that Barbie is an unnatural and impossible standard to set yourself to. Even though most children probably don't realize the ideology that is being set early in their childhood, does not mean its not there. What the media is portraying to us as a norm is not true, and we need to acknowledge that the standards set by the media are unnatural and untrue.

Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass-Body Positivity Gone Wrong

The song is part of a large wave of media trying to be body positive, notably the company Dove. However, “All About That Bass” perpetuates the ideology that in order for a woman to feel good about herself, she not only has to put down other women, but she has to be sexually appealing to a straight man.

While Trainor is embracing her love for her body, she does so on the basis that the she is attractive to a man, the line, “Yeah, my mama she told me don’t worry about your size, she says ‘boys like a little more booty to hold at night,’” best illustrates this, as well as the way she sexualizes herself. She is presenting herself as a sexual object, providing no other way in which her body is of value.

Although she says “Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top” she also makes disparaging remarks about skinny women, singing “I’m bringing booty back, go ‘head tell them skinny bitches that.” Not only is this shaming women who are naturally skinny, but it puts women in a terrible position where not only are they facing criticism no matter how they look, but now they’re receiving criticism from a fellow woman who is trying to be body positive.

Not only this, she also jokes about how skinny women believe they have to lose weight, writing, “No I’m just playing, I know you think you’re fat.” This completely undermines the struggle of women who have eating disorders and body dysmorphia, joking about the fact that they believe they aren't good enough, and have to be something else. I find this the worst part of the song, as it trivializes a disorder that has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.