THIS BLOG IS INTENDED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY…NOT!

Warning, the following commercials will appeal to you only if you if have the sexual maturity of a 14 year old boy or if you are a man with the equivalent mental age.  (Sorry, I should also include women)

BLOG QUESTION:  Analyze an instance of food porn. Why is it food porn?

In class we discussed food porn specific to television shows.  However, we get many short clips of porn on commercials all the time.  I have attached three You Tube clips.  All of which debuted during a Super Bowl. 

Have a look at the first…Oh yeah; please don’t click on this link unless you are 18 or older…J

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfImhHfE-uI

Friday night, hanging out, playing video games with the boyz.  Nothing wrong with that. Right?  Wrong!  Let’s make these guys look really desperate…  One has his hands wrapped around his joystick and the other is playing with his Rubik’s cube. They are so hopeless that they have to create imaginary women by eating Doritos.  The first guy gets a moaning, porn star type.  The second guy gets a twosome; and the third not to be outdone by the first two, gets an orgy going.   No one (in their right mind) believes that Doritos can make women magically appear.  Is this ad going to make you run out and buy Doritos?  It might, if you were sitting there thinking, ‘I want a snack.’ One more thing…the dog?  HMMM can you say bestiality? This clip is a example of, “…the glorification of food as a substitute for sex” (Bourdaine, 2001)

Let’s have a look at the next ad…             

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzmFrcuwuuo

“…the best food porn depicts beautiful objects arranged in ways one might never have previously considered” (Bourdaine, 2001).  We have foreplay – getting the bed ready for her salad.  We have, ‘the act’ Kim interacting with her lover, the salad.  She begins to eat her salad, she grabs at the blanket as if she is in the throes of passion. She comments, “…and while the best things in life are messy…” at that exact moment a drop of semen colored dressing drips from her mouth, past her breasts and then off screen.  Yes, we even have the image of bodily fluids.  Kim K. then gives us a sly slide glance.  Seemingly looking right into our eyes. After getting dirty with her salad, Kim K. takes a bath with her salad.  Well you gotta cuddle, right? 

If you are a salad lover, the salad alone in the commercial might be enough to make you go out and buy one.  It looks great.  But, of course, the focus is really not on the actual salad.  It is about Kim eating the salad.

Yup, each one is getting a little dirtier… are you ready for the last ad?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gby0zfCYiA

This commercial ran for about 60 seconds.  We see Paris Hilton in a swimsuit.  She is writhing atop an expensive car, getting herself all wet and soapy.  The first 38 seconds of the clip could be an automobile ad or a bathing suit add, even an ad for soap.  At 38 seconds we finally see a burger.  Maybe all of that rolling around on the car got her hungry.  But there is nothing to indicate that it is a Carl’s Jr. Burger. The burger was on screen for 4 seconds!!!  Paris kept her fingers in her mouth longer than the burger.  The commercial culminates with Paris taking an orgasmic roll around the car.  Oh yeah, the burger came back for 2 seconds. Right before Paris aimed her hose at us and fired away with a simulated money shot.  What was she selling again?  Six out of 60 seconds in the clip focused on the burger; 10% of this ad was about the food. 

On the food network show, Nigella Feasts, the sexual innuendo is coy and covered in double-entendre (Patterson, 2006).  The sexual implication in Kim K.’s and Paris Hilton’s clips are obvious and in your face. 

In my opinion, if the sexual nature of these commercials makes you want to go out a buy a burger, chips or a salad you are not really hungry; at least not for food.  You may want to step away from the TV and start interacting with a real person rather than a 2 dimensional fantasy. I think it is safe to assume that the orgy aint gonna happen if you buy some Doritos and Paris and Kim are not waiting for your at Carl’s Jr.  So get a life.

Sites Referenced

Bourdaine, A. (2001, Jan). SFGate.com. "Essay / Food Porn / Lust for the Gastronomic - from Zola to cookbooks - is Nothing New, But Maybe its Time to Shelve it"

Patterson, T. (2006, Oct). "Oral Pleasures, The Food Network Gets Dirty with Nigella Feasts and Paula's Party" 

You Tube, "Doritos Super Bowl Commercial - Boys Night In - 2011 Ad ". (2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfImhHfE-uI

You Tube, "Kim Kardashian Carl's Jr. Commercial - Social Media Endorsement". (nd.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzmFrcuwuuo

You Tube, "Paris Hilton Carls Jr Burger Ad Extended Directors Cut Banned Commercials"  (nd). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gby0zfCYiA

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS REALITY!!!

A few years ago my family took a western Caribbean cruise.  I am a little embarrassed to admit that we acted like typical tourists.  When we disembarked in Cozumel, Mexico we went swimming with the dolphins, shopped and ate.  We were on foot and didn’t want to get lost or get back to the ship late so we stayed within site of the ship.  I didn’t even think about it at the time but the only contact that we had with the local citizens was at the dolphin enclosure and with the local shop owners.  

Our next stop was Grand Cayman Island.  We hopped into a shuttle went to a beach and chilled all day in a cabana.  On this beach there were again mostly tourists with very few local residents other than the shop and restaurant personnel. 

The third stop was in Montego Bay in Jamaica.  We took a scary but exciting trip up the mountain in a rickety van overloaded with…you guessed it…tourists.  We passed coffee fields, food stands, some beautiful homes and some shacks.  In this location we saw a lot of local folks and ate the best JERKED CHICKEN I have ever had. 

Our next stop was a location that the cruise line referred to as their private island. It is actually a port called Labadie on the island of Haiti.  According to the cruise line, the beach was for our exclusive use.  What I saw when I first disembarked was the water park the beautiful sand and blue water.  

These photos are accurate but dont give the whole picture.

http://www.google.com/search?q=labadee+haiti&hl=en&biw=1187&bih=587&prmd=ivnsm&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=G_NtTtyJNKT10gHyzsXtBA&sqi=2&ved=0CCkQsAQ

What I noticed after walking the beach for a while was the fence.  The entire perimeter of the ‘private beach’ was surrounded by an 8 or 10 foot tall chain link fence.  Standing along that fence were island residents watching the tourists on the beach.  I remember being concerned about safety.  Of course, after a few island drinks, my fears disappeared. 

I had not thought much about that moment until we talked in class last week about what people in other countries know about our lifestyle in the US. 

Now a question comes to mind?  Was the fence there to keep the local residents away from the tourists or was it there to stop the tourists from seeing something other than our perfectly orchestrated vacation oasis?

Did they not want us to see people who can’t get fresh water or sufficient food while we were overindulging and lying around on the beach. 

I now know a lot about the poor conditions in Haiti not because of what I have heard on the news but from what I have learned speaking with Haitian friends and from friends who have traveled there on missionary trips before and after the devastating earthquakes.  But what do the residents in Haiti know about us?  What is their source of information?  Is there knowledge of the US as limited as the people of Guadalupe?  Do they only draw their conclusions about the rest of the world based on the people they see overindulging on the beach? 

I began considering the question posed in class -- Is there a media text that accurately or adequately depicts you and/or your community? 

Well my first answer is MTV, BET, VH1 are not accurate depictions of our normal way of life.  We are not what appears to be bedazzled women dancing around half naked or thugs with a lot of money with a high priced hooker on each arm!  Do you personally know of any men who left the federal penitentary and drove off into the sunset to perform a video in a Bentley?  Do you persoanlly know of any women who walk around dressed like Li'l Kim? (Well... I have seen a couple of young women on campus who are trying to emulate her appearance, SAD)anyway...

I began to think about some of the TV shows that supposedly depict American life.  Well, we have the Fresh Prince of Bel Air…Yeah Right!

     Yes, Dear? 

          Everybody Loves Raymond.

               Everybody Hates Chris.

                    Friends.  

                         Girlfriends.

!REALITY SHOWS! Come on now, what is real about those shows.

Give me a break!  Oh yeah, that was a show in the 80’s. 

None of these shows describe the lifestyle of anyone I know.

So here is MY recipe for a media text that will give the outside world glimpse of what our life is like…

Mix some of the Tyler Perry movies and plays, about half of the TV sitcoms, a few soap operas, the local news – (yes, we have to include the local violence), the national news, a couple of TV evangelists, you even have to sprinkle in a few music videos. We gotta add in South Beach Tow and Hoarders also.  Mix it all up and then put it through a funnel.  After it has been thinned out in the funnel, strain it through some cheesecloth.  The tiny drops that come through still might give a small glimpse of what true life is like here.  Truth be told, I can’t tell you how the other half lives.  I have always had modest means.  The only thing I know about the social elite in my own country is what I see in the media.  I don’t know what is true and what is created for me to see.

To answer the question presented in class, I do not believe that there is any one media text that can adequately depict any lifestyle.  It is sad to say but nothing we really think is reality is real.   I think that most media texts are orchestrated to present what the creator wants us to see.  Just like the cruise line did on their private island in Haiti. 

references:

Google Images

Seits, D.  (n.d.)  Cultural Identity in the Age of Ether:  Black Entertainment Television and the Island of Guadalupe.  Pp. 425 - 442.

UH OH! OUR IGNORANCE IS SHOWING!

In class this week we were asked several questions about the celebrity elite and several questions about politicians and issues that directly impact our lives as students at PSU.  In my opinion it is pretty sad to know that most of the class blurted out the names Kim K., Will and Jada, Mariah Carey and whatever the heck that movie is, but couldn’t name the Governor of our state.  I have a question for the class.  Who was the governor of California from 2003 til early 2011?  Hint:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soYDuaurNKY&feature=related

Even if you don’t know the exact years that he served in office, I can hazard a guess that you know his name and the name of a few of his movies.

As I review my notes from class a couple of ideas from both Lippman and Dewey stand out.

LIPPMAN - IDEA 5:   Lippman stated, “The public will always be ignorant and uninformed…  Not trustworthy to participate in the democratic process.”  Well if the quiz we took is any indication, this statement is true.  If we don’t know the name of the governor or his political affiliation and we don’t know the name of either one of our senators, we are not informed enough to vote intelligently.    

LIPPMAN - IDEA 6:  Lippman also stated, “Because of the imperfect and profit driven nature of mass media, key public decisions should be based on the opinions and guidance of the experts, specialists and bureaucrats.”   I don’t believe that the key decisions impacting my life should be made by the experts, etc.  But, to a degree that is exactly what we allow to happen when we spend more time voting on our American Idol favorite or the best dance crew on ABDC . 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-SS5oj89IY&feature=related

THOSE WHO ARE INFORMED ARE MAKING OUR CHOICES FOR US.  WHEN THINGS DON’T WORK OUT WITH A POLITICIAN WHO ARE WE TO COMPLAIN!

Reading some of Dewey’s ideas gave me a little hope for the state of our ignorance.  It can be overcome if we choose to educate ourselves.  I agree wholeheartedly with his Idea 1 – “The modern world is too complex for every citizen to grasp completely.”  We would blow a gasket and lose our minds if we tried to know everything about every issue.  I don’t think that we need to know everything about everything.  That is why we have SME’s (subject matter experts).  I know very little about creating a blog.  (That is evident in the fact that I still cannot make comments on your pages.)  So I go to someone who is a SME for assistance.  Most of us can’t put brakes on our cars so we go to an expert.  The same reasoning can be used when attempting to make a logical choice during an election.  I am not foolish enough to think that every piece of information is fact.  I know that it is not as easy as picking a channel and listening to the rhetoric that is often spewed from the “experts”, however, the option is much better than allowing someone else to make my choices for me.

This leads me to Dewey’s Idea 3 – “The public can come to judgments and arrive at solutions to societal problems using small public forums.”  This actually speaks for itself, and it works.  However it would be much more effective if our society actually had some societal cohesiveness. Just think about it.  If we spent as much time considering our political choices as we did wondering which celebrity is sleeping with who; who is pregnant and who is the ‘baby daddy’ we would not have to label ourselves as ignorant.