Women In America

The topic I have chosen to discuss this week, is that of women in America.

Even though the right for women to vote were first seriously proposed in July, 1848 in America, it was in the 1920's when women finally wont the right to vote throughout the nation.

Being published in 1925, Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" paints a portrait of the women of that day and age, and shows throughout multiple characters, different ways in which the women grew into their freedom and liberties.

Jordan Baker, a secondary/supporting character in the novel is a prime example of how women are motioning toward the new age of being able to do more. The name "Jordan Baker" that Fitzgerald lent to his sassy, golf playing character actually contributes to this point also; Jordan, also usually a man's name, and Baker were both big car manufacturers in the 1920's. It can be seen that Fitzgerald was layering on the masculinity to Jordan's character to create a new breed of woman, not only a flapper girl, but a woman of the future.

1950's America saw Marilyn Monroe star in no less than six motion pictures, usually film noir that dwelled on her seductiveness. This shows us that women have shot up in respectability, and are now even being admired for their work and their beauty.

In the 1960's women's rights and liberties has come on leaps and bounds. In 1963 the famed "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan was published; giving women in the US more movement, and ammunition to move forward and progress.

Women in the 60's also had beautiful, powerful, attractive women in the medias eye, to look up to. Audrey Hepburn's most famous movies "My Fair Lady" and "Breakast At Tiffany's" were released in the 1960's.

1970's see's women rising to absolute power. In the early 1970's little league baseball was opened up to young girls, and during the second half of the 70's rock band "The Runaways" wrote, toured and recorded six full length albums.

Not only was this a female revolution of women standing on stage, in leather trousers and holding guitars, this was also the first time the world had seen music like this coming from women. Initially, when founding band member Joan Jett approached her future management Kim Fowley, he was apprehensive to launch the first all girl rock band in America to make it big, but as history tells us, he got in on it, and it went big. Songs shocking the airwaves included; "Cherrybomb" "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" "I Wanna Be Your Dog" "I Love Rock n Roll" and "Queens Of Noise".

This kind of female empowerment has travelled through time, as music from this era and the aspects are still popular today. Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning both starred in a 2010 movie "The Runaways" portraying the band, and their rise to fame, and Joan Jett herself still tours to this day.

In conclusion, my point is that Fitzgerald's characters are on the brink of Women's rights, which soar through time, and become rockstars standing on stage today. It just shows that women can go from being, as Daisy Buchanan quotes "Pretty little fools" to in 1997 Madeline Albright, being the first women secretary of state in the US.

Fitzgerald's Ideas Today

The idea of the correlation between the acquisition of money and general fulfillment is one key to The Great Gatsby. In the novel, Fitzgerald challenges the idea that by attaining the American Dream, you become completely fulfilled, emotionally as well as matierially. Despite the popularity of Fitzgerald's publication however, even today in the 21st Century, the idea of the American Dream as something fullproof and unshaking still resonates with many Americans. I have, on the other hand, found an article which specifically targets whether money can buy happiness in America. The article interestingly explains how although in extreme scenarios statistics show that the more affluent a nation is, they are often happier, in agreement with Fitzgerald, individual wealth doesn't necessarily result in happiness.

The article, written by Arthur C Brooks in 2008 entitled 'Can Money Buy Happiness', begins with a story about how a man, Mack Metclif, a 42 year old working class forklift driver won $65 million on the lottery one day. He had a history of problems, and winning the money didn't seem to help him, to a point where he resorted to alcaholism, primarily as a result of paranoia, leading to his death aged just 45. Brooks uses this story as a representation, in an extreme scenario, of how the effects of money can in fact reduce happiness and increase things like paranoia and depression. To substanciate his argument, Brooks goes on to talk about how, in the wider scale of things, his theory is true. He expalains how although 'Americans have on average gotten much richer over the past several decades', 'there has been no meaningful rise in the average level of happiness'. In addition, he explains how 'In 1972, 30 percent of Americans said they were very happy' whilst earning an average annual wage of $25,000, but 'by 2004, the percentage of very happy Americans stayed virtually unchanged at 31 percent, while the share of national income skyrocketed to $38,000'.

Although these examples are very general, they still clearly identify the same ideas that Fitzgerald implies in The Great Gatsby. In the novel, Fitzgerald goes for a far more personal approach, using Jay Gatsby's situation as a microcosm of his interpretation of the American Dream. Gatsby's vast wealth coincides with his inability to win over the love of his life, Daisy. At the end of the Sixth Chapter, Gatsby's mood is depicted by Fitzgerald as 'unutterable depression' after another failed attempt to win her over by inviting her to one of his lavish parties. This is one example of how Fitzgerald gives us a direct idea of the lack of fulfillment money gives you without love and happiness, as Gatsby's wonderful house and parties mean nothing to him and leave him in a state of 'depression' as a result of the one he loves having a bad time.

Brooks' use of statistics and facts to support his interpretation of the American Dream and the disassociation of money and happiness continues throughout the article. In order to illustrate how across America, state happiness 'depends very little on their comparative prosperity', he explains how in 'Eastern Tennessee... [people] are 25 percent likelier than people living in tony San Francisco to say they are very happy, despite earning a third less money on average.' This shocking statistic opposes the idea that rural Americans are less fulfilled as a result of a generally less finacially supported lifestyle. Interestingly, this idea, in a sense, resontes in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby made much of his money working in the city, and grew up in a wealthy family in an affluent area of San Francisco, as well as living in arguably the richest area of New York, Long Island North Shore. His fulfillment and happiness however doesn't correlate with his upbringing and his location in later life. This agrees with the idea presented by Brooks in his article.

I think that the source I have chosen to represent how the themes of The Great Gatsby still resonate today is totally justifiable. The article gave us a rare example of someone questioning the American Dream and the fulfillment that comes from American consumerism with clear influence from figures such as F. Scott Fitzgerald. The article's factual nature could be well compared to the more opinionated fictional interpretation of the novel. This comparison has shown me how Fitzgerald's view of the matierialistic nature of the American Dream is still somewhat shared today.

Is the only real way to achieve the American Dream through crime or inheritance?

The Great Gatsby is a novel about how the American dream is fast becoming the American nightmare due to its misguidance and people trying to achieve it through any means possible. The hard work ethic and honesty we saw in Ragged Dick no longer exists and Fitzgerald suggests to his readers that the only way to achieve the American Dream in the 1920s is through crime or inheritance.

Gatsby is only able to buy all of the material items he owns because he inherited $25 000 from a man who saw potential in him. He then continues to be make money only through criminal activities such as bootlegging.

Although this idea of crime/inheritance making you rich was dominant in the 1920s there is still evidence that some of the richest people in the U.S today made their money through criminal activity or inheritance. For example social networking Facebook which was valued at approximately $84 billion earlier this year, was an idea stolen by “founder” Mark Zuckerberg who is reportedly worth $13.5 billion. The whole site was created by Zuckerberg based on an idea that came from someone else, surely this is stealing and makes it criminal? Apparently this criminality does not matter and Zuckerberg at age 27 ranks 52nd Forbes World’s Billionaires list.

Inheritance is still another way people become rich and supposedly achieve the American dream. Just like criminality this is still evident in contemporary U.S society, maybe even more so than in the 1920s. The worlds richest women, Christy Walton inherited her husbands money when he died in a plane crash in 2005. Her husband's family were the founders of Wal-Mart and today Christy is worth $26.5 billion thanks to this. She repeatedly appears on rich lists despite none of the money actually being earned by her.

From these examples we can see that inheritance and more commonly criminality still dominant American society and the people who achieve wealth through these means are said to have achieved the American dream. Which raises the question, what is the American dream? Is it just about being rich as these examples and The Great Gatsby suggest it should be? Or is it more individualised than that? Despite Gatsby obtaining wealth he still is not happy, his American dream is evidently Daisy and being rich did not help him achieve his dream. If anything it was the downfall of his dream. I believe that there is not one collective American dream. It depends on who you are and where you came from. As Fitzgerald suggests through The Great Gatsby the American dream became misguided and people forgot its actual meaning resulting, in what is now for a lot of Americans, the American Nightmare.

Week 11 = American Consumer Culture.

- the epitome of  American consumer culture?

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


JB

mustang

i have chosen this mustang ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZzXHq7gKN8

as it is a car add it has to do all it can to promote the cars image and to make it seem as cool as possible. This advert does this through a fantasy story line,

it starts with

"if you build it, he will come" being whispered to generic looking man, who then goes on to build a racetrack in a corn field, which then is joined by the ghost of Steve McQueen. The first inter textual reference is a nod to the film "field of dreams" staring Kevin Costner. In the film Costner's character hears a voice that tells him to build a baseball pitch to which he is then joined by his favourite dead baseball players, a strange concept, but considering its success at the box office of $64,431,625 the synopsis was appealing to an American audience. Those who have seen field of dreams would make the link between the advert and the film

The second intertextual reference is the fact that Steve McQueen drives the Mustang. Steve McQueen is well known for driving a later model of the Ford Mustang in the film "the getaway". The way in which the ghost of Steve is seen climbing into this mans newer version of the Mustang says to the audience that - if Steve McQueen were alive he would be dying to drive this car. Steve helps sell the car through idolisation as many men would dream of having a Mustang with the thought that they might become like Steve by buying it, or that they aspire or fancy themselves to be Steve McQueen. American adverts often use idolisation and companys pay big money to use stars in their advert.

The advert is clever as it uses old footage of Steve McQueen from films. the add shows Steve interacting with the man and then climbing into the car, this is achieved through special effects and clever editing

this advert works well as it uses other media texts and references to sell the product. The films it nods towards are helpful and confirm The Mustang as a classic and established car. The film the getaway is more or less a add for the Ford mustang anyway and by making an add that incorporates the film, makes the brand more desirable.

Have your people call my people.

Beyonce and Ellen De Generes: Have your people call my people.

Kate Winslet: My real life doesn't need any added drama. That's why my card is American Express.

This week, I have decided to look at the American Express adverts. American Express (Or AmEx) is a financial services corporation founded in 1850. It's also now, in 2011, the biggest card in America.

I looked at this first advert, and the most attention drawing thing about it, was of course that it had Beyonce and Ellen in it. Beyonce is a world known, international recording star and Ellen is the host of incredibly popular chat show "Ellen" on American TV.

This advert is comical, as most things with Ellen in are, and shows Ellen looking around her studio for her "people", after Beyonce has suggested Ellen come to a concert - "Have your people call my people". Ellen can't find her people, but eventually makes it to the show - American Express was there for her, symbolizing that American Express are your people, and will catch you if you need saving.

This second advert starring Kate Winslet, is definitely my favorite. I personally think it's been done so cleverly particularly with the script.

Kate: At 17 I went to prison for murder, by 19, I was penniless and heartbroken, I almost drowned at 20. My mind started to go at 24. Then I had my memory erased at 28. And by 29...I was in Neverland. My real life doesn't need any extra drama, that's why my card is American Express. My life. My card.

It's not until after you've seen the advert a couple of times that you realise it's not just Kate Winslet playing a part, walking through Camden Market. Each little sentence and where she is, what she is doing at that point of the commercial relates cleverly to a film she's made.

For example:

At 17, I went to prison for murder - Heavenly Creatures, 1994

(The camera pans through wrought iron bars)

By 19, I was penniless and heartbroken - Sense & Sensibility, 1995

(In Camden, Kate picks up a worn copy of Sense & Sensibility)

I almost drowned at 20 - Titanic, 1997

(Kate is seen on a bridge, looking over a wide river)

My mind started to go at 24 - Iris, 2001

(Kate leaves the bridge, but forgets her coffee that she has set down on the side. She returns for it.)

And I had my memory erased at 28 - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, 2004

(Kate is seen walking down the street, she disappears as a car passes her.)

And by 29, I was in Neverland - Neverland, 2004.

(Kate stops at a stall still in Camden Market, and picks up some childrens toys. One in particular, a Peter Pan hat, and also one other; a childs pirate hook.)

The music is a simple background piano piece that lets the script and action on the screen do all of the work; this works perfectly as there is a lot of information an audience would miss if there was a heavy background accompaniment.

This advert is very affective, and works well for it's purpose because it is attempting to give the impression that AmEx is a simple, no strings, no drama card that you can use in any situation without any hassle; what every card user wants.

The subtlety of this advert will make people talk about it, because I know when I first saw it, I thought it was going to be an advert for a movie, or a documentary on Kate Winslet because everything was so tailor made to her during the commercial; however, once I realized that the advert was actually for AmEx Cards, I couldn't help but think it was a really clever advert that made me think.

Which is basically AmEx's attempt, to get their product into people's minds, because then they are more likely to take up an AmEx account.

American Consumerism - Chrysler

The advert I have opted to look at is the 2011 Chrysler advert featuring Eminem. Following the references to Henry Ford and his legecy, which was established in Detroit, Michigan, in the last lecture, I thought this advert would be a perfect example to analyse. Although it makes no direct reference to Ford himself, his influence and legacy is clear in the speech that accompanies the commercial.

Ford represents and embodies many of the USAs traditional ideas and characteristics. The advert talks about how although the Detriot "has been to hell and back", "hard work, conviction and a know-how that runs generations deep" enables the city to flourish. This makes direct reference to the 'American dream' theory, which states that by working hard and showing determination you can see yourself through hard times. By applying traditional American values to the commercial, the company makes their product seem very American, in turn making the consumer believe that buying the car is in a sense an act of patriotism.

The commercial, as well as seemingly representing America as a whole, also promotes the idea of Detroit itself. The narrator explains how "We're from America, but we're no New York City or the Windy City or Sin City, and we're certainly no-ones Emerald City", making the car an exclusively 'Detroit' product. On one hand this commercial decision might limit the products popularity as it is only appealing to people from one small area of the country, particularly for people from the places that the advert specifically disassociates itself from. On the other hand however, when we look closely at how these places are all large corporation run cities, it could be suggested that the product reflects the small-town side of America which is something which still appeals to many.

Another key feature of the advertisment is the inclusion of the Detroit native and world famous rapper Eminem. His song 'Lose yourself' accompanies the commercial, building up gradually throughout, and he himself features at the end. On the surface this is seen simply as an advertising tool to give the product greater appeal, but beneath the surface his appearance represents far more. He represents the 'Rags to Riches' story of a boy born into tough circumstances who overcomes disadvantage to become successful. This accompanies the general theme of the advert, therefore perfectly concluding the advert.

The final line, spoken by Eminem, "This is the Motor City, and this is what we do" again reflects the idea of continuity that can be associated with Chrysler and the Detriot motor industry. The company, through this final line in particular, allows the consumer to feel like they can rely on the car and the company and that they will see results. The traditional American characteristic of efficiency and simplicity is identifiable through this.

American Consumer Culture

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

I have chosen to look at the 2011 Ray-Ban Sunglasses commercial which is entitled "Never Hide". Initially I was drawn to the commercial because of its title. The commercial is based around a water fight where none of the participants hide, they all come forth and fight this battle. I think the title of the commercial is interesting because it is a sunglasses advert, if you put sunglasses on, your eyes are hidden. Yet Ray-Ban decided to call this commercial Never Hide.

The background music and no dialogue is something I found interesting in this commercial as it is almost a modern, western movie theme. I think this suggests what Ray-Ban were trying to connote to their viewers. The use of guns, western movie music, the sun placement covering people's faces in some shots and the slow motion shots but quick cuts all imply that Ray-Ban were trying to create a modern Western in this commercial. This is a common feature of American advertising as the cowboy/western was seen as a hero, this links back to the title of the commercial "Never Hide" saying that, the heroes of westerns never hid, if you wear Ray-Bans neither will you hide and you can become hero. Therefore dismissing the fact that if you're wearing sunglasses your eyes are hidden, if you wear Ray-Bans they are not and neither are you.

The use of the water guns in the commercial itself is interesting. Although they are water guns the actions that are portrayed by the characters in the commercial are very gun like. For example we see the woman that was running at the beginning of the commercial pull two guns out from the side of her shorts much like a real gun. Then, again at the end of the commercial you see three men drive past in a car, two of these men are pointing the water guns out of the window. Again like we see with real guns in TV shows and movies. By using water guns as a way in which to advertise their product, I think Ray-Ban have tried to target an American audience as they know this pseudo gun set up will appeal to many Americans, as we found out in previous weeks.

To conclude, I think it is intriguing that Ray-Ban have reverted back to using Western ideas and connotations in their commercial. These ideas were popular from the 1950s-1970s but have since lost impact so it is interesting that Ray-Ban would decide to use this concept as a way to sell their product in 2011. I believe that the reason they have used this idea is because originally cowboys were cool and rebellious but in a positive and heroic way. As Ray-Ban are trying to promote the tag line "Never Hide" this iconic concept allows them do so. I feel that they have used this idea and made it contemporary and urbanised it, as the setting is a typical American street. This therefore, still allows their audience to relate to the commercial and think, that could be me and thus by the product.