Wednesday, 12 March 2014

Pretty Little Liars





http://westwoodcardinalchronicle.com/entertainment/2014/02/12/pretty-little-liars-recapwhos-in-the-box/

Pretty Little Liars is a mystery teen drama that follows the lives of four High School students that are being harassed by 'A'. The show premiered in 2010 and has just been renewed for its 5th season. It has had mixed reviews and has been labelled as predictable by some and a breath of fresh air by others.



The four main girls Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily are supposed to be stereotypical 16 year old's who just happen to be going through an out of the ordinary stalker experience. They are represented as emotionally unstable and untrustworthy teenage girl's who are expected to be able to handle near death experiences and being stalked by a psychopathic anonymous person who controls their lives on their own without any help from an adult or the police. They give the impression that a girl's worth is solely based on appearance, social worth and the boy she choses to have on her arm. Pretty Little Liars may make young girls feel adventurous and crazy obsessed with the mystery that is "who is A??" but what they probably do not realise is how poorly teenage girls are being represented.


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Hanna Marin is the blonde and outgoing one of the four. She's your typical dumb blonde if you look at her simply- she may be outgoing but she is definitely the most outspoken member of the group. She often takes up the role of the snarky member of the group as she isn't afraid to speak her mind and put people straight. However, stereotypical to how a dumb blonde gets treated she will get slack from those around her if she says something that isn't correct or doesn't confide with the idea's of the group. In Hanna's past she was bulimic after being overweight, and being bullied about it. She was an outcast and felt excluded from the clique, so she lost weight, bought and stole nice clothes, started wearing make up and changed everything about her in order to be popular. Hanna's character is having a bad influence on Pretty Little Liars' audience as she is teaching them that in order to be happy and popular you must confide to society's idea of beautiful by being skinny, rich and flawless. Hanna's bestfriend towards to the start of series was Mona. Mona ended up betraying all four of the girls especially Hanna by being apart of the 'A Team' and making their lives miserable. This friendship was portrayed as genuine but turned out to be fake, this friendship and most other's in the show are full of drama and lying which is an unfair representation of girls' friendships. It makes girls seem unable to be apart of a friendship that is truthful and normal as in loving and fun.


http://pretty-little-liars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Aria-montgomery-pic.jpg

Aria Montgomery is the alternative, arty girl in the group. She often wears black, punk rock style clothes and at the start of the series had a pink streak in her hair. Just going by looks you would assume that she would be your stereotypical goth, but Aria is a bright, outgoing teenager who has top social status and isn't an outsider- this breaks the stereotype that girls who like to wear black are a bit alternative and dorky and weird and an outsider socially. Aria just like the other three is a poor representation of the typical teenage girl which they are supposed to be. She fits into one of the most commonly used stereotypes of teenage girls today which is boy crazy, a compulsive liar who will say anything to get past her parents and friends and a reckless and irresponsible girl whose delusional about what she wants. This type of teenage representation is seen all over the media, an example of a movie that uses this same template is Mean Girls as their main character Cady is boy crazy over Aaron Samuels, lies to her parents and friends and is reckless and irresponsible about her relationships and actions.


http://degrassi.wikia.com/wiki/File:Pretty-little-liars-spencer-spencer-hastings-troian-bellisario-Favim.com-197057.jpg

Spencer Hastings is your typical over-acheiver. She's bright and sophisticated making her the brains of the group. Spencer is the girl everyone goes to when they're looking for advice and is trusted to be the one who will solve the mysteries that seem to follow the four girls everywhere they go. She's a perfectionist who's edging on obsessive compulsive, a stereotype of a smart girl that we see everywhere on television. An example of another stereotypical over achiever on television is Mouse off The Carrie Diaries. She's obsessive and competitive about everything she does, just like Spencer, and is the brains of the group, often being the girl everyone goes to if they need advice or help. Just like the other four girls, Spencer is portrayed as a lying, crazy teenager that can't resist any boys no matter how committed they are to other people. She fits into the smart, over achieving teenage stereotype as she comes across as only caring about being the best at everything and boys. This makes young teenage girls believe that the only things important in life are boys and being an over achiever, instead of being happy and living the life that you want. You could also look at Spencer as a role model for young girls as she does have a healthy social life and achieves extremely highly in academics and other activities. One major flaw in Spencer's character and storyline is in season 3 when she gets admitted into Radley, Rosewood's mental institution for severe emotional trauma after discovering her long-term boyfriend Toby was apart of the 'A Team' and finding what she thought was his body in the woods. However, once Spencer found out that Toby wasn't dead and was in fact working as a double agent in order to keep her safe she quickly recovered and was back to a fit and healthy state in no time. This quick recovery makes it seem like mental illness is something temporary and can be fixed with a snap of the fingers or in Spencer's case a piece of information. In order for the show to accurately display mental illness in a respectful way they should have extended her recovery to a more believable time period instead of around one episode like they did, and show her continuous struggles throughout the series instead of completely discarding the storyline. If people struggling with mental illness were watching Pretty Little Liars at the time of Spencer's crisis they probably would have felt misunderstood and worse about how they feel and what it means to be mentally ill. 


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Emily Fields is easily the least stereotypical character in the show. She's a girly yet sporty asian who is out and confident about her lesbian sexuality. Immediately that breaks multiple stereotypes that we see all over the media these days. Asians are often portrayed as academic and outsiders- Emily is sporty and popular, Lesbians are more often then not represented as boyish and secretive or embarrassed about their sexuality- Emily is girly and out and proud. She is a positive role model for anyone whose struggling with their sexuality by letting them know that you can be a known lesbian and still be accepted and loved by those around you. The way the character's around Emily react and deal to her sexuality has to be celebrated as they are written to be supportive, loving and protective of Emily as she comes to terms with herself. The appearance of Emily as a lesbian character on this mainstream television show that is Pretty Little Liars is amazing in itself. It just proves how far we have come as a society that accepts and celebrates peoples differences openly and with pride. Shay Mitchell, the actress who plays Emily Fields said, “I have a lot of friends who are gay; my aunt had a girlfriend. It's just normal,” said Shay. “And the way that fans have reacted [to my portrayal of Emily] has been amazing: I'm not playing the gothic chick dressed in all black who eats lunch in the corner and is a lesbian. If you look at the poster, you wouldn't necessarily be able to pinpoint which one of us is the lesbian, and that was really important to me.” 

Pretty Little Liars is one of those shows that gets some things right and other things completely wrong. They label teenage girls as compulsive liars who obsess over boys/girls and as a show fixate on popular and beautiful girls, portraying everyone else who doesn't fit this mould as weird and frowned upon. After analysing this show I have come to the realisation that if basically anyone I know was made a character in rosewood they would be the ones being frowned upon solely based on the fact that they have quirky personalities and don't  base their lives around romantic relationships and pleasing others. I strongly disagree with the main stereotype of all us teenage girls being liars. Yes, some girls do lie a lot but the message Pretty Little Liars is putting across is that we are willing to spin the most outrageous of lies without fluttering an eye lid in order to get what we want when we want it. I think the writers decided to write the show this way because they know that the audience will think of this as 'cool' and something to be celebrated. Being a good liar is something that is represented as cool and rebellious for a teenager to be able to do so it's really quite smart of the writers to tap into those feelings that they know the audience will have. No teenage girl wants to watch a TV show that's exactly like their own life so setting up a story with characters that are the envy of all girls ensures the producers of a successful and influential TV show. Even if there are a bunch of unfair representations and stereotypes used you can't talk about Pretty Little Liars without applauding it for some parts of their show. Their portrayal of Emily in particular is brilliant and sets an excellent example for young girls who are struggling to come to terms with their sexuality. They also break the stereotype for the alternative girls by making Aria a popular, up beat member of the show- this shows a completely different side to girls like Aria who have for years been clumped into a stereotype of being emo, depressed and an outsider.

No matter how in depth you look into Pretty Little Liars you can't deny the brilliance and success of this hit TV show. The question is what will you do with the information you learn from the story lines and characters- will you confide to society's beliefs on perfection or will you chose to live a life that is fulfilling for you and makes you happy.

Monday, 10 March 2014

Girlfriend Magazine

Girlfriend Magazine March Issue


Girlfriend magazine is an Australian teen magazine that targets girls between the ages of 12 and 17. It's content is a mix of entertainment, fashion, beauty, advice and lifestyle articles.

According to a 2006 report done by Magazine Publishers of America, 78% of teenagers read magazines. (http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall07/Moorhouse/impact.html). It has been revealed that girls rely on these magazines as a way of expressing themselves and getting inspiration for beauty and other advice. More shockingly, research has shown that almost half the girls between ages 12 and 15 thought of these magazines as as good a friends as their closest friends. (http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall07/Moorhouse/impact.html). If magazines have this much influence on young teenage girls, then isn't it our duty to be more worried about what messages they are sending.

This years March issue has Lea Michele as their cover girl. As most teenage girls know, Lea is a well known actress from the hit TV show Glee, with her also just recently releasing songs for her upcoming album. However its not her creative artistic abilities which have thrown her into the media recently- it was the tragic death on July 13th 2013 of Cory Monteith, Lea's boyfriend at the time that suddenly made Lea and Glee a household name once more.

Lea is a white skinned, beautiful young adult with a picture perfect face and flawless skin. She's portrayed in the media and especially in this magazine as the ideal role model for young girls. On this cover she looks almost inhumanly perfect- her hair is wavy, styled and healthy, her skin is flawless, her makeup is styled to perfection in a deceivingly simple way and her toned body is flaunted in a crop top exposing her midriff. To the young girls looking at this magazine Lea Michele is portrayed as the ideal girl who everyone wishes they could be. The magazine wants you to believe that her beauty is something attainable that you should aspire to have- they want you to flick through their magazine and need to buy all the products their advertising because they will help you become more like Lea Michele. But what most of these girls will fail to notice is the little stamp on the bottom left corner of the cover that states that "this image was supplied to us retouched". It's great that Girlfriend magazine has stated this but I can't help but think that it was put their out of tokenism. The magazine wants to be known as a business that doesn't promote unattainable beauty but in reality it is in their best interests to have girls flick through their magazines and want to be just like the cover girl and beg their parents to buy the latest beauty product that the magazine is advertising. Girls wouldn't be drawn to magazines like girlfriend if all they were looking at was something they see everyday- they want to believe that there is something bigger and better that they can aspire to be in life.

The name 'Girlfriend' in itself comes with multiple connotations. The magazine wants to be your bestfriend and a source of information that has to be true, because after all they are your bestfriend. They want you to believe that everything that they see must be true and is a trusted source to find the information on how to live your life. They use pink and purple as the cover scheme which immediately will attract any young girls eye (thats if we're going by the absurd stereotypes that society has set for girls). They advertise articles by introducing them in ways that a friend would tell you a secret, such as- "Psst! Get the secrets to a happy life" and "love-me syndrome. Do you have it?". This draws the readers attention by using topics that girls are thinking about at this age. It get's the girls on side and attempts to build up a trust that will let the magazine influence you in anyway they want. 

With a target audience of 12-17 year old girls you'd hope that this magazine would be attempting to portray positive messages about body image, relationships and other things that girls of this age worry about. Instead this magazine plays on these insecurities by having articles based on improving these qualities instead of accepting them. In this particular issue most advertisements were selling clothing/jewellery items and beauty products for the skin and hair, and the majority of articles talking about relationships with boys and advice as to how to get boys. What does it say about a magazine that claims to be your bestfriend but wants you to change everything about you. The articles about boys are possibly the most disturbing part about this magazine. They have made the assumption that all girls in that age range are desperate for a boyfriend and would change anything and do anything to get one. If girls read this they could get the idea that these opinions are the norm and of course they should be thinking like this too.

This magazine is full of stereotypes that you see all over the media. For example the image of a teenage girl that they portray as normal is innocent, girly, fit and healthy, boy obsessed and willing to change everything about them to get a boy. This is obviously a completely inaccurate representation of teenage girls and sets a bad example to anyone who reads the magazine. Boys who may be reading it could also create an idea of a perfect girl that is impossible for anyone to live up to. 

You can't expect a teen magazine to be able to include every minority and group known to man but it's unacceptable to have the majority of its articles and pictures only being of white pretty girls. Some groups and topics they have failed to represent are the disabled, sexual preference, career choices involving politics and positions of power, and girls of colour. The one page that is dedicated to a girl of colour is solely based on fitness. You'd think it would be in the best interests of the magazine to try and relate to as many teenage girls as possible, so I struggle to understand why they would only represent such a small group of people. 

In my opinion this magazine, and in fact most teen magazines today are having a strongly negative impact on its readers. Girl's especially learn that there is only one way to have a fulfilling life and that's to be popular, pretty and to have a boyfriend. The pages are covered with pictures of gorgeous girls that have the intention to make the readers feel insecure about their bodies so when they flick to the next page and see an advertisement for a product "that is sure to make you feel beautiful", they can't help but buy it. In order for girls to feel happy and secure in themselves the media needs to stop posting unrealistic representations of the typical teenage girls. 

Friday, 7 March 2014

Pitch Perfect





Pitch Perfect, released in 2012 and directed by Jason Moore is a timeless comedic film that has taken the world by storm.  It follows the life of Beca, an alternative introvert who is in her freshman year at Barden University and finds herself apart of the collegiate acapella singing group 'The Barden Bella's. The film then tells the story of the Bella's tumultuous journey to the top of the collegiate acapella ladder.

In Films and TV Shows the idea of the perfect girl is a slim, popular, beautiful, rich, high achiever with a boyfriend. It's because of this unachievable goal that 58 percent of college aged girls feel pressured to be a certain weight and approximately 91 percent of women are unhappy about their body shape and feel that they have to resort to dieting to achieve the ideal body shape. Only 5 percent of women in America naturally possess this body shape that the media portrays as normal. How can people expect young girls to feel happy and confident within themselves when all they see is an unrealistic and unachievable stereotype that society expects them to fit into. Pitch Perfect is one of those rare films where the characters are girls of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities. But even with all these different groups being represented, the question still remains, is it a fair representation of girls today? 


http://www.velocitygoals.com/2014/02/embracing-your-inner-fat-amy/

Pitch Perfect may seem like just another movie out of Hollywood, in many ways it is, but if you look closer you'll notice how many social stereotypes are used and the effect these will be having on us as viewers. The character of Fat Amy is arguably the most interesting and hilarious part of the film, she captivates the audience through her large personality and comedic comments making the character an instant global sensation. However Fat Amy's fame has provoked the question of whether her character is an accurate representation of a young adult or teenager or has Hollywood got it wrong once more by forcing an unfair stereotype on the fat girl.

Fat Amy is a confident and mildly cocky Australian who prides herself in not letting other people's comments get to her. She isn't outspoken and doesn't blend into the background of important scenes, she makes sure her opinion is heard whether it's a joke or not making her a vital part of the Barden Bella's. This alone breaks the stereotype that fat girls are pushed into for films and TV shows. Most fat girls on screen are portrayed as insecure, outspoken, unpopular and an all round no body. They play minor parts and their story lines are almost always based around struggles with their weight or other personal issues. Fat Amy is a complete opposite to this, consequently setting a good example for young girls around the world. She proves to everyone that being who you are and not hiding behind your insecurities and differences will bring you happiness. 


http://glee.wikia.com/wiki/File:Heart-fat-amy.gif


However, if you look closer at her character throughout the film you begin to notice some stereotypes that are making it onto our screens more and more often. For example, Fat Amy in a nutshell is just another funny fat girl. She often uses her weight as the focus of her jokes, for example she hid from Aubrey when the Bella's were doing Cardio and when she was found out she claimed to be "horizontal running". Fat Amy is very similar to many characters that actress Melissa McCarthy portrays on film. She as well is a very funny lady and is almost always playing the funny fat girl who uses humour to highlight her obesity and distaste for all things to do with exercise. This makes it seem like all girls who struggle with their weight are against exercise and aiming for a healthier body- when in reality that may not always be the case. Rebel Wilson is best known for playing the stereotypical 'fat girl' in movies such as 'Bridesmaids' and 'Pitch Perfect' of course. She doesn't hide from the fact that she is big and has been quoted to say that "As long as I look like this, I’m going to make fat jokes". She embraces her body and is using it to the best of her ability to get jobs and build a fan base that loves and accepts her for who she is. She's apart of the change in Hollywood that's seeing the standards of beauty change. Rebel said, “Before, it was all glamorous types like Kate Hudson who served as, like, the female equivalent of a ‘straight man,'" and "Now it's turning, and it's really good". Maybe If we see more people of Rebel's on the big screen, then it will stop mattering as much. I personally believe Fat Amy is a positive role model but you can't escape the fact that in some ways her character is a negative and unfair representation of big girls.


Fat Amy's confidence is her strong point, it is displayed brilliantly when she asks to be called 'Fat Amy' because as she says, "so twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back". This shows that she's taking control of the situation by turning the insult of being called fat into a normal everyday thing that she controls. She removes the insult and connotations of being 'ugly' and 'stupid' out of the word and uses it for its true and simple meaning, she is not thin and there is no hiding from it. Though Fat Amy does fit into the funny fat girl stereotype, I believe her humour and ability to not let her weight burden her is a positive trait that anyone, especially girls, can strive towards. Fat Amy's clothing choices are another indication of how well she has embraced her weight. Throughout the film she wears tight fitting clothes that she wears with pride, not worrying about what other people think of her. It is not the typical 'popular fashion forward' clothing, but thats ok because that is who Fat Amy is, she's an individual with a creative streak who does what she wants when she wants. 



Overall I believe Pitch Perfect, especially Fat Amy is a positive role model for young girls. She teaches you to embrace your differences and not care what other people think of you, because at the end of the day you are your own person and as long as you're happy in yourself, everything will be ok. 






Wednesday, 12 February 2014

What is a Stereotype?

What is a stereotype?

A stereotype is a pre-concieved, fixed belief that applies to a group or individual. It's the idea that all people that look the same or belong to a group must have the same characteristics and beliefs as one another. The reason we stereotype comes down to our laziness as humans. Stereotyping allows us to form an opinion on a group or individual with little to no effort to get to know them. It can give you a false sense of security and idea of belonging by creating a 'them' and 'us' mentality that disassociates you from what you may see as an undesirable group of people. The media uses stereotypes to give the audience a basic understanding of the character without any character development taking place. They also like to create stereotypical characters so the audience know what to expect in the way of personality and story lines, and to have someone who they can recognise and identify with. In doing this the media generates a large audience which consequently earns them money.

You may claim to be the person that never stereotypes and keeps an open mind- I'm sad to say that you are most definitely not that person, nobody is. Psychologists used to believe that only the bigoted people stereotype, but now the ugly truth has come out, every single one of us uses stereotypes no matter how hard we try to avoid it. We can stereotype consciously and without even knowing it, for example you may be asked to write down your views on an ethnic group, but what you write consciously is only half the story. Psychologists believe that your true prejudiced feelings are being masked in in the depths of your mind at an unconscious level. Stereotyping is ingrained in our human nature, so it doesn't matter how or if you stereotype its what you do about it that counts.