Play It Again, Ma'm

The new Dove commercial, which you can watch at

http://www.reginaldpike.com/dove/ or on

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OXf8fr0Kp3Q , is great!  It takes what Jean Kilbourne once showed us in Slim Hopes, and does it all quickly before our very eyes. I have played it for all my classes and the students ask me to play it again, a second time.  I love the subtle double-look of the girls walking by the billboard at the end.  And I love the way there seems to be a slight pause after the model is totally made-up before she is "attacked" again, her features in the photo moved around, enlargened, softened, lengthened.  People criticize DOVE by saying, but they're selling something in the end, and these are beauty products.  I say, yes, that's a good thing to keep in mind, but let's see if they're selling their products by increasing anxiety and exploiting women's insecurities.  And let's give them a chance and see how their product lines develop over time to meet women's needs when they are feeling less anxious about trying to achieve an impossible standard of beauty. 

Comments

[Jackie]

I agree with you--even though they are selling a beautification product, at least they're using real women and not shaming or guilting us into purchasing their prroducts. For more musings of a nonprofit intern, check out my blog.