The paper arrives bright early round these parts. And when I rise, one of the first things I do is grab the Calendar section from the middle of the pile on the kitchen table and check my horoscope. [And scan and/or read the other articles in the section. I'm not that gay.]
After all is said and done with the Calendar section I go to the front page and head straight to the back, where one of my favorite sections of any newspaper lies; yes, I am talking about the Op-Ed section. I make sure I do a quick go round and scan all the titles and accompanying blurbs to see what is being discussed. Karl Rove, Bush, LAUSD, celebrities gone wild, race, religion, etc. But this morning one title just jumped out at me. It reads:
"The thin line between ick and porn."
Now I'm 23 year old recent college grad with a healthy libido, so of course I was all 'what the hell is this.' Boy did I chuckle [and was pleasantly surprised] when I continued on with the article.
"I've been looking at American Apparel's advertisements for years now, and I'm still not sure what I think about them.
My feelings are another story. I loathe them -- and not just because the super-hip, low-fi, can't-be-bothered-to-look-professional-because-that's-so-uncool aesthetic is emblematic of everything that's irritating about a certain segment of contemporary urban youth culture. I loathe them because I believe they're meant to evoke pornography, sometimes even child pornography. The fact that a) this cannot be proved, and b) you can't say it without sounding like a prudish old biddy, drives me crazy.
You don't know what an American Apparel ad looks like? Picture people in their early 20s who look 15. Picture them in stark, unflattering lighting, posing in underwear or tight T-shirts on a linoleum floor, a mattress, against a white wall, or in a bathtub. Imagine their "natural beauty" being so thoroughly "respected" that no attempt has been made to hide pimples, razor stubble or sweat stains. Imagine them wearing facial expressions that suggest someone has just kicked the door down and caught them carving ska lyrics into their forearms with Exacto knives..."
HA! Click the link and read on. It's quite an interesting piece that probably echoes a lot of sentiments housed by many of you regarding American Apparel and its ads.
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