Sex sells for Women action stars

I searched and searched and searched again and again and the only movie I have seem to found with a leading female action star that wasn't sexually exploited for sales was Demi Moore in the movie "GI JANE". The whole movie is about this woman's journey as the first woman to be in training as a U.S. Navy Seal.

One of the biggest problems for female lead action movies is that men cannot relate to the movie. The action movie genre audience is predominantly male. It is harder for a man to relate to problems of a woman in these roles and hence many lose interest.

The next problem is that some of the action sequences in these films are totally unbelievable. For instance watch the first 45 seconds in the following youtube video

I just can't fathom how any of that is possible. Let's just get scientific here because that is how I can view this rationally. I believe that is the Hoover Dam which has a height of roughly 726 feet. If a person free falls at roughly 250 feet per second then they have roughly 3 seconds to navigate mid air to the helicopter, get the blade running, control it and take it from a nose dive to horizontal and flying away, RIGHT................ Sure one can argue it's just a movie but when it comes to action people like to see stuff that is possible under the right circumstances.

Finally, men are conditioned in society to see women in movies as sex objects and not those that could beat up someone in a fight. We see this everywhere. The problem is that all of these characters in all the lead action roles today are shown in clothing that is also unrealistic for the role they are playing. Who needs to show that much skin when on a covert ops mission? A real outfit would be tactical gear. However, since we are conditioned to see women as sex objects we don't seem to notice. In the end the movies are only somewhat successful because of the sex appeal and not because of the actual movie itself. Look at all the lead action roles in the last decade for women. There aren't many that don't sexualize their lead roles. A good example is Halle Berry's "Catwoman". Horribly shot movie, but she looks good in the outfit right? IS this the future of women's roles in movies? Who cares about the plot as long as they look good?

Advertisements in Video Games

Millions of kids and adults play video games online and with friends. I covered a lot of social aspects in previous blog postings but some of the advertisements lately in recent video games I have bought are starting to get out of hand. As a pc gamer I got a hold of Modern Warfare 3 the other day and noticed something out of the ordinary. It is no longer good enough to just be driving around in an army humvee anymore. We were sporting the new 2012 Jeep. This vehicle would never be a tactical one by any means but because Jeep put enough money on the table Infinity Ward (the makers of MW3) put the vehicle in the game.
This picture even has a gamer's editing put to good humor while playing this alien infested game.

When does advertising get out of hand? New games such as All Points Bulletin a similar MMO game to Grand Theft Auto was able to place billboards around the cities and people could post their own ads either from profanity or actual real life businesses.

In 2008 when Obama was running for office a few games had ads running asking for player's votes in the upcoming elections.

Have companies and advertisers gone too far today? I think so. You have to realize that some of these kids will play hours on end and will see that sign over and over and over and over every lap of the course and have it branded to them that they should vote for Obama and they won't even know why. If that same billboard was a McDonald's ad then they might turn to obesity as well. Can you blame advertisers fully? No, but some has to be there. As well as some falls onto the game developer, similar to the schools we talked about in class. They either accept the money or they don't and needing the money just might be the only option sometimes.
What do I accept as advertising in video games? The subtle stuff. For example,

It was hard to find a good picture but in game it is crystal clear that the cell phone used is a Nokia model. This is hardly noticed in the game and has a playful touch to it. In my opinion it goes too far when I am playing a shooter and I have to call to my teammates that the enemy just ran behind the coca-cola sign or jumped into the McDonald's branded dumpster etc. What is too far?

Protect Our Youth

One of the biggest concerns when talking about pornography (if we actually do talk about it) is how the youth of our nation view it. Many battles have been fought against the porn industry since the 60's and some can be seen here http://richardkmiller.com/133/legal-fight-against-pornography We used to be able to prosecute lewd acts and now those same "lewd" acts are showing up on mainstream magazines. Some of the basic problems are talked about in this article. Another blog I found online mentioned that 70% of the porn consumers were between the ages of 12 and 17.

There have been many political battles over the years against the porn industry about trying to prevent teenagers from viewing it. Whether it is firewalls at work or public schools blocking sites there are easy ways around this for the growing tech savvy students of tomorrow. It's quite easy to bypass these things if you know what you are doing with a computer, some systems are even beat by a common public proxy. All it takes for any of these teenagers once they hit the website is click yes to a mandated "Are you older than 18?" question and they are in. What teenager who is looking for porn is going to say no to that question? Plain stupid. Many of the kids these days can do a simple search for the porn on their smartphone and it'll bring it right up. The problem is that the websites that parents can block using parental controls on phones and home internet will block certain shows like family guy and other shows that might be blocked on the same level as pornography. So what this means is that the parent won't get the parental controls because what they might allow their kid to see like a lewd cartoon might also be allowing pornography without even knowing it.

What troubles me more about the industry is the common ideology of not using any protection. If millions of teenagers are viewing porn and none of the videos have the guys wearing condoms then I can just assume that some of these kids are going to think this is the norm. With the STD epidemic going around our country the future generations are going to be STD ridden. Here are some statistics supporting this theory http://www.cdc.gov/std/health-disparities/age.htm. Look at the age groups and how much of a difference there is in the younger population. What will happen in about 20 years if the current porn industry just keeps increasing? This moves into my next point of view about what parents can do to prevent this epidemic.

TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST SEX. This needs to be drilled into the parents today. It is very common for parents to talk to their children during puberty about sex and where babies come from etc etc. What isn't mentioned however is that parents need to also talk to their children about what is out there. All the pornography and all the sexual images that they are bound to come across on the internet. We are in a new age where teens are constantly connected online either through computers or smartphones they are bound to come across sexual images. When I was searching for the picture above for this class my filter wasn't on and it brought up a naked European model along with everything else. The point being the kids need to be warned about sex and about porn and it's effects whether positive or negative the information needs to be put out there so the teens when they turn 18 can make the decision properly. Otherwise curiosity will strike and they'll be watching the porn anyways without the info, they might as well be well informed if they are going to do it.

Our country is so hypocritical

"In God We Trust"

Those are the words on the back of any of our U.S. currency and yet we as a whole also allow deviations from religion. The porn industry is one major change we now embrace. It no longer seems to be something that needs to be hidden behind closed doors. We are a country founded on a bunch of religious principles and sayings such as "under god" in the pledge of allegiance etc. Our nation is being hypocritical. We embrace these religious beliefs and then also embrace porn? Sex is originally taught about an act between husband and wife and is against god's wishes before marriage. (now this is the catholic/christian view) So a nation raised on these beliefs also embraces pornography like its child. However, with the modern days I know a lot of teens are having sex before marriage it is actually quite common. It is still preached that teens should do so when they truly care for someone. With this much pornography going around I doubt that will last. So we preach one thing and do another. Behind closed doors many people are experimenting with pornography and that's all fine I guess however, what happens when the porn they are watching becomes violent and obscene and men are now treating women like objects because they saw it in a pornographic movie? Sex is a very big thing in a relationship and if it gets degrading to women they won't experience the full value of it. This is why I am proud to say I am a man and I don't watch porn. It shouldn't matter what other people are doing, if you and your partner are satisfying your needs then god speed. If we look at other countries they don't seem to do this. Porn and sex is a more open subject in Europe. They even have a love festival in Germany every year. I was there in 2007 and they were handing out condoms like it was no big deal. So at least in Europe they don't say one thing and then do another. Our country also has had all these women's movements in the past 50 years and porn doesn't seem to be following the same trend. Women in porn are once again treated like they were in the 50s, like objects to men and they do whatever the men want. We need to stop doing one thing and saying another in all aspects and that includes porn.

Transitions of GLBT characters on TV

(took the video from youtube, originally from the movie The Boondock Saints)

So as we talked in class about characters on Television more and more being gay, I thought to think about all the movies and shows I have seen with gay characters in them. One really popped into my head that in my opinion helped an audience relate to a gay character. One movie came to mind. The Boondock Saints. Talk about one of the most masculine and awesome films of our generation. Released in 1999 when there was a big transition in gay characters on TV. Not only was Willem Dafoe's character gay in the movie but he was a gay character in a very masculine film. His character Detective Smecker at first isn't portrayed gay, when you find out he is you don't really seem to care. My thoughts on his character were "whatever he's still a badass". Seen in the clip above he is in bed with another man but ends up calling this other gay man a "fag". So he's a gay character but he has a masculine side to him that everyone can seem to relate to. It seems to degrade the other gay man and put power in Smecker's hands. The audience watching this seems to not care after this that he is gay because he is almost a "bridge" between straight and gay. So this was a great transition character for acceptance of gay's in our movies. Since now that gays on TV are in general accepted as something that is just part of television we now see a move for Transgender characters being thrown around as ideas on shows like Real World. The Boondock Saints came out in 1999, so 12 years ago, in about 10 years are we going to have so many mixed characters on TV that transgender is just going to be the norm at that point? Is it just what gets the most viewers?

America and their need for a perfect wedding... WTF?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_y_tQ8_lrM
Being a 21 year old single college student I haven't really considered the wedding scenario at all yet. This class has been an eye opener for some of the crazy things women go through before their big day. I never realized to the extent women seek "perfection". Above I linked a video on youtube I found on "Say Yes to the Dress". They advertise a once in a lifetime dress, specifically for one person at the cost of $45,000. YES FORTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. One of the weddings listed in the book was a on budget for only $6,000. With all these shows on TV are young girls today in the younger generation going to grow up expecting some spectacular wedding? If you look at different countries especially ones in Asia the white wedding doesn't exist. Not just the white part but the "perfect" expensive high fashion wedding. My dad married a russian woman back a few years (my now ex-stepmother) and the wedding was especially simple. She even wore a red dress, a simple gathering and simple dinner afterwards. This "perfect" wedding is definitely a thing of "western" society and I don't see it disappearing anytime soon. Here goes to forking over a 2nd mortgage for my future daughter's wedding. :)

Violent and Social

What we read on video games in class is what I feel is only half of the spectrum. Sure there are tons of video games out there that glorify masculinity and violence etc. However, we are missing the one part of video games what I like to call the other half. Behind all the gore and all the violence is the social aspect of these games. Sure there are ego's and rivalries among players but there is a social bond also being formed. MMORPG'S are a great example of this, behind all the battles and fights in these types of games are social involvements. Game developers encourage these social connections by making a game impossible to progress in without teaming up with other people. What makes some of these games out there like World of Warcraft so popular is that we are in an age of social networking. It is no longer acceptable to play at home against a computer, we have to interact with others and test our skills with others. (A clip below is a great example of this teamwork, although they end up losing the battle everyone seems to have a lot of fun). Most of the games I have experience playing could be classified as "war games" or violent but that is not what draws me to them. Since 2001 I have spent a lot of time playing video games. More than I am proud to say. There is a competitive aspect to these games especially for me Call of Duty has been one of the better experiences in my life. Sure the gore and killing is fun and great but the fact that you get to know who you are killing and associate names to faces is even better. Over the years I have traveled the country and met most of the people I play against. (this is for Call of Duty 4 competitive scene) At these tournaments, win or lose you have a lot of fun because you are interacting with people socially that you are playing against. Sure ego's come out and there is sometimes a confrontation but overall these people become your friends.


This is a video showing strategy among friends, and the social aspects that go into games. Also a hilarious ending.

There is also a part to be careful about and this is where some of the violence and social networking can be a bad mix. This is in the case of the "nut jobs" the guys who take it way too seriously. People who play these violent games and it only enhances what violence they were already brought up on or whatever. (I won't go into a psychology debate of why people are violent). These people can't tell the difference between violence in a video game and violence in real life and that is where a problem comes in. Take the following article for example : http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-05-27/news/27065615_1_stabs-man-knife-virtual-world

A man is so mad about losing the virtual fight that he takes it to the real world and almost kills a man. To this day after reading that (and many many many many articles like it) I can't see why someone would do this. Video games haven't made me who I am in a violent / non violent way. To me I don't see video games being the main reason there is negativity in behavior towards others. I could see about behavior towards one's life and lifestyle but that is a whole other issue entirely.

VERSUS TV

So back in 1995 there was a channel called Outdoor Life Network (OLN) on TV. Many people probably passed over it without any notice. Featured on this channel was mainly cycling, fishing, and hunting shows. Categorized as non violent and rated pg. I remember being able to watch hours and hours of cycling on world events anytime of the day; it turned into the reason I love triathlons today. Then all of a sudden around 2006 OLN turned into VERSUS. On this new versus was the old hunting, fishing, and cycling but also new shows with  MMA fighting, lacrosse, bull riding, rugby, soccer. They added about 7 new sports that for the most part saw blood or violence in some way or another. Fast forward to as of 2010 versus has everything from UFC cage fighting to football, Nascar, Indy Car, and in general very manly sports. Now hunting and fishing from the beginning can be deemed a sport mostly occupied by men, however that was 1995 and in the 21st century the image of being a man has changed to being very physical. Most of Versus these days is NHL or some form of fighting show and even the X-Games. I look back and see what inspired me and see it lost. Cycling is only on during the Tour de France (late July) and during the Ironman Championships in November. It saddens me that one of the toughest sports in the world is basically being told "you aren't manly enough for our television time slot because you aren't beating up anyone." What is going on with television? Has the image of what is manly forever changed on TV? Will the image ever be coming back around again? I hope so.

Compare the video for a commercial of OLN in the 1990's to that of the commercial running in 2010 for VERSUS. (both taken from youtube)