Today, I was unfortunate enough to witness this absolutely heinous advertisement. At first glance, it seems to have all the trappings of the average cheesy American advertisement. Mrs. Deserly, credible apparently because her husband lived on a Native American reservation, describes the sad situations of many of today's Native Americans and how her BlackBerry grants her the ability to help them while still being a good grandma.
However, when one takes a closer look at the imagery used in the commercial and listens carefully to what Mrs. Deserly is being paid to say, the whole thing reeks of the Noble Savage stereotype. This atrocious concept came about during the 18th century – it's about 300 years old. And, it is an arrogant and racist lie that has been used to patronize different groups of people (who conveniently tend fall into a variety of ethnic categories except for the Caucasian one) for far too long.
And now here we are; it is the year 2008. Zeitgeist, "the spirit of the age", seems to currently be driven by science, technology, modernity, progress, diversity, and "being green" (what that phrase even means is up for debate). The BlackBerry advertisement captures all of these themes perfectly, but it is profoundly ironic because it communicates such condescending, outdated ideas about Native Americans (specifically, the Noble Savage stereotype). Even more than the Noble Savage concept, this commercial reeks of another particularly offensive, antique idea: the "white man's burden".
While, the phrases used to describe the offending concepts may not be familiar to everyone, the concepts themselves ought to be. And, it is a shame that such ideas are present in things as mundane as advertisements. If these ideas are tolerated in simple things like commercials that actually tend to err on the side of political correctness as to not offend potential customers, what does this say about our culture? What does this say about all of us as individuals? Why are we tolerating this? How dare we turn a blind eye to such discriminatory ideas?
I guess it is far too easy to tune the ugly things out. It is far too easy to choose not to look closer. It is far too easy to lie to oneself and to perceive things differently on purpose. But I'd like to share a simple fact that was best stated by Neil Peart: "you can twist perceptions [but] reality won't budge". While we can easily ignore all the hateful, discriminatory, and racist concepts that permeate our day-to-day lives, they will still be a reality, even if we choose not to see them.
Do we truly want such hideous ideas to be part of our everyday reality? Turning a blind eye to such things will ensure that they remain ingrained in our lives for eternity.
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4 comments:
I am glad to see you exploring more closely the underlying—or perhaps simply overt—racism of this advertisement because it was something we were not able to cover as fully as I would have liked in class. Your mention of and link to “white man’s burden” is fascinating and one I had not yet thought of; you are so right that the advertisement suggests a kind of burden that Kathy must confront and the way she succeeds is to use a BlackBerry because this device provides the necessary mobility and convenience that she needs. I would like to see you even close reading the Kipling poem in conjunction with the advertisement—BlackBerrys as tools of colonialism, perhaps? The quote from Peart is interestingly connected to other issues we discussed in class, such as what “reality” means. I would have liked you to develop this more carefully here, perhaps. What is “reality” in an advertisement that promotes virtual forms of presence? Kathy can be playing baseball with her children and she can be somewhere else, perhaps the reservation, virtually. Maybe “reality” budges to the point of disappearance, then?
I totally agree with you that it is a shame that such racist idea is present in Blueberry advertisements. Such idea was present to us in many different type of media that we see it too common so we ignore it. Since we were young, we are expose to this primitivism through Disney Movies like Pocahontas, Little Indian and Big city,Brother Bear and Smoke Signal. The sad part is we willingly ignore the "discriminatory, and racist concepts " and accepted the concepts that the entertainment media show us. From this we can see how much entertainment has influence us.
Response to Dieun:
It really is a shame that we've all been exposed these racist ideas since we were toddlers (for instance, you mentioned the movie Pocahontus). I truly think that is the key to racism in different media becoming normal and accepted; we are all conditioned and desensitized to it through lifelong exposure.
But, since it permeates so many different media, it makes things especially difficult for parents. Sometimes I find myself wondering how a parent can possibly raise a caring, aware, and unbiased child. It would be impossible to shelter a child completely (and it would not be morally acceptable, either). But, what options does that leave for the parent?
Psychologists often tell parents to explain things to their kids -- explain what's right and what's wrong. But, as children grow, they listen to the parents less and less. Such a method would only work for a brief amount of time.
I guess a parent's only chance is to hope that their child realizes and notices such negative things on their own. Unfortunately, we can choose what to realize; and for too many, a racist world is a fabulously comfy place that they'd rather not change.
Response to Kara:
"Kathy can be playing baseball with her children and she can be somewhere else ... virtually. Maybe “reality” budges to the point of disappearance, then?"
I believe there are times when one's presence is unnecessary. Often, communication does not require that the communicators be in the exact same location. In such a case, there is a message; and the fidelity required to accurately transmit the message varies. And, I think that the messages we send are, in a way, pieces of ourselves (which are real and true).
So, if one were in a situation where they only need to answer "yes" or "no", a piece of oneself via a typed e-mail message or a voice message is sufficient. Sometimes, certain events call for larger pieces of ourselves or our complete selves. Funerals are a good example of this; e-mails and phone calls are easier than actually being physically present. But, for many, the level of caring is directly proportional to the willingness to input effort. Ergo, to show a high level of caring at a funeral, one may put in extra effort to send the "I care" message to their family or the deceased.
It seems like a may have gotten off topic, but I think I can connect it back to the topic: humans interact through communication, the fidelity of the communication required for certain situations varies, and humans can choose different means of communication (and amongst different levels of fidelity) depending on their time or level of caring. What is reality in this context? Reality is the level of fidelity at which we send messages. The higher the fidelity, the more true. The lower the fidelity, the less true or the less information (i.e. e-mail lacks intonations or hand expressions [and thus communicates less]).
Critique of a curriculum
Its a shame that I've only just now become aware of the discussion on the topic of Kathy Deserly's "overtly racist" Blackberry ad. Certainly at this point in the semester your class has moved on to Subway's heinous $5 Footlong advert or the latest episode of Family Guy. Please include me next time around.
Students, I understand that this blog, being 10% of your grade is somewhat important to you, hence the extensive use of your thesaurus, but your ideologies are somewhat confused, grammar weak, and tone intolerable. In tribute to your papers, I should fail to support the preceding statement.
However, I'd like to point out a few things about the the blog with the large scarlet "A", titled The Everyman's Burden. The article screams "first college paper!!" It still uses techniques championed in 8th grade. Start bold, pick a word- then define it, then ramble on with big words trying to relate the topic to something larger. The word chosen here was Noble Savage. How does this consultant convey the condescending concept of the Indian's universal essential humanity? Is it because she stated that her husband is Lakota. Does this apply to all acquaintances of Indians? Or was it because Blackberry filmed her in the countryside? (You may not know this but some places in the world still have lousy reception. In these places people stop, get out of their cars and finish their business in this manner.)
It is remarkable that despite lengthy descriptions entered into policy at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, regarding what makes one Indian, your class is able to discern one simply by looking at it. Your assumptions that she carries the white man's burden are uninformed. Kathy Deserly is my mother. She is part Choctaw (that's a noble savage), part Guatemalan and Mexican (¿Indio, no?), and part cowgirl. She doesn't claim her Indian heritage partly because of others' concept of what Indian is. She has, however identified personally with our peoples from an early age. That is why she helps.
If you'd like the background, here it is. Blackberry publicly asked its users for stories. My mother offered an example without compensation. Why? Maybe she's racist. Anyway, they liked her story and flew her to NYC for a shoot, then a crew came to Montana to film the promo. She was later compensated modestly for her time.
Perhaps Blackberry simply wanted to show a variety of people using their product for different purposes in different environments. It was after all a commercial. Why did Nina Garcia of Elle, or Maribel Martinez Lieberman, the Chocolatier of MarieBelle also comply with this plot?
Between Paper and Machine approves, "I am glad to see you exploring more closely the underlying—or perhaps simply overt—racism of this advertisement... ...you are so right that the advertisement suggests a kind of burden that Kathy must confront... ....BlackBerrys as tools of colonialism, perhaps?... Maybe “reality” budges to the point of disappearance, then?"
Whoa. "What if "dog" spelled backwards was c - a - t?" - Ogre, Revenge of the Nerds.
Lena L. has been greatly influenced. "...now I can look at ads in magazines or watch commercials and see things differently". Suggested reading: Don Quixote, consider the windmills.
What is the real danger of encouraging these students? Maybe nothing more will come of this than a few exasperated parents at Thanksgiving, wondering why they paid money to have their children return from their freshman experience pontificating about noble savages and the wrongs of $5 footlongs. Then again it did get the kids out of the house. The only evidence I see of racism shown in the white man's burden was in these students and their instructors' leap to decry the foul against the Indian. Did you think we weren't smart enough to notice if we've been insulted?
A class in which students must write in a virtual medium should bear in mind that their posturing/grandstanding may be seen by and offend those who they are judging.
Sincerely,
Matthew Deserly
p.s. Crystal, your instructor is going to tell you how great it is that you've really started a conversation, and great job. No, you just talked trash about my mom.
“Things are so deep and people are always trying to read sh** into things that real simple. Some people try and tell you what the songs are about and it bores me to death.”
-Lars Ulrich, Metallica drummer, philosopher
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