Explore the ways in which the magazines you have studied present complex representations
Representations in Adbusters
Political figures
The very rich
The very poor
Corporations
Society!
Capitalism
Morality!!!
The representations in Adbusters are complex, and position the audience in a confusing mode of address
While Woman magazine presents simple, straightforward and sexist representations which are typical in which the time it was made, Adbusters presents controversial and complex representations
Marxism - the revolutionary idea that the people who make things should own the means of production. Marxism is predicated on a struggle between the ruling class (bourgeoisie) and the working class (the proletariat). For Marxists, the world is based on the exploitation of the working class by the ruling class
The water double page spread
A binary opposition is constructed between rich and poor through the juxtaposition between the lexis describing desperate poverty and the MES of the luxury tap on the opposite page
Zucchetti is a brand of luxury bathroom fittings. Zucchetti is clearly a brand targeting the upper middle class, as it ascribes a luxury status to something that is absolutely essential. Having home plumbing contributes to a far greater quality of life, and is considered essential in the United kingdom. Zuccheti branded taps are clearly not selling water, but instead selling a lifestyle surrounding an essential commodity, and is a perfect example of commodity fetishism. Zucchetti taps are not essential, but instead are a status symbol, and are symbolic of arrogance and snobbery. Adbusters reprinting this advert shows the magazine exists in a legal grey area. Technically breaking the law, Adbusters is using a process called detournement to re-route the meaning of Zucchetti, and to mock the idea of an expensive tap. In doing so however, Adbusters is inadvertently promoting the tap, creating a complex and contradictory set of ideologies.
(Adbusters avoids legal controversy by presenting a vague and non committal mode of address. They say nothing defamatory about Zucchetti, and they give themselves plausible deniability)
This double page spread brings attention to people who do not have access to clean water. However, in order to understand this double page spread and mode of address, the audience must have knowledge of luxury brands, and therefore are richer middle class people with far left leanings, or ‘champagne socialists’, who have a comfortable lifestyle. This idea is reinforced by the price point.
Because Adbusters lacks any form of qualitative anchorage, the audience are forced to extract their own meaning!
Opposite, we are confronted with a close up, high angle shot of somebody sitting in a small, shallow bath, staring at the MES of wrinkled hands. The MES tattoos may be connotative of middle class or working class ideology, with the audience forced to make a decision. Even more importantly, this image of a nude person, possibly a woman (though this is unclear) is in no way sexualised, which makes it highly unconventional. This completely challenges the feminist theory that the sole function of women’s bodies in media products is to be looked at by a heterosexual male audience. This image displays no emphasis on the model’s body, making the model somewhat androgynous, which subverts ideas of stereotypes and hegemonic norms. Instead of provoking sexual gratification, the image symbolises vulnerability, and challenges the stereotypical representation of women. Her knees are brought up to her chest in a foetal position, emphasising her vulnerability, and constructing a sympathetic representation of gender to the target audience It also constructs a binary opposition between rich and poor, which is the dominant ideology presented by Adbusters.
The representations of issues, events, politics and gender are all rolled into one, constructing a highly polysemic and highly complicated set of representation issues, strongly suggesting that the target audience are educated and have a broad knowledge of current issues and events. This is in direct contrast to Woman magazine, which presents sexist, straightforward and stereotypical representations of women to reflect the ideological perspective of the time
A binary opposition is constructed between the clean, sharp outline of the Zucchetti tap advert and the messy, ugly outline of the bath image. This visually reflects on the disparity of wealth between rich and poor, though a lack of anchorage makes specifics less clear
The Zucchetti advert depicts the MES of a golden tap, which has connotations of wealth, while the bath image focuses more on grey, which once more emphasises a binary opposition
The use of white and gold is symbolic of a sterile environment, with a complete lack of any contamination, which may infer the use of chemicals. The quality of the bath image suggests some form of experimental development, with the sides of the image distorted, perhaps suggesting the relationship between the two images. A highly complex mode of address
The high angle shot of the woman in the bath suggests vulnerability. She is huddled in the foetal position, which suggests that she is scared. However, the atypical framing of the close up image completely omits the model’s face, forcing the audience to assume the model’s emotions
The MES of the model’s hands are wrinkled, suggesting that she has been submerged in water. She has been in the water so long her hands are wrinkled, which could suggest scarcity . However, the wrinkled hands could also symbolise privilege and abundance. Once more this image is highly polysemic
The copy under the image of the model documents a situation of absolute poverty in Brazil, and a lack of water that is completely unthinkable to a ‘western’ audience
The model is not represented as wealthy. Her hands held out in a stereotypical ‘begging’ position is symbolic of poverty, and the bath is small and simple. It suggests there are different levels of poverty. This suggests the world is a complicated place
An ironic mode of address is constructed between the Zucchetti tap and it’s aesthetic, and the harrowing description of absolute poverty in Sao Paulo
Zuchetti has connotations of fanciness, wealth, and luxury. It is similar sounding to luxury Italian brands like Gucci and Lamborghini
By publishing an advert without permission, Adbusters works in a legal area. It is being republished here to construct an ironic mode of address that criticises not only the division between social classes, but also the capitalism that allows things like luxury taps to exists
Adbusters can argue the image, as an advert is in the public domain, and they can also argue that it falls under ‘fair use policy’.
However, a knowledge of luxury brands is essential to understand this image. It creates a division between different audience members, some of whom cannot understand it, and it also increases awareness of this product . The high cover price of the magazine also suggests a wealthy target audience. This constructs a hypocritical mode of address
Beyond the anti-capitalist ideology, a genuinely radical representation is constructed. An image of a naked woman in the bath is presented without any sexualisation whatsoever. The model is not addressing the camera, and the MES of her body is limited to a passive view of her legs and hands instead. This subtly represented image actively opposes hegemonic ideologies about the function of women in media products. This genuinely subversive representation contrasts enormously with the Breeze soap advert in Woman, and suggests that attitudes towards women have shifted significantly in some ways
The homeless double page spread
The setting of the street is stereotypical of a large American city, and situates the audience outside, and in a vulnerable position. Audience members will be familiar with this setting, though the exact location is unclear. The use of this familiar setting draws attention to the current real world issue of homelessness.
The MES of the model’s cup connotes desperation and absolute poverty. It positions the audience in a deliberately guilty mode of address, that is emphasised by the high angle shot, that infers that the model is situated below us, which constructs a guilty mode of address.
The woman’s status as a homeless person is anchored through her position on the street. This highly straightforward stereotype constructs a blunt and stereotypical ideology to the target audience
The black and white MES constructs a sad, miserable and depressing ideology to the audience, and further anchors these depressing themes, and reinforces the preferred reading that homelessness is a serious and problematic situation.
The use of mid shot high angle positions the audience in a judgemental mode of address, and forces us to question how she got into that position. We must also ask ourselves if we will donate money, or simply walk on
On the other side of the double page spread, we see an androgynous model directly addressing the audience. Their hair is stylish and outlandish, and the model’s facial features demonstrate a balance between stereotypical masculine and feminine features.
The model constructs a clear binary opposition with the homeless person. The model is extremely clean and precise, and with strikingly symmetrical features which have been constructed with Photoshop. However, the homeless woman is messy, dirty, and chaotic, and presented in an unedited image. This binary opposition once more makes clear the disparity that exists between rich and poor. The position of images suggests that it is capitalism’s fault for causing such poverty, though this position is neither explicit or particularly complex
The use of the homeless model’s photo without her consent may be an ethical grey area
A binary opposition is constructed between the aggressive, powerful , assertive model and the passive, vulnerable homeless person
The homeless woman is androgynous,. She lacks not only makeup, which is hegemonically appropriate for female gendered expression, but also the money and means to look after herself. She too is androgynous, but not through choice, but through circumstance.
The scrawled text ‘350 ppm’ refers to CO2 and climate change. The copy on the other side of the page also refers explicitly to climate change. While it is initially unclear, it ties to the idea that huge conglomerates produce the most amounts of greenhouse gases, but the poorest are most affected by this
This double page spread clearly draws attention to social and historical issues that affect us here, now.