Thursday, February 19, 2009

Confessions of a Shopaholic

I am going to make the assumption that I will hate this movie, and thought it would be a good topic to write about. So I thought I'd wait until it comes out, watch it, then give a really good review of it and have backup for my reasons for bashing it. But then I realized I'd have to pay money to see it and that is something I'll never do. My biggest concern with this is its promotion of consumption in America. I'm basing a lot of my opinion off of info. I got from my JMC 214 class, Advertising in American Society.We are in a culture that is either going to help save the world or destroy it. Americans are living an insane life that just keeps using and wasting. It's a big deal that hasn't yet hit us yet. What I'm trying to say is that there is a bigger issue at hand, than just marketing for Prada or whatever hand bags will be featured in the film (or google, which has even been product-placed into the advertisements on television). This movie is going to promote wasteful spending, just like 101 Dalmatians promoted puppy mills filled with dalmatians. Is it cool and cute to not have control over what you purchase? Is this entertainment? Is this even funny?I think I'm trying to tackle something that everyone knows about but doesn't really do anything about. Sweat shops are everywhere, even in the United States (look up Northern Mariana Islands), and know that people are dying, have hardly any money to eat, have no health insurance, sometimes no freedom, and make next to nothing so that Americans can have their clothing. If it's not made in America, it's almost guaranteed that it wasn't so it could be made by cheaper labor. I think it's important to know where your money is going when you buy things.

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