Pub #2 - "It's Just An Illusion"
"Limits, like fear, is often an illusion."
-Michael Jordan
Don Mahalli
Professor Mignano-Brady
English 102
7 March 2018
Pub #2 - "It's Just An Illusion"
The uprising in the extreme attention of perfection in modern and postmodern society, within the arts of mass media, contributes to an illusion of the real world. Multi-Billion dollar companies like Victoria's Secret hire attractive women and then edit pictures and videos to make the perfect people, more perfect. However, the models live in a lie of perfection believing that they are flawless and perfect based on what society values and perceives. In reality, these models are on extremely dangerous low calorie meals and “more than 75 percent of models had been exposed to alcohol and/or drugs on the job”(The Model Alliance). As seen in the play A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella states “I couldn't go on believing her story and live with Stanley" (Stella, 1232). Stella’s denial to accept the truth about the raping of her sister, Blanche, by her husband, Stanley, is her attempt to remain in her illusion where she is perceived as perfect by the people around her. Sadly, just like the models who live in a lie of perfection, Stella believes that her intimate relationship with Stanley is perfect based on what others around her see fit.
Jim Rohn, a much publicized author and a prestigious entrepreneur, once stated “You become like the five people you spend the most time with. Choose carefully.” Throughout the play, Stella spends the majority of her time with her sister Blanche, Stanley, and Stanley’s friends. Stella’s physical and social circle within the play, contributes to Stella’s values, opinions, and beliefs, much like society toward models. Stella believes that she is in an ideal love life and the fights with her husband, Stanley, is normal based on what her physical and social circle believe. This belief can be seen when Stanley hit Stella while she was pregnant and Stanley's friend, Mitch stated “Ho-ho! There’s nothing to be scared of. They’re crazy about each other”(Williams 1192). Since Mitch is Stanley's best friend and comes over to play poker, he classifies as an initiator of beliefs toward Stella. Since Mitch believes that they are crazy for each other and this physical altercation should not be taken seriously; “don’t take it serious”(Williams 1192), making Stella believe that her love life is ideal in her illusion of the physical world. Stanley also contributes to make Stella believe that their relationship is perfect. After the scene when Stanley hits Stella, he stated “I want my baby down here. Stella, Stella!”(Williams 1192). Stanley uses the specific term “baby” as way to make Stella realize the relationship between them will only get closer as the pregnancy occurs. Stanley wants to also cave Stella into believing that she can not leave with a baby in her hands, as her world will crumple if she would leave. In actuality, Stella believes she is not alone within her perfect life and even goes as far to sacrifice her own sister to stay in it. These compelling factors make Stella to deny the raping of Blanche by Stanley so Stella can go back into her illusion to be perfect, and not face the cruel truth within the physical world.
Similar to modern society, postmodern society still gets the ideas of perfection through mass media. In modern society, pornographic logos and posters were plastered on public streets and even in restaurants. making people perceive what the idea of perfection was and strive to achieve it. Within postmodern society, mass media is bigger than ever contributing daily to almost every single human in the world. Every year, the company named Victoria's Secret creates an event known as The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which has over one million viewers and around one hundred celebrities who attend. Sadly, these extremely attractive models are still not good enough for the ideas of perfection that are displayed throughout society. In response, the show uses various camera angles to make each model look their best, displays specific colors in the background to distract the viewers from blemishes, and even selected filters to eliminate minor flaws. This makes female viewers become stressed over why they do not look like these perfect models. As Veronica Granja-Sierra, a recent Media Studies graduate from Toronto, states:
“The pressure to achieve an unrealistic body ideal is now the underlying cause of serious
health issues. Most girls are left with mixed reactions to the images they are seeing on
their television screens. Aside from comparing themselves to the models on TV, women
feel even more pressure to attain that idealistic body image. The toxic combination of the media, advertising and celebrity culture can account for almost three-quarters of the influence on body image in society, yet the body ideal typically presented is estimated to not even be physically attainable by nearly 95 percent of the population”(Granja-Sierra).
These models sacrifice their normal lives to accommodate societal wants in the idea of perfection. Models use very harmful diets to lose weight, while using dangerous drugs and procedures to gain slim bodies. Furthermore, these models live in the lie of perfection that is conducted through society’s opinion while damaging a few people. In the case of the models, while the majority of society gains satisfaction, some people become self conscious damaging their self esteem which could cause depression. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella is hesitant to leave Stanley because in her perfect illusion of the physical world she fulfills the wants of others around her like the models with society. Stella strives to have a husband at all costs that people around her perceive as perfect and not be like her societal frowned upon sister, Blanche. This proves she cares what others see and think about her, which ironically makes her go deeper into her perfect illusion.
Stella avoids the thought of Stanley raping Blanch because she wants to live in her perfect illusion that she believes is perfect by the people around her. Stella relies on the idea of her perfect relationship with Stanley through the eyes and mouths of her daily circle to convince her that the relationship she has with Stanley is ideal. Similarly, within the modeling industry societies voice contributes into making the models believe their lives are perfect, while making some of the people depressed on why they do not look like them. In Stella’s case, the majority gains by seeing Stella and Stanley together while only one person is affected by it, which is her sister Blanche. This action stresses the idea of what perfection really is and how one perceives it. It could be an attractive person, a big house, a family, or even money. It all depends on the individual, what they have lacked within their lives, and what others around the individual see fit. More importantly, society consists of all citizens voices, so if one believes society's values are wrong they can change it. It is a matter of a single voice to spread the voice of millions.
Works Cited
Booth, Alison, and Kelly J. Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. W.W. Norton & Co.,
2010.
Granja-Sierra, Veronica. “Why The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Is Damaging To A Woman's
Psyche.” Elite Daily, Elite Daily, 22 Feb. 2018,
www.elitedaily.com/women/victorias-dirty-little-secret.
Lehman, Daniel. “Model Alliance Shines Light on Model Working Conditions.” Backstage.com,
The Model Alliance, 4 Apr. 2012, www.backstage.com/news/model-alliance-shines-light-on-model-working-conditions/.
-Michael Jordan
Don Mahalli
Professor Mignano-Brady
English 102
7 March 2018
Pub #2 - "It's Just An Illusion"
The uprising in the extreme attention of perfection in modern and postmodern society, within the arts of mass media, contributes to an illusion of the real world. Multi-Billion dollar companies like Victoria's Secret hire attractive women and then edit pictures and videos to make the perfect people, more perfect. However, the models live in a lie of perfection believing that they are flawless and perfect based on what society values and perceives. In reality, these models are on extremely dangerous low calorie meals and “more than 75 percent of models had been exposed to alcohol and/or drugs on the job”(The Model Alliance). As seen in the play A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella states “I couldn't go on believing her story and live with Stanley" (Stella, 1232). Stella’s denial to accept the truth about the raping of her sister, Blanche, by her husband, Stanley, is her attempt to remain in her illusion where she is perceived as perfect by the people around her. Sadly, just like the models who live in a lie of perfection, Stella believes that her intimate relationship with Stanley is perfect based on what others around her see fit.
Jim Rohn, a much publicized author and a prestigious entrepreneur, once stated “You become like the five people you spend the most time with. Choose carefully.” Throughout the play, Stella spends the majority of her time with her sister Blanche, Stanley, and Stanley’s friends. Stella’s physical and social circle within the play, contributes to Stella’s values, opinions, and beliefs, much like society toward models. Stella believes that she is in an ideal love life and the fights with her husband, Stanley, is normal based on what her physical and social circle believe. This belief can be seen when Stanley hit Stella while she was pregnant and Stanley's friend, Mitch stated “Ho-ho! There’s nothing to be scared of. They’re crazy about each other”(Williams 1192). Since Mitch is Stanley's best friend and comes over to play poker, he classifies as an initiator of beliefs toward Stella. Since Mitch believes that they are crazy for each other and this physical altercation should not be taken seriously; “don’t take it serious”(Williams 1192), making Stella believe that her love life is ideal in her illusion of the physical world. Stanley also contributes to make Stella believe that their relationship is perfect. After the scene when Stanley hits Stella, he stated “I want my baby down here. Stella, Stella!”(Williams 1192). Stanley uses the specific term “baby” as way to make Stella realize the relationship between them will only get closer as the pregnancy occurs. Stanley wants to also cave Stella into believing that she can not leave with a baby in her hands, as her world will crumple if she would leave. In actuality, Stella believes she is not alone within her perfect life and even goes as far to sacrifice her own sister to stay in it. These compelling factors make Stella to deny the raping of Blanche by Stanley so Stella can go back into her illusion to be perfect, and not face the cruel truth within the physical world.
Similar to modern society, postmodern society still gets the ideas of perfection through mass media. In modern society, pornographic logos and posters were plastered on public streets and even in restaurants. making people perceive what the idea of perfection was and strive to achieve it. Within postmodern society, mass media is bigger than ever contributing daily to almost every single human in the world. Every year, the company named Victoria's Secret creates an event known as The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which has over one million viewers and around one hundred celebrities who attend. Sadly, these extremely attractive models are still not good enough for the ideas of perfection that are displayed throughout society. In response, the show uses various camera angles to make each model look their best, displays specific colors in the background to distract the viewers from blemishes, and even selected filters to eliminate minor flaws. This makes female viewers become stressed over why they do not look like these perfect models. As Veronica Granja-Sierra, a recent Media Studies graduate from Toronto, states:
“The pressure to achieve an unrealistic body ideal is now the underlying cause of serious
health issues. Most girls are left with mixed reactions to the images they are seeing on
their television screens. Aside from comparing themselves to the models on TV, women
feel even more pressure to attain that idealistic body image. The toxic combination of the media, advertising and celebrity culture can account for almost three-quarters of the influence on body image in society, yet the body ideal typically presented is estimated to not even be physically attainable by nearly 95 percent of the population”(Granja-Sierra).
These models sacrifice their normal lives to accommodate societal wants in the idea of perfection. Models use very harmful diets to lose weight, while using dangerous drugs and procedures to gain slim bodies. Furthermore, these models live in the lie of perfection that is conducted through society’s opinion while damaging a few people. In the case of the models, while the majority of society gains satisfaction, some people become self conscious damaging their self esteem which could cause depression. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella is hesitant to leave Stanley because in her perfect illusion of the physical world she fulfills the wants of others around her like the models with society. Stella strives to have a husband at all costs that people around her perceive as perfect and not be like her societal frowned upon sister, Blanche. This proves she cares what others see and think about her, which ironically makes her go deeper into her perfect illusion.
Stella avoids the thought of Stanley raping Blanch because she wants to live in her perfect illusion that she believes is perfect by the people around her. Stella relies on the idea of her perfect relationship with Stanley through the eyes and mouths of her daily circle to convince her that the relationship she has with Stanley is ideal. Similarly, within the modeling industry societies voice contributes into making the models believe their lives are perfect, while making some of the people depressed on why they do not look like them. In Stella’s case, the majority gains by seeing Stella and Stanley together while only one person is affected by it, which is her sister Blanche. This action stresses the idea of what perfection really is and how one perceives it. It could be an attractive person, a big house, a family, or even money. It all depends on the individual, what they have lacked within their lives, and what others around the individual see fit. More importantly, society consists of all citizens voices, so if one believes society's values are wrong they can change it. It is a matter of a single voice to spread the voice of millions.
Works Cited
Booth, Alison, and Kelly J. Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. W.W. Norton & Co.,
2010.
Granja-Sierra, Veronica. “Why The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Is Damaging To A Woman's
Psyche.” Elite Daily, Elite Daily, 22 Feb. 2018,
www.elitedaily.com/women/victorias-dirty-little-secret.
Lehman, Daniel. “Model Alliance Shines Light on Model Working Conditions.” Backstage.com,
The Model Alliance, 4 Apr. 2012, www.backstage.com/news/model-alliance-shines-light-on-model-working-conditions/.
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