Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Stupid, Sexist Garbage and DirecTV: Perfect Together
Ok, does anyone else think that it's more than a little creepy and weird to see a commercial featuring two men being served by an actual female puppet in a commercial in the year 2014?
And I thought the whole "TV Genie" bit, with the scantily-clad slave-girl type recording, storing and playing your favorite shows on demand (as she drapes herself across the set) was bizarrely sexist. This takes it to a whole new level of bad- this guy's girlfriend/wife doesn't just act like a puppet, chirping brainless pleasantries while serving up lemonade to the Two Males In The House-- she's actually being controlled with wires. I'm sure her puppet master-errr, husband- is very nice and all, but this doesn't change the fact that she's a fricking puppet being controlled by wires.
And her only function in this ad is, again, to provide drinks for The Guys as they discuss the new DirecTV setup. Maybe I should be grateful that this is her only function in the ad. I don't think I really want to see what happens when there's no company and Master and Puppet are alone. Maybe I should give a little credit to the fact that the punchline seems to be "don't call wires weird, because my girl has them and we don't want to hurt her feelings," but sorry, no- I'm not getting past the fact that this guy has a disgustingly-thin mannequin handmaiden who comes- umm, running- with drinks when The Guy has a friend over. Sick.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Creepy and just plain wrong!
ReplyDeleteI saw another commercial today with the guy's marionette son. Very creepy.
ReplyDeleteWe can take that two ways- either he's having sex with his puppet-slave and is producing children with her, or he just sees the other people in his house as puppets. Since they can't actually BE puppets, I think we have to go with Option B- the guy in these ads sees his wife and child as things to be manipulated to suit his own needs. Disturbing.
DeleteMust be folie a deux because his friend "saw" the marionette wife too.
DeleteI think you are taking the whole matter TOO seriously. Yes it IS a "guy's fantasy" focus and if you are expecting the traditional conservative Christian tradition then you do NOT watch DirecTV which is a SPORT and action adventure movie specific focused entertainment delivery system. If you are interested in political or touchy feely movies or talk TV you are NOT interested in DirecTV to begin with.
DeleteDirecTV is a traditional testerone driven focus idea. You are paying for NBA, NFL and NFL packages and HBO and Showtime as part of your basic service. You are not coming to DirecTV for Oprah's OWN network or the Life Time Movie Channel.
And as far as the puppet fetish goes it is a MAJOR role play following in the subculture even over ponyplay. Though as you suggest the REAL second commerical in this series where the WIFE yes they ARE married tries to seduce her husband away from watching all the action movies he is focused on to come have sex with her. But he is too interested in his Michael Bay movie explosions to share intimate momemts with her.
That seduction rejection commercial clearly shows that the puppet featured is NOT an actual puppet but completely computer generated as her face changes emotionally widely showing her dejection as she is rejected for the television programs.
It was that clear idea of sex with the puppet which caused that second commercial to be pulled from distribution and quickly replaced with a more family traditional focused replacement commercial in which the hybrid puppet son asks a modern take on the serious self identity question as he is bi-racial reflecting his mother's aspect of having wires with his father's reassurances of accepting and being proud of his son's differences.
FAR more creepy to me is the maxwell house coffee commercial with the guy running around doing so called All American actiities ONLY BECAUSE he is juiced p on his DRUG of choice where without it he can't even get out the front door. To me that idea of needing a drug even a so called socially accepted one is far more creepy than a puppet fetish.
I seriously have no idea what Peter Woo posted here, I just published it because it looks like a pretty impressive word salad he actually put a little time (and maybe even a little thought) into. I suspect someone could write a thesis on it if they wanted to study it sentence by sentence, but that someone is not me.
Delete( I will say that the funniest line in Peter's post is the first one- "I think you are taking the whole matter TOO seriously"- followed by five paragraphs which I'm guessing explains why I am "taking this too seriously." The irony, it just drips off the screen, doesn't it?)
DeleteOk maybe I should have said it this way then
DeleteIs the so called "sexist" ad really that when it was made for a male dominated channel provider?
Only if you are looking for family friendly Disney channel or OWN or Lifetime Channel nice nice. DirecTV ain't that.
Puppet fetish appeals to a LOT of people in this stereotypical male dominated focus group. Overintellectual Woman book club ads won't appeal to most DirecTV target focus groups.
The attempt at cross market appeal for more PAYING customers outside of the sports heavy consumers was made by dumping second more obvious sex commerical and then substituted with bonding with kid over his different heritage release.
Better?
I gotta say, not really. Maybe because I don't think the viewing public is divided into two groups- Men with puppet fetishes and "Over-intellectual" Women who belong to book clubs.....?
DeleteAnd I need a translation for your last paragraph- I seriously have no idea what you were trying to get across there. "Bonding with kid over his different heritage release?" Huh?
BTW, I just checked out DirecTV's channel guide- Hallmark, Lifetime, all the movie channels- I really don't think DirecTV is what you think it is. Maybe that's the problem. You seem to think that it's SpikeTV, sports (which only men watch, obviously) and that's it.
DeleteAgain the target audience for DirectTV are NOT those who are looking for political, news or social commentary based movies or series.
DeleteThe base audience is the stereotypical 25 to 35 year old western cultured male who is primarily focused on aggressive sports at a genral discount package price compared to that of most cable providers including Comcast. When I say "aggressive sports" I mean within the USA -- NHL, NFL, NBA, Boxing and baseball and Nascar and outside the USA -- Football (soccer), Rugby. I do NOT mean so called "passive sports" which include competitive Swimming, fishing and golf in the USA and Cricket or Polo outside of the USA and the like which do have regular consumers and for the most part these passive sports DO have individual dedicated broadcast channels available for such sport followers.
Yes DirecTV's fishing channel is 616 for those who do not know which is included in their BASE package.
Social commentary and political and news which are a staple of cable providers such as Comcast while available on DirecTV such programming blocks are clearly secondary lines such as Lifetime and OWN and other so called social channels are at a PREMIUM add on fee as they are NOT the focus of DirecTV's programming base.
Thus this commercial series can only be thought of as "sexist" if you state those consumers who are specifically aggressive sports focused are sexist as they are the target focus of the DirecTV.
As far as the third puppet commerccial (the one with the puppet son asking a serious self identity question) goes again it was an attempt to dispel the harsh idea that DirecTV is only for jocks AFTER the second commercial with the wife trying to seduce her husband away from watching all the Michael Bay explosion content he was watching was said to be "too sexually explicit" in its message. The Mill (the producers of the commercial series) abandoned the sexual idea with the wife and made a serious attempt to appeal to the larger audience with the son. Again rather than having Dad and son do something sports focused saying playing catch they ask a serious question "Does my difference (wires) make me unacceptable to the society?" to which Dad says "Do not make leaps of thought from one seemingly associated idea to another" i.e., No your (and your mom's wires are not ugly.
Woo, despite the demographics Direct TV is targeting there is a lot of collateral damage as a result. Your argument is a misguided sense of morality that has been progressively eroded and desensitized by this type and other types of media. You no doubt also rationalize that your opinion trumps fact. The people that are offended by this ad as myself no that it is wrong in many ways. However it is based on good moral judgment. It is as simple as that. If you wish to defend a lack of moral judgment that is your right. You are probably the personality type that would defend O.J. Simpson as well. Despite your filibuster you have convinced no one who understands why these ads are poor judgment for DirecTV to air.
DeleteOk... You all are spending too much time worrying about a commercial. Instead of doing that why don't you read a book, volunteer for some charitable cause, or help someone. Instead of bickering back and forth about a commercial.
DeleteI almost miss the "Don't isolate yourself from society/isolate yourself from society" range of ads. Almost.
ReplyDeleteStepford wives much?
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredibly sexist commercial. So much so, that this is how I found this site. I was so offended I googled it to see if anyone has started a campaign to complain/remove it. As a highly educated and intelligent female I find this highly offensive and off base. Directv isn't a "men's" satellite company. Last time I checked women watch television as well and are also footing half if not more of the household bills. People need to enter 2014, wake up and realize that women are more often than not holding the purse strings not being manipulated on them. Directv will loose my business as soon as the bologna 2 year commitment is up, which can't come fast enough. And I"m no wacky conservative Christian either. That bunch annoys me just as much. I'm a level headed modern woman, but this has gone too far. .
ReplyDeleteGet over it. It's art!
DeleteNo don't get over it. It's trash weak insulting advertising. Michelle that's how I found the site too. This comment here says it all: "the guy in these ads sees his wife and child as things to be manipulated to suit his own needs. Disturbing." That is what DirecTV is saying their client base thinks like. It's not art. Why not make the whole family puppets?
DeleteMike, I know art, I'm an artist. Let me say to you two things. One, if you consider trash art you are pretty easily pleased. Two, Don't piss on my back and tell me it's raining.
DeleteInstead of complaining or removing a commercial spend time doing something that really helps the cause that you are concerned about.
DeleteIt was the the first thing I said the first time CREEPY. Its wrong in manys way. Including that the guy has a puppet for a wife and kid
ReplyDeleteIt is only a commercial about wireless direct tv. People look too much into the ad.
ReplyDeleteForrest, it looks like you can't see the forest through the woods. When any company has such a huge audience for exposure as DirecTV possess there becomes a responsibility to provide tasteful advertisement. No one here is commenting on the context of programming which arguably can be considered freedom of speech. The message is wireless but the vehicle is sexism, denigration and stupidity by a patronizing husband and father? I am sure others can say this better but let me try. Don't believe everything you think.
DeleteBut it isn't. it's just a joke about wires. youre making something out of nothing. and so many cases like this are why people arent taking feminism seriously anymore.
DeleteIt is only a wireless ad.
ReplyDeleteJust renewed DirectTV. They aren't offering the marionette but I did get Sunday ticket thrown in... More puppet ads please
ReplyDeleteI guess the audience is supposed to relate to insecure puppets that want to hear it from their fathers or husbands that they like them as much as what is on television? The best thing to do is turn it off. Or are we too insecure or flattered by the commercial to recognize how patronizing Direct TV is to their 'male' audience. I'm sure plenty of men do not relate and are offended Direct TV execs thing men are just plain stupid.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are clowns.
ReplyDeleteI wonder who signs your paychecks, Woo. Nice job. Big bonus coming.
Tell your bosses and Murdoch to create an ad where the adult male is the marionette. Nice try.
Who's the puppet now? Cheers.
You guys are clowns.
ReplyDeleteWoo, you have done a fine job for those who sign your paycheck. You have a big bonus coming your way.
Here's the thing: tell your bosses and Murdoch to make an ad that features an adult male marionette.
You are the puppet.
Cheers!
You all use that word "sexist" like you know what it means or that you think it applies here. Let me clue you in on a secret. You don't know what the word means and you're not using it right. Please stop. I asked nicely.
ReplyDelete1. I know what "that word sexist" means.
Delete2. I used it correctly.
3. Your post was pointless, because you just made an assertion and didn't back it up with anything other than your condescension. Please stop. I asked nicely.
I couldn't find a "Like" button, so I'll just do this smiley emoticon :)
DeleteYeah, I hate the marionette wife/lemonade ad but the "pretty" ad is even worse. That one actually really DOES make you think about that guy having sex with puppets. Gross.
ReplyDeleteYeah the pretty ad I feel was too much. The kid one creeped me out and made me a bit sad. Then the wife/lemonade was just weird but the pretty/sexy one disturbed me.
DeleteBTW John thanks for doing the post.
Yup, pretty/sexy ad is gross. "Does this do it for you?" UGH.
Delete(Note to John Sale- wipe the froth off your face, clean it up, and I'll be happy to post your thoughts here. Until then, your rants are not welcome here.)
ReplyDeleteYou think this is creepy. Direct TV has another one out - this time the marionette wife is in a red skimpy nightgown in their bedroom asking "Do you still think I'm pretty?" If I had Direct TV I would cancel it over this commercial.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I'm not alone. These ads are so over the top sexist/creepy/wrong. I would cancel DirectTV over it if I had it as well.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf there were a man puppet and a female human then it would be sexist towards men but I suppose that wouldn't garner as much attention.
ReplyDeletePeter woo I'm with u . Is it really that bad ? I mean really ? It's a freaking commercial .
ReplyDeleteThe determination for "is it really that bad" is a simple test. Since you are asking, it suggests you either cannot make that decision on your own or don't know how to determine what is really bad. Empathy has a lot to do with determining right from wrong.
DeleteSince you are unclear and are excusing it as a "freaking commercial", here's the test; Does it offend anyone? If so, who is offended and why? It's clear by this blog and other commentary sprinkled around the internet that, there are plenty of people viewing it (I believe the majority being women) as sexist and tasteless. I understand why. The women that are offended here could be your mother, sister, wife or daughter or friend watching. Do you intentionally offend people? Another question is, are you empathetic for others feelings, even if you are not offended by the ad? Are you familiar with chivalry? It is a virtue that has to do with honor. When someone offends someone or produces tasteless, sexist advertisement it becomes ones duty to right the wrong sort a speak. Posting disapproval on this blog will have a snowball effect and hopefully put the pressure on DirecTV for poor judgment.
The ad in question possess enough elements to be considered "really that bad". Really!
Whether you are convinced or not matters little. What is important here is that this blog and others like it receive negative commentary and replies. That is what will help apply pressure on DirecTV to pull the ads.
I think you nailed it. 99 percent of commercials are forgettable, inoffensive garbage. When one gets a response like this on a site with very little traffic, asking "is it that bad" is kind of asinine.
Delete"is it that bad" seems to be rhetorical. Also, just because people get offended by something, doesn't mean it's some big deal that matters.
DeleteIt's a commercial with a simple joke that people tacked on an unintended sexist message. theres nothing sexist about the commercial.
Losers!!!
ReplyDeleteSo....Women don't find this offensive? Just some dude? Isn't it more sexist for a man to speak for all women everywhere?
ReplyDeleteWhy can't men be offended that a woman is portrayed as a puppet, sexual object who finds her sense of self-worth from the attention of a man who is paying more attention to his DirectTV service? She has to strip to lingerie to get his full, undivided attention.
DeleteWhy can't I be offended that it is assumed that the only way to market to me and my demographic (heterosexual male, married with children) is with women in lingerie, bikinis, and other sexualized manner?
I won't speak for all women, won't even try. I will speak for myself. I was offended by this commercial, and I am disappointed that we wish to chalk men up as simple, mindless creatures who only respect a woman if there's the promise of clothes coming off. Who's really wired into the Matrix?
Besides, there are women all throughout this thread who have voiced their distaste for this commercial.
Blaine Turner wrote:
Delete>What is important here is that this blog and others like it
>receive negative commentary and replies. That is what will
>help apply pressure on DirecTV to pull the ads.
You are entitled to your opinion and commentary. But if you idea is to get DirecTV to pull this line of commercials then you have failed as again the focus of this ad campaign is NOT to appeal to social advancing minded individuals or political activists. It is meant to appeal to sports focused STEREOTYPICAL appreciating audience who DO laugh and enjoy this type of fetish. Again the ORIGINAL version of the bedroom commercial was cut down drastically and pulled back until AFTER the son gets tangled in the ceiling fan commerical which was supposed to be AFTER the sex one. And the re-editted bedroom version only get played AFTER 10PM I have yet to see it played during the 8 to 10 PM hours.
The original version would probably only get played until after 1AM as she jumps on top of him and tangles him in her wires somewhat in the idea of BDSM rather than merely running on the side of the bed as in the re-edit.
And this puppet fetish IS working in that appeal, as a NEW addition to this series has been added now with the father of the puppet wife moving in and getting into a so called fight with his non wired son-in-law. Now those looking for a problem with this will say it is "clearly ageism" while others will just laugh at the silliness of such a situation just like my wife and daughters
I fully understand the purpose of this forum and this is not DirecTV's blog. This forum is to express the feelings of disgust over the tasteless and insensitive ads. This forum and the others sprinkled about the internet have a snowball effect and will help apply pressure to DirecTV to abandon the tasteless ads. So despite your apathy towards those that have made valid statements you will ad to the pressure simply by responding. I made points that are morally and philosophically correct. I have seen people laugh at and find funny much worse media than this so you are in good company I assure you. As for the new ad which I have not seen yet. If you think it was due to DirecTV ignoring the comments of people who do not like the ads then your understanding of time lags and production is limited. Any commercial released within the last few days was in production months ago perhaps even before the first ads were completed. That is how an advertisement campaign plays out. The backlash from the first two has already worked as I haven't seen them in over a week for the boy caught in the ceiling fan or the black guy changing his mind from saying "weird" to "not weird". Stereotypical is the incorrect terminology it is demographics that is the correct word that you need to use. Perhaps you are correct however and DirecTV is targeting beer chugging, arm chair quarter backs, Har Har, who laugh when the guy sitting next to them farts or belches louder than the commercials but you are not giving those guys enough credit either. All the jocks I know sit with the remote in hand waiting for a commercial to quickly switch to another sport to catch updates trying to avoid as much commercial advertisement as humanly possible. You must be a member of the former. The fact that you find silly what others find offensive is not the issue or topic for me. I am as far away from a political activist as one can be. I do know right from wrong though. My point is this; as you know many people have been offended by the sexiest insensitive nature of the ad. This ad passes the litmus test of tasteless, sexiest, insensitive and so on. That should be obvious to you simply by the reasonable expressions of disgust. Your defense of the ad clearly shows you as one who is incapable of feeling empathy for those offended, non-caring, squarely in the yuk it up - farting belching commercial watching sport jock, and or controlled masses who's awareness to tasteful art has been eroded by continual exposure to a continually degraded standard of media. You are the golden boy of the era you put up no resistance and defend even the most mindless media of the day. Do you actually see this as a fetish ad? What channel are you watching? I watch the Science, History and ID channels and those are neither sports or fetish channels. I believe you are guessing at the audience demographics DirecTV is targeting.
ReplyDeleteTo get DirecTV to pull the ads people who haven't yet need to go to the DirecTV website and go to the Customer Service Page and there they will find a Question box to reply to. I did it and I got a response from an actual Customer Service Person that informed me that my questions and concerns would be passed on to management. You don't need an account to do so.
This was a reply to Woo's last post.
DeleteAnd you guys say I write a lot....
DeleteAgain I am NOT going to make this personal despite your statement of
>"I have seen people laugh at and find funny much worse media than this
>so you are in good company I assure you."
Again the commercial is NOT tasteless -- except to your viewpoint which is a totally honest position as you can only judge from your personal appreciations. But to make the blanket assumption because others do not agree with your point of view are therefore "wrong" and "immoral" is judgmental at best.
While you may find the stated targeted audience "low-brow" the relatively young male, active sports focused individual who are STILL SMART ENOUGH to NOT pay full pay per view prices to see their favorite football, baseball, hockey, boxing, Octagon MMA outside of their locale broadcast markets and times is who DirecTV is going after with these puppet fetish commercials.
Not as you call them
>"
beer chugging, arm chair quarter backs, Har Har, who laugh when
>the guy sitting next to them farts or belches louder than the
>commercials but you are not giving those guys enough credit either."
Again the consumer is SMART while the stereotypical jock is portrayed as mentally unfocused at best needing to cheat off some terrorized science student in order to pass tests in his science classes (most famous is Flash Thompson in the Spiderman mythos) or mentally defective such as "Moose" of the long-running Archie comics fame. The targeted consumer of DirecTV is comparing football plays of Tom Brady to the patterned offenses of the Giants not merely hooping and hollering at the screen as you suggest. These are HEAVY sports enthusiasts who have deep passion and commitment to these very expensive consumer sports basis but who because they are splitting their time for their money making versus their passions and are willing to spend their money on keeping their passions satisfied with these packages from DirecTV.
As far as the acceptability of this commercial line to that focused audience is concerned, again DirecTV is continuing to use this series AND has rehired the producers to make MORE in this line. DirecTV would NOT rehire the producers if these commercials were as you indicate either so offensive to repulse them or so ineffective that they were not reaching said target audience. For those who are not in the targeted audience does NOT matter to DirecTV as they were not going to sign up -- i.e, give DirecTV money -- anyway.
So you can expect to be offended for some time to come though they will more reflect more serious social idea such as bi-racial children, older parents having to move in with younger adult sons and daughters and less of the straight sex which again was redone into marriage commitment i.e, the "Do you STILL think I am still pretty?" and running at the side of the bed commercial though clearly tongue-in-cheek.
>If you think it was due to DirecTV ignoring the comments of
>people who do not like the ads then your understanding of time lags
>and production is limited. Any commercial released within the last
>few days was in production months ago perhaps even before the first
>ads were completed.
No. The latest father-in-law commercial from concept to final product was five weeks. AND it was commissioned AFTER the successful release of the earlier bi-racial kid episode. Again as the commercial is almost completely CGI and is intended to make the puppets unsmooth in their actions, it has a low production time.
I won't say what the next one is based on and let you be properly offended when you see it as you state you have not yet seen the father in law episode.
Or you can simply ignore this whole matter and go after far more offensive content such as the Maxwell House current commercial of accepting mediocrity over exceptionalism. "Good is not trying to hit a home run, but get on base first." To be kind -- Nonsense.
Peter, morality is not an issue up for debate nor is it based on opinion. Morality has to do with ethical behavior. Whilst you may find the commercial funny, enjoyable and or fetish it is demeaning therefore unethical and so on. If you are incapable of grasping or have never learned the concept of morality then nothing you state has a foundation to be supported by. In your own words you referred to the commercial as "fetish". The word fetish implies an erotic fixation or an irrational devotion which is clearly immoral, sick and/or not right. Then you go on about other commercials. I'm going to tell you something; you cannot be taken seriously.
Delete>Peter, morality is not an issue up for debate
Delete>nor is it based on opinion.
Wrong. Morality is SPECIFICALLY "up for debate". That is precisely what entire area of moral philosophy is about.
The AGREED definition of "morality" is defined as "a conduct of operating code THAT IS AGREED TO by a society". While some try to "boil down" morality to the bumper sticker idea of "Good" or "proper". morality encompasses FAR MORE than that.
Morality DOES CHANGE OVER TIME and in accordance with the groups' experience of that time.
Most famous examples of CHANGING MORALITY is that of ancient Greek cultures specifically Spartan society where killing deformed new born children was TOTALLY acceptable to maintain the society i.e, the MORALITY of the Spartan society was to kill helpless new-borns because such deformed children did NOT fit into the NORM of that society.
Even today, go east of Suez and apply Western moral standards and see if you are taken seriously. I am NOT focusing on extremes such as cases of so called honor killings either.
>If you are incapable of grasping
>or have never learned the concept
>of morality then nothing you state
>has a foundation to be supported by.
No. YOU do not understand that Morality is NOT an absolute. That says YOU do not know what Morality is. And if by INFERENCE you are REALLY referring to so-called "Moral Truths" also sometimes called "Moral realism" i.e., a supposed indisputable absolute reality of behaviour that is to be observed in order to exist in harmony with reality as postulated by G.E. Moore, most philosophers do NOT agree to such ideas of an absolute code of conduct, as no society are absolute.
>In your own words you referred to the commercial as "fetish".
>The word fetish implies an erotic fixation or an irrational
>devotion which is clearly immoral, sick and/or not right.
No. Seriously you are NOT speaking as to what words denote.
Fetish is the appreciation of beyond normal qualities to inanimate objects i.e, worshiping of statues as the beings those statues are supposed to represent such as in the case of these puppets.
You are obviously limiting your statement to SEXUAL fetish which is an appreciation of objects that are not usually associated with sexual appreciation.
Fetish is NOT "wrong" not even in sexual fetishisms. Go and look up American Psychiatric Association and their stated position on fetish and see if PROFESSIONAL MIND DOCTORS agree with such statements and get back to us. you will want to look up the 5th edition (2000) of "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
>I'm going to tell you something; you cannot be taken seriously.
You are trying to make this into a personal attitude and I won't fall for that.
I will stick to the one consistent fact all of your statements have been. And that Your argument is NOT based in logic but your opinions. And your opinions -- while honest to you -- are NOT facts and NOT universal.
If you want to continue on on this so be it but unless you have real appreciation other than "I think it is wrong" I am done with this as DirecTV will keep making of these puppet fetish commercials and the targeted high end aggressive sports consumers ARE paying for these commercials in sign-up fees. And THAT is a FACT.
Again you prove my point with your own words. Morality improves by allowing and encompassing more rights as with your point with the Greeks. They didn't decide to kill deformed babies they decided to not kill them. If you follow that through then depicting a wife as an uncoordinated puppet begging for approval, which many find offensive should be removed. However your logic rationalizes the opposite position of the Greeks and suggests that offensive advertizement is OK as long as it is targeted at a lucrative demographic with blatant disregard to any others who may be watching. So instead of making sure women are not denigrated, like the Greeks saving the babies, you condone a reversal in the treatment of women so now in your view it is OK to treat women disrespectfully. Do you also believe it is OK to beat women? That NO means YES? Because surely if you can rationalize this commercial you are on the slippery slope to rationalize a continued erosion of moral values in media and elsewhere. There is one FACT THAT is OBVIOUS here. You are confused.
Delete>"they decided to not kill them."
DeleteSpartans AS A SOCIETY DID agree to KILL and DID RELIABLY KILL deformed babies born ibnto their society.
And any families who choose to keep such deformed babies were ostracized and driven out of the society as they were not "good" (i.e, in accorance with the agreed to norms) for the Spartan society. Toleration of deformity was NOT accepted in Spartan society.
>If you follow that through then depicting a wife as
>an uncoordinated puppet begging for approval,
Wife Begging for approval? What are you talking about?
The wife at NO POINT IN ANY of the commercials is "begging for approval" from her husband. The use of the wire based puppets is a STAND-IN for OTHER RACE. The point would have been far more obvious to some if that original idea had been obviously stated if the Mill (producers of these commericals) had used a Chinese looking (which includes ethnic Korean, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Somalian etc ) or a African decended actress playing the wife, son and father-in-law. But they decided to use puppets as to not say "We are marketing specifically to such ethnic groups".
You are so focused on the WOMAN ONLY being a person with strings that you IGNORE the SON has wires AND the GRANDFATHER ALSO have wires. This is their physical identity same as if they had obvious eye folds or darkened skin.
>However your logic rationalizes the opposite position of the Greeks
Again Spartans DID accept as MORAL -- NORM OF THEIR SOCIETY -- killing of helpless deformed newborns. You can keep trying to say they did not, but sayingit a hundred times or more will NOT change the fact that Spartans did kill RELIABLY deformed newborns in their society.
>and suggests that offensive advertizement is OK
It is offensive to you and others who accept your position that puppets by definition must be controlled despite that NOT being the case in these commercials as these puppets are self thinking and self moving with no puppet master. These puppets simply have wires that extend upward -- admittedly for no reason and only as as high as the ceiling of the rooms that they are in at the time.
YOUR position has been that
1) DirecTV should stop making puppet commercials because usage of puppets denotes inferority, subservance, being less than those who do not have wires
Again is NOT true.
2) those who accept said puppet commericals are somehow accepting that WOMEN ONLY are being represented as "subservant", "incompetent" or "controlled by others".
Again NOT TRUE as the commercials clearly show that the puppet people DO INCLUDE MALE characters also
3) People who accept and laugh at these commericals are somehow accepting of WIFE BEATING and other criminal activities
I guess you also hate the Honeymooners where Ralph would routinely threatened to beat Alice.
or Abbot and Costello where Lou gets slapped by Bud constantly
or Tom and Jerry where anvils would ran down on the head almost every episode even those made in the last four years "Tom and Jerry and the Magic Ring" one of my younger kids favorite rainy days films.
Or Popeye versus Bluto/Brutus
or Heckylle and Jeckell who would beat up that poor dog
or The Looney TUnes with Road Runner and Bugs
or the Wayan Brothers and every movie they have made thus far
or Tyler Perry and his Madia character movies
or comedy slapstick as a whole from today and going all the way back to the earliest idea of physical comedy of the banana skin on the hillside (later stairs) or rock falling down on someone gag
If that style of comedic content is offensive to you then again your sense of comedy is not the same as the producers and their targeted audience. And while you have the right to be incensed to your standards please stop saying that those who enjoy it are somehow the equivalent of "evil".
Please publish this comment and not my previous one. I discovered auto-correct related errors in the old one after sending. My apologies.
ReplyDeleteI think people are projecting their own insecurity onto an ad that is just plain moronic. You can invent all the pseudo intellectual sophomoric analysis of the psychological and societal meaning of a dumb commercial all you want. In the 80s you people would have been decrying the cultural margainalization of the elderly and the deep post-modern implications of "Where's the Beef". Me, I just chose to see an dumb commercial. No one is complaining about the fact that for about 15 years it's been trendy to show men as unintelligent, underachieving, unappreciated, socially inept, etc. - no one has a problem with that because everyone thinks Peter Griffin, King of Queens, and Home Improvement were funny. Just one commercial freaks out those who are PC minded. See, some people are OK to insult. I'm a Native American, and if you people really want to discuss injustice, let's talk about sports team names and mascots. No one would tolerate the Miami Mammies, the San Diego Deygos, or the Toledo Tojos. This is the problem with everyone gets thing all butthurt and fake offended. Real racism, seismometer, and double standard gets ignored.
If you think that "no one is complaining" that men are depicted as morons on commercials, you have not been following this blog for very long.
DeleteI agree one hundred percent with your take on sports teams.
You ruin your otherwise excellent post with your second-to-last sentence, because it reveals that you only want people to be offended when you are, at the things that offend you. Taking offense at things that don't bother you doesn't make one "butthurt" or "fake offended." It means that different things offend them. It would be just as easy (and there are plenty of people who comment here) who would use those stupid, thoughtless adjectives to describe someone who thinks "Redskins" is offensive (and have.) You don't get to decide what is legitimately offensive for everyone, sorry.
You should have ended your post with "Toledo Tojos." Then you blew it by announcing that only your standard is the correct one, and then you failed.
Interesting how a person can discern that others are insecure by expressing disapproval for a specific advertisement campaign. Not to change the subject but are you suggesting that the women posting here are in secure or the men? Or have you posted because you are insecure? Or are you trying to make others feel insecure about expressing their disapproval? Which ever doesn't matter to me but since you brought it up. I sure and the hell hope that at some point in the near future the executives at DirecTV and the Advertisement Company responsible for this ad campaign start feeling insecure about their jobs.
ReplyDeleteIf you can stomach reading it ,there's a post up at uproxx.com about this ad.
ReplyDelete50 Questions About the Marionette Family in Those Directv Ads.
These were questions I was trying to avoid asking. Thankfully someone else went there in my stead.
What about the man in all this? He is portrayed as so pathetic that he can't even marry a human woman! Is this what we want our sons to see? No! We want our sons to see men with human wives! This is going to mess up the psyche of the male children for many years to come!
ReplyDeleteAnd don't get me started on how this commercial portrays black men. I mean really? Stuttering stammering comic relief when faced with a serious situation! This commercial is just wrong on so many fronts!
Wow, way to twist this. Yes, this commercial is rather offensive, but it's because it perpetuates the sexism woman have experienced every day for years. Sexism that messes with the psyche of girls and that sexism is everywhere. I doubt very much that boys are going to be unable to make decisions about who to marry because they saw a series of commercials with a puppet wife, son and father-in-law over a short period of time. I'm more worried about how the world in general is telling my sons how to treat women. I can teach them about equality and expect them to treat females of all ages with respect, but in the end they're going to have to make their own choices on whether they embrace or reject sexism as adults. Seriously, get some perspective. This commercial isn't about your bruised male ego.
DeleteAs for the whole stammering black guy. I see a guy stammering in the face of an awkward situation. The white husband is standing there stammering and trying to correct his social gaffe as well. If you want some real examples of racism, I can list plenty of examples out there in the advertising world for you. Why are a lot of black women in commercials heavy, sassy, and sometimes aggressive? Or why are a lot of blacks in commercials very good dancers, usually to hip hop music? Why are blacks more often shown in low-skill jobs? Or serving white people, like an ad where a black clerk helps a white customer? Or as menacing and unruly if they're younger and male? Why are they rarely the main characters in commercials? And if they are, why does it tend to be in commercials advertising cleaning products or fast foods? Why do black people in commercials never live in the suburbs? Why are blacks seen in commercials less often than animals? I'm sure there are more, but I can only put so much in one post.
That was pure gibberish devoid of any intellectual content. I am now more stupid after reading it.
DeleteIt's a playful joke about WIRES. It is utterly ridiculous to suggest that the intent here is to degrade women and or promote a male control fantasy. The following statements could be made using the same type of backward-ass paranoid logic.
ReplyDelete"Yet another straight white family on TV marginalizing minorities and the LGBT community"
"Clearly this commercial seeks to further the stereotype of the weak and confused senior citizen. Outrageous."
You can go on on with this, and I'm sure you can find people doing just that in other forums. With so many legitimately sexist shows, movies, commercials, and various products (ACTUAL sex-dolls anyone?) out there, railing against this ad campaign only serves to waste time and effort, and make feminist and other liberal activists look CRAZY.
Look, nothing I or anyone else with a differing opinion can say or do will ever change your mind. You will continue to over analyze trivial and innocent things and "find" the things you hate in them, because you WANT to "find" them. I'm only commenting for the therapeutic benefits. As in if I were to say nothing I would be consumed by a combination of burning anger and hopeless sadness. I'm sure there will be a wave of irrational and confrontational replies to what I say here. (All of which will assume things about myself and my character that you couldn't possibly deduce as you don't know me.) So I'm going to hit publish and walk away. I will read no more.
There is a new one out where the wife is in the bedroom and unsure whether her husband still thinks she's pretty. Then she does these weird puppet moves to try and seduce/impress him. Pathetic commercials, all of them.
ReplyDeleteI've posted on that one too, Holly- check out the archives. It actually manages to be worse than this one, which I wasn't sure was even possible.
DeleteSo loved these funny commercials!
ReplyDeleteI think the commercials are just plain stupid.....
ReplyDeleteI think the commercials are just plain stupid.....
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that people who have contempt for feminism will continue to have contempt for feminism. People who call themselves feminists wont be turned by a commercial. Guess which group I think you belong to?
ReplyDelete