Intro to Me, Cultural Criticism and Awful Ads *cough cough* Peloton *cough*

A Short Introduction to Me via My Media Influences

A few of the books that have contributed to my sense of self are Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, Black Girl Dangerous and The New Jim Crow. Movies that have contributed to my sense of self are “The Aristocats,” “The Iron Giant,” “Short Term 12,” “Fed Up,” “Food, Inc,” and “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” There have been countless YouTube videos I don’t remember that have contributed to my sense of self. ASMR is a popular category of videos on YouTube that have contributed to my sense of self in that they helped me realize what sounds make me relax and the effects different sounds have on me. If I were blogging as a mass media icon, I might be similar to actress Susan Sarandon, Dr. Jill Stein or writer Mia McKenzie because my blogs would focus on social issues.

Cultural Criticism

Critical Race Theory and Gender/Queer Studies are suitable for an analysis of the books listed in the above paragraph. Marxist Criticism and Moral Criticism may also be suitable for the books as well as some of the other media listed. Critical Race theory is something we talk about in social work as well as Gender/Queer Studies and Critical Disability Theory, so those three fascinate me. Structuralism/Semiotics is the least interesting to me because it is very complex and seems to deal with codes and patterns, which I struggle with (I can’t even clap on beat). I would love to learn more about Reader-Response Criticism because the idea that a piece of media’s meaning comes from the consumer’s perspective is interesting. 

Awful Ads

When the Peloton ad “The Gift That Gives Back” went viral in December 2019, it was heavily criticized for being sexist, and I understand where the criticism came from. Giving an exercise bike for a gift is like gifting someone acne face wash, deodorant or a razor – it’s a “gift” with an underlying jab of you aren’t the way I want you to be so use this and fix it. Unless these things were specifically asked for, gifting these things is inappropriate. The ad does not specify whether she asked for the bike or not but it does not seem like she asked for it to me due to her reaction upon seeing it. Scott Mautz of Inc.com wrote an article explaining that he sees the ad as sexist because of the way the woman is portrayed. He writes: “She comes across as unsure, timid, fearful, and needing approval.” Her husband gave her the gift and she is using it to please him – this is either because she didn’t want to seem ungrateful (the same way your mom made you wear that awful sweater your great aunt made for you) or because she took it as him telling her she needs more exercise. I also understand the backlash to the criticism – often times people are seen as being too sensitive nowadays and that the Peloton ad is just that – an ad. Despite me seeing the sexism in the ad, what hit me first is that it’s an awful ad. Having the woman film herself was a desperate attempt to connect with young adults. The ad is like an awful ad ice cream with swirls of sexism mixed in. Peloton stock plummeted after the ad. Oops! Their loss was Ryan Reynolds’ gain with his swift efforts to recruit the actress for an ad for his gin brand Aviation. It was clever – didn’t shove the product down the viewers’ throats, and didn’t try too hard to be relevant while also being on-trend. Smart move, Ryan.