Friday, July 18, 2008

Ads ads everywhere

One of my ex managers at work used to say that promoting and using products like Fair and Lovely is equivalent to spreading racism. . He has no need to take it out on those fair skinned people as he doesn't need it anyways. Everyone adores him for his intelligence and also for the way he carries himself. He hasn't said this out of frustration but with a sane mind and good reasoning

Except for such people who can think logically, most of the dark skinned population is lured towards using such products in their desperateness to gain attention and become beautiful/ lovely/handsome forever. But can how can beauty be related to the color of your skin??

The business world selling such products was targeting only women earlier. Now its the mens turn. Only difference is that a guy rejected because he is dark will not accept the girl after he becomes fair on using the beauty product however a girl shall always be happy to accept the guy who rejected her earlier as she was dark.. like a dignity less punk ..even someone as beautiful as Asin or Priyanka Chopra.. Ridiculous. I am surprised how even actress who are known for their dark but dusky and lovely complexion promote fairness. They aren't being fair.. are they?

Forget ads, comedy tracks in movies are based on the color of the skin. I have even heard certain objections, faintly though, being raised for mocking people who are physically/ mentally challenged but this is equally worse. Even comedy actor Vivek whose tracks usually tries to evoke some social awareness and thinking , makes fun of the the two daughters of the dark skinned Solomon Paapaya( a renowned scholar and a very popular and influential person) and for who.. on behalf of our Super star Rajinikanth.I personally am a huge fan of his but is this the message he is trying to convey to his fan following? Tamil cinema accepts heroes who are dark skinned,not conventionally beautiful but scripts stories where "beautiful" heroines fall for them after identifying their inner beauty. The vice versa never happens. I guess in reality its different. I know of lot of my friends who like, adore, respect and love women not for their external beauty but for certain characteristics, behaviour and inner personality.

I understand its difficult for everyone to be too good to say that they see beauty in everyone and its the beauty within that matters. But how can we be so conveniently( but unfortunately in reality) ignorant and give up to the gimmicks played by those promoting consumerism some way or the other. In this age of reality shows, glittery glossy ads and movies,its difficult for the youth to identify what is actually "real" and they are so vulnerable.

For those who have some patience and want to gain some inputs on why we are seeing such changes, who is gaining and who is losing, a must read/ watch is http://www.thestoryofstuff.com. Though not completely in relation to what we are discussing here, this video is an eye opener for those who are asleep and those pretending to as well. Thanks to one of my friends who shared the info ( http://erramya.blogspot.com/)

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