Meme #1:
This meme is a picture of Don Draper, the main character on the show Mad Men. His facial expression and hand gestures appear unsympathetic as he smugly suggests the reason why women get paid less. Putting this image in context, one must know a little about the show. Don is a handsome, playboy ad-executive in the early 1960's. He espouses many of the sexist attitudes that were prevalent in that era. Women were to get married, have children, stay home, and take care of the kids. Women who were more career-minded, were typically frowned upon. Much more goes into these topics, but I think you get the idea. The meme pokes fun at Don as well as a generation that generally accepted a chauvinistic, male-dominated workplace. The meme, through the character Don Draper, sends a specific message of ignorance and insensitivity to women in the workplace during the '60's.
Meme #2:
This meme shows Don with a fresh cigarette in his mouth, apparently right after finishing an old one. To put this into context, one must know Don is a heavy smoker. Smoking a cigarette, along with drinking a glass of scotch, is one of his trademarks. He lights up literally everywhere: his office, at a restaurant, in the doctor's office, etc. This meme not only takes a shot at the habitual, chain-smoking Don Draper, but I also think it goes deeper. I think it tries to contrast the acceptance of smoking in the '60's (welcomed, permitted, enjoyed by many), verses the acceptance of smoking today (restricted, contained, often prohibited). It's funny yet, as the first meme does, displays some possible ignorance from this period of time.
Fan Art:
I'm not sure why I chose this piece of fan art. I guess I gravitated toward its simplicity. I also enjoy its color scheme and what it says about the show and the time period. I'm sure it was a computer-generated piece. It was thoughtfully designed, most-likely by a professional graphic artist. It appears that the piece was made to be a poster. It is good enough to be mass-produced and sold to fans of the show.
I think this piece is a good illustration of being created by what Manovich would call the Logic of Selection (123). Manovich states that in computer culture "authentic creation has been replaced by selection from a menu" (124). The creator of this piece used software to generate it. Within the software he/she used menus, buttons, and keystrokes to manipulate the images, add color, etc. In other words, it was not created totally from scratch. This poster is just one of thousands of pieces of work I can think of created through this process. Technology is making Selection more mainstream and, hopefully, artistic expression more accessible.
Manovich, Lev. Principles of New Media.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001. Print.
I got a good laugh out of your first meme. Hopefully not because I'm a chauvinist, but because it's more politically incorrect. I also like the matter-of-fact look on his face. in the picture as if to say, "what do you want me to do about it, that's just how the world is." It's definitely a good commentary on misogyny in the work place both then, and now.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. No, I'm sure you are not a chauvinist--it made me laugh too! It sucks that that type of attitude still exists today; I try to put a positive spin on it and think that I have it so much better than my grandmother (and even my mother) did.
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