'One Size Fits All'

This video highlights the impact of the stereotypical 'perfect body image' in Western society as it proves that the expected body size for these clothes is unattainable for most women. In this video women from size 0-18 try on clothes labelled as being 'one size fits all' and the results, as expected, show that only the smallest sized women could fit comfortably into most of the clothes given to them. This supports the Western ideal of having to be skinny to be attractive and shows the unrealistic standards set for women in the beauty/fashion industry. A lot of the clothes, especially skirts, were too tight for most models, including women size 6/8 which is already a below average clothes size. The average size for women is 14 and almost all of the 'one size' clothes shown in this video wouldn't fit anyone larger than a size 0, which is the typical 'model' size. When asked about the sizing, one woman who wears a size 6/8 claimed 'When I didn’t fit into it, it made me feel like something was wrong with my body' which highlights how this unachievable body image can affect the self-esteem of most women and make them feel like it is their fault that they don't fit into the stereotypes of the 'ideal' woman.

Lost Boys - Theoretical Perspectives

Feminist Perspective:

• Only 2 female characters - predominantly male
• Mother dependent on males - becomes single mother and has to rely on living with her father and having her children to look after eachother
• Her storyline revolves around finding a male companion and being a mother
• Caring persona - gives money to teenagers looking for food in bins, helps child looking for mother
• Perceived as weak - chased by dog and relies on her son to help/save her, plays no role in helping fight vampires at end of film - male characters have to protect her
• Relies on males throughout the entire film
• Star also dependent on males - returns to vampires when they call her away from Michael
• Male Gaze 
• 'The Lost Boys' - no mention of girls or focus on missing females
• Plight of females is neglected
• Mother is loser in divorce, finds a man  to solve her problems
• Sons need male role model - mother's fault sons weren't under control due to them not being given a male role model
• Star has to be saved and looked after by Michael and plays no part in fighting vampires
• Both females' only purpose in film is to find romance - Star doesn't kill Michael because she loves him

Post-Modern:

 

• Blurred genres
• Challenges generic conventions of vampires - mode of address/discourse
• Teenagers as vampires - identity
• Signifies the breakdown of marriage
• Entertainment as surveillance
• Troublemaker image
• Negative representation by the adults - represent the adult audience - mother allows them
• Shop owner/grandad/security guard dislike the teenagers
• Portrayed as 'cool' - aspirational image - role models to teenagers watching the film - media
• Amplification spiral / moral panic
• Generation gap - fighting eachother not the bourgeoisie
• False construct
• Lost boy represents fear of teenagers

Marxist:

 

• Zizek - police officer 'I told you, not on the boardwalk'
• Suggests not in public - amplification spiral
• Do not affect the tourist dollars - effect on the tourist industry - choosing profit over people
• Teenagers a threat to capitalism
• Capitalism needs a scapegoat - teenagers in this film
• The other is a fear used to create scapegoats for capitalism
• Lost Boys represents lost in society/lost in capitalism
• Bourgeoisie vs Proletariat

Lost Boys Notes

• Fairgrounds - environment of young people - negative representation
• generally a place for family entertainment
• Rejection of authority - on the boardwalk
• Post-modern - teenagers as vampires 
• Graffiti - no respect for the law 
• Punk representation - fits stereotype of being a violent/aggressive genre
• Poverty - kids eating from bins
• Protagonists represent audience
• Foreigners/homeless represented as the strange - empathise with song (people are strange - The Doors)
• Stereotypical teenager image - motorbike, weightlifting, unruly, ignore authority
• Protagonist - divorced, single mum - social taboo in 80s
• Aspects of horror genre - taxidermy, blood / texas chainsaw massacre
• 'Wild Kids' - 'They're just young' - protagonist accepting towards teenagers 'unruly' behaviour
• Film represents a fear of teenagers in our society - consuming popular culture
• troublemaker image - Edward Said the 'other'
• Changing identities of vampires from rich, white count to teenagers
• Stereotypical teenagers (smoking weed listening to Jim Morrison) which challenges the usual stereotypes of vampires
• Teenagers given obvious negative vampire image - causing mayhem, motorbikes, fangs etc, whereas adult vampires only have subtle hints towards them being vampires (e.g. grandad wearing sunglasses indoors, putting stake in the ground, having his section of the fridge) - teenage vampires are the only ones represented as troublemakers 
• Girl called Star - hippie name
• Mother 'hey, aren't we friends anymore?'
• Test parents patience - biological need
• Male bond between grandad and Michael mentioning sexual conquests
• suggests you need to be afraid of people in power - city hall
• Head vampire represents bourgeoisie and other vampires represent proletariat - need to kill head vampire in order to change the other vampires back to humans
• Stratification - social division
• 'The American way triumphs'
• Agreed narrative conventions - vampire needs to be invited in
• Certain vampire conventions - garlic, holy water, stake through the heart, mirrors, killing people, immortality, drinking blood
• 'Kids Sam's age need discipline' - Bourgeoisie
• Their rebellion challenges the people in power
• Edgar and Allan Frog - play on Edgar & Allan Poe

Hacktivist - False Idols -Marxist Song

Lyrics:

We see through your disguise
False idols in our eyes
We're stronger
We are the

We ain't gonna lose no sleep if you hate us
Now we're in way too deep on our way up
Think we're gonna stop because a fake don't rate us?
Boris Johnson c**t aint gonna save us
Keep taxing our wages
We just spit raps in faces
Tryna bridge gaps but we are lab rats in cages
Trapped in
Sick without a vaccine
Contagious
So they wanna stay away from us because of our behaviour
Well I don't f**king blame ya coz we're not just entertainers
Stay away from the radius
I spit shrapnel that will give you a face lift
Do you catch my drift?
Hacktivist causing a crisis
Let a politician chat sh*t as I murder the riff

We see through your disguise
False idols in our eyes
We're stronger
We are the
The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
They step to the stage with nothing to say but waste
The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
They step to the stage with nothing to show but fame

Better know we're setting the pace
Everybody wants money
Nobody wants change
From council estates on minimum wage
How the f**k did we get here on the main stage?
We won't follow mans lane
Clockwork Orange
They can't wash my brain
Think I give a f**k about fame?
I'll be on the road playing shows with my mates
All we need is humanity in this human race
Others see black and white but we see grey
If you read between the lines you can relate
When the kids start shooting at their class mates and their parents blame GTA
Selling guns in shops was the first mistake
So don't talk to me about fate

We see through your disguise
False idols in our eyes
We're stronger
We are the voice
The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
We are the voice
The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
We are the voice

The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
They step to the stage with nothing to say but waste
The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
They step to the stage with nothing to show but fame

Lily Allen Music Videos: The Fear

This song is aimed at discussing the media and its influence on the public as well as suggesting celebrities can become more famous by taking their clothes off. She namedrops papers like The Sun and The Mirror as well as highlighting the stereotype that women should be skinny.

Lyrics:

I want to be rich and I want lots of money

I don't care about clever I don't care about funny

I want loads of clothes and fuckloads of diamonds

I heard people die while they are trying to find them

And I'll take my clothes off and it will be shameless

'Cause everyone knows that's how you get famous.

[Chorus:]

I'll look at the sun and I'll look in the mirror

I'm on the right track, yeah I'm on to a winner.

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore

And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore

And when do you think it will all become clear?

'Cause I'm being taking over by The Fear

Life's about film stars and less about mothers

It's all about fast cars and cussing each other

But it doesn't matter cause I'm packing plastic

And that's what makes my life so fucking fantastic

And I am a weapon of massive consumption

And it's not my fault it's how I'm programmed to function

[Chorus]

Forget about guns and forget ammunition

'Cause I'm killing them all on my own little mission

Now I'm not a saint but I'm not a sinner

Now everything's cool as long as I'm getting thinner

[Chorus]

Lily Allen Music Videos: Hard Out Here

Hard Out Here is a feminist song aimed at highlighting the objectification of women in the media and the pressure to look attractive by fitting into stereotypes. In the video Lily Allen uses a recent event where she went to a surgeon about liposuction but was told she should reshape her entire body. This video also shows her mocking Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines by creating phrases with balloons and dancing in front of them to mock Robin doing the same in his video.

Links:

"Nobody's immune to the pressure to look thin," she tells Observer Magazine. Shortly after giving birth to her first child, Allen, 28, visited a Harley Street surgeon for advice on liposuction, but was advised that she should reshape her entire body – thighs, belly, ankles, knees and back. "I walked out with lines drawn all over me," she recalls.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/17/lily-allen-hard-out-here

Both the video and the song's lyrics take aim at misogyny and sexism in modern pop culture. She takes a satirical swipe at Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' video, in which a woman dances in front of the words 'Robin Thicke has a big dick', by dancing in front of inflatables spelling out 'Lily Allen has a baggy pussy'.

http://www.nme.com/news/lily-allen/73786

Lyrics:

I suppose I should tell you what this bitch is thinking

You'll find me in the studio and not in the kitchen

I won't be bragging 'bout my cars or talking 'bout my chains

Don't need to shake my ass for you 'cause I've got a brain

If I told you 'bout my sex life, you'd call me a slut

When boys be talking about their bitches, no one's making a fuss

There's a glass ceiling to break, uh-huh, there's money to make

And now it's time to speed it up 'cause I can't move at this pace

[Chorus:]

Sometimes it's hard to find the words to say

I'll go ahead and say them anyway

Forget your balls and grow a pair of tits

It's hard, it's hard, it's hard out here for a bitch

It's hard for a bitch (for a bitch) for a bitch,

It's hard

It's hard out here for a bitch

It's hard for a bitch (for a bitch) for a bitch,

It's hard

It's hard out here

If you're not a size six, then you're not good looking

Well, you better be rich, or be real good at cooking

You should probably lose some weight 'cause we can't see your bones

You should probably fix your face or you'll end up on your own

Don't you want to have somebody who objectifies you?

Have you thought about your butt? Who's gonna tear it in two?

We've never had it so good, uh-huh, we're out of the woods

And if you can't detect the sarcasm, you've misunderstood

[Chorus]

A bitch, a bitch, a bitch, bitch, bitch [4x]

Inequality promises that it's here to stay

Always trust the injustice 'cause it's not going away

Inequality promises that it's here to stay

Always trust the injustice 'cause it's not going away

[Chorus 2x]

Bitch

Gang of Four:

http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/gang-of-four-post-punk-praxis/

http://www.notgreatmen.com/gof_l1.html

http://www.releaselyrics.com/129d/gang-of-four-a-hole-in-the-wallet/