My Independent Study

There was a saying once that you can achieve anything 'if Your face fits' , in other words if a person was beautiful then there would be endless oppurtunities for them to suceed in life. Does that saying hold any weight in todays society? or is it a person's personality and intellect that counts now a days. In my med 5 independent study i will scrutinize the fact whether or not the media maniupulates and exploits young women in particualr to be 'self image obsessed'. Can the media be so intimidating that it can mould young women to look in a specific way and brainwash them to ignore the health implications to having a media worthy image.

I have been influenced to research on this topic by 'Ugly Betty'(2007) a series on channel 4, which shows how an unattractive women is manipulated by the media. It shows her struggles to cope in a glamerous environment. The reason why i chose this text is because statistics show that illnesses such as bulimia and anorexia is on the increase within young women and my question has media got a part to play in this?

Ugly Betty Synopsis

Betty Suarez is smart, sweet and hard working and has always had one goal in life: to make it into the publishing business. Despite being smart, hard-working, and productive, her dream has always been shadowed by the fact that she isn't the best looking young woman, she's brave but sorely lacks in social skills, self-confidence and a fashion sense.

Betty, despite being a fish out of water is then hired by the publisher of a well leading fashion magazine Mode. Betty is hired to be the pulishers son's secretary, the reason for this is that he believes that Betty is someone who Daniel would never sleep with (as he is very well known for this). Betty's hard work and determination earns Daniel's respect, as she helps him find his way through the shark infested waters of the fashion industry.

Throughout her time at Mode, Betty is faced with a number of obstacles that she has to overcome. Her main struggle is to keep her job at Mode while competing against chief director Wilhelmina slater, who is also after Betty's position to get close to Daniel.

Research

Below are a four films that i may consider to use in my independent study.

Legally Blonde:
representation of women:
Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) has it all. She's the president of her sorority, a Hawaiian Tropic girl, Miss June in her campus calendar, and, above all, a natural blonde. She dates the cutest boy on campus and wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But, there's just one thing stopping Warner (Matthew Davis) from popping the question: Elle is too blonde. So, when Warner packs up for Harvard Law and reunites with an old sweetheart from prep school, Elle rallies all her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. Elle must wage the battle of her life, for her guy, for herself and for all the blondes who suffer endless indignities everyday. Despite all the taunts

Bhagban:
Representation of asians:
Raj (Amitabh Bachan) and Pooja (Hema Malini) have all they wished for in their lives, and more. Together they raised four sons; they have love and security and are wholly content. Things change a great deal, however when they retire. Inexplicably their sons do not care for them in their old age, and they are forced to rely on the infrequent kindness of strangers. At the heart of 'Baghban' is Raj and Pooja's approach to their struggle.

Bend it like beckham:
Representation of asians:
Eighteen year-old Jess’s parents want her to be a nice, conventional Indian girl. But she just wants to play football like her hero, David Beckham. For Jess, (Parminder Nagra) that means kicking a ball around the local park with the lads until she’s spotted by Jules, who invites her to join the local women’s football team. As they become firm friends, their team really starts to go places. But Jess’s parents don’t understand why she won’t settle down, study for law school and learn to cook the perfect chapatti. Why, they wonder, can’t she be more like her sister, Pinky, (Archie Punjabi) who’s engaged to a very suitable young man? If they only knew what Pinky gets up to… Jules (Keira Knightley) dreams of playing pro football in the States, but her Mum wishes she could be a bit more girlie. What her Mum doesn’t know is that Jules isn’t interested in playing the field, she’s just after one man, Joe, but being the team coach, Joe is out of bounds.

Tomb Raider:
Representation of women:
Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) was born into wealth and groomed at the most elite schools. She travels to dangerous and mysterious locales around the globe in search of rare, lost crypts and long-forgotten empires. She speaks numerous languages, is highly trained for combat and answers to no one, obeying only a desire for adventure.
But now she must face her greatest challenge yet: to find two halves of an ancient artifact buried in space and time. To possess it means ultimate power for its possessor. But to get there, she must fast take on a powerful and dangerous secret society. The fate of mankind rests in the hands of one Lara Croft, a twenty-first century heroine inspired by the most popular interactive video character in history.