Monthly Archives: November 2014

With the release of Mockingjay Part 1, the Hunger Games franchise continues to reach commercial success and remains wildly popular. This isn’t really surprising, our society loves books and films about dystopian futures (1984, The Matrix, Terminator etc.). We love to imagine how we would cope under oppressive governments, or in an outbreak of disease – as discussed in class everyone has their own zombi apocalypse plan. I think one of the things that pulls us to this kind of fiction is imagining ourselves in that situation – and that situation bringing out the best in ourselves. We imagine ourselves finding a cure, saving children or leading a rebellion to overthrow our oppressors. We imagine proving ourselves in the face of adversity.

So what happens when dystopia comes to life? On August 9th, 2014, unarmed Michael Brown, and 18 year old Black man was shot at point blank range by white police officer Darren Wilson after Wilson told him to stop jaywalking. Brown was kneeling on the street with his hands up in surrender when Wilson delivered a fatal shot to his head. All up Brown was shot 6 times. The Ferguson grand jury has just come to the decision that there will be no indictment of Darren Wilson – he will face no legal repercussions for his acts. In the aftermath of his death, Brown has been described as “no angel” by the media, while Darren Wilson has had great support – multiple Facebook support groups have been made for him with tens of thousands of likes, people have donated over $400, 000 to him (not that he needs it, he’s been on paid leave since he shot Brown and won’t even have to lawyer up now he’s escaped indictment). The resulting protests in Ferguson, where Brown lived, have been met with military style force and the national guard was called in today in anticipation of protests following the announcement of no indictment. If the events that have occurred in Ferguson were described in a novel, or portrayed in a film – we would, rightfully, be in full solidarity with Brown, be completely against the police and excitedly read through the events of the unending protests inspired by the bravery of the people of Ferguson. I feel like this would be especially true if the character in the book were white. In fact it would also be true if Michael Brown had been white. People will say ‘it’s not about race’ in reference to Ferguson, but I cannot imagine a situation where a white boy would even be shot for jaywalking in the first place, let alone have his killer walk free. That a white boy would not be shot for jaywalking really drives home the point of this all – Michael Brown was not shot because he broke the law, he was shot because he was Black. In the USA, a white police officer will shoot a Black man almost 2 times a week.  If we turned Ferguson into the Hunger Games, white people  are citizens of the Capitol, white police are the peacekeepers and Black people are the from the Districts. White people, unaware of our privilege, white police, abusing that privilege to violently assert dominance over Black people, and Black people, living in fear of being one of those 2 a week. The white population of America’s overwhelming support of Darren Wilson shows, most importantly the racism that continues to dominate North American society, as well as that we don’t actually like revolution, we want to turn our heads away from and ignore dystopian reality, we don’t care about justice or fighting when it is needed in real life. We just care about the idea of it.

Recently Buzzfeed posted this piece about the Lammily doll, a realistically proportioned doll that’s recently entered the market. This doll presents a stark contrast to the traditional Barbie – Lammily isn’t stick thin, has greater movement, has flat feet (rather than those shaped for high heels) and doesn’t seem to be wearing makeup. It is, as the website states ‘realistic’ in many ways. Which, obviously, is extremely important in today’s age where young girls are bombarded by messages telling them to be thinner, more feminine, more placid. And while the Lammily doll is an excellent toy to show girls they don’t have to listen to these messages, it still fails to combat one of the most pervasive and damaging beauty ideals – that of whiteness. Idealisation of white skin has been a symptom of European beauty standards – forced onto the rest of the world – that has been supported for centuries and continues to be today. This video of the ‘doll test’ with young children demonstrates the depth to which the pro-white and anti-black sentiments in society and the beauty industry effect children’s perceptions of beauty and character based on skin colour. With this still being so prevalent today and the devastating effects this kind of society hatred of darker skin has on PoC, it’s clear Lammily dolls are not yet tackling the most important parts of beauty ideals. Lammily’s website says dolls of different races are coming next year, but I think the fact that they started out with a white doll speaks volumes of what society values.

The pictures from Kim K’s photoshoot for Paper magazine only came out a few days ago but have already taken the internet by storm. Unsurprisingly a lot of criticism has been thrown at Kim herself, with fellow celebrities criticising her nudity in light of her being a mother, or people photoshopping her poses into comical images. This is unsurprising, but still disappointing. While the criticism being levelled and Kim is unfair, at least one of the photos from the shoot merits it’s own critical analysis. This article gives a rundown of the history of racism behind the picture of Kim balancing a champagne glass on her buttocks. The photo, taken by Jean-Paul Goude is almost exactly the same as a picture he took and feature in a book called ‘Jungle Fever’, a racial slur. For comparison here are the pictures of Kim, and the original model Carolina Beaumont.

As the Grio article discusses, these images bear resemblance to the profile of Saartjie Baartman, an african woman who was the subject of freakshows due to the shape of her buttocks. According to this article from the New York Times in 2007, Baartman’s experiences are  “a symbol of the alienation and degradations of colonization, lost children, exile, the expropriation of female labor and the sexual and economic exploitation of black women by men, white and black.” It’s pretty clear how by making these pictures mirror Barrtman’s figure, Goude ignores the pain of her experience as an othered object and grotesquely twists her image into one of glamour. Whatever your opinion of Kim Kardashian, and while her knowledge of the implications of this photoshoot remain unclear, I think the brunt of criticism for this photoshoot should be focussed on Goude and his choice to delegitimise the suffering of Barrtman through his recurring flippant portrayals of her figure.