7 Deadly Sins

http://wallstreetjobreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Ralph-Lauren-1-83Kd1Rqozn-1024X768.jpg 

Author: unknown
Date: unknown

Place of publication: Ralph Lauren

In this advertisement for the clothing line Ralph Lauren, a couple is seductively lying on the beach. They are obviously wearing Ralph Lauren clothes, which is the purpose of such advertisement. But if you dive deeper into the meaning, you can tell that this ad displays the Deadly Sins of avarice and lust. Whoever took this picture had the intention of selling the (insanely expensive) clothes, saying that if you buy Ralph Lauren, you and your love could end up happily together lying on a beach. Which, of course, is completely unrealistic but hey, I guess it could happen to those select few. The intended audience for this ad is for youngish men and women who are well off enough to afford such clothing and who desire to love and to be loved. Such an advertisement may also be aimed at people of a specific body type, because the models shown in this picture are what our society has defined as "flawless." That's why they are models. 

Mass media uses language and in this image especially, layout and color, to invoke a feeling of avarice and lust. From a photographer's point of view, the two models' eyes are looking directly at the viewer, drawing them in and suggesting power. The colors of the picture are also cool, suggesting that they are in a simple place. In this ad, there is no language except for the logo of the company. This way, the author is making the viewer interpret the meaning of the picture themselves. Stereo-typically, Ralph Lauren is a clothing line for wealthy individuals who feel the need to show others how much money they have by spending it on these clothes. Avarice is directly involved with this ad because those who typically buy Ralph Lauren feel the need to buy more of their clothes. Textual bias is apparent because originally, this picture would have been in an issue of the Ralph Lauren catalog. The authors of such chose models they felt represented the ideas they want to portray through their clothing line, like how it is for the "elite" (who play polo, for example) and those full of lust. Stereotypically, most advertisements for Ralph Lauren feature either a beautiful white female or a handsome white man, which, again, plays into the intended, targeted audience. That's not to say, however, that people of other races can't or don't buy this brand. In a few other ads, there is a black male who is the sole model. But those don't appear frequently. 

Advertisements, such as this and most of the other Ralph Lauren pictures, are beautiful to look at (at least I think so) but the message they portray is that of avarice and lust. To some, this is exactly what they are looking for. For others, it's just a reminder of how materialistic our world is.

Jane Eyre

"Three other visitors, ladies, now entered the room. They ought to have come a little sooner to have heard his lecture on dress, for they were splendidly attired in velvet, silk, and furs. The two younger of the trio (fine girls of sixteen and seventeen) had grey beaver hats, then in fashion, shaded with ostrich plumes, and from under the brim of this graceful head-dress fell a profusion of light tresses, elaborately curled: the elder lady was enveloped in a costly velvet shawl, trimmed with ermine, and she wore a false front of French curls."

Charlotte Bronte, author of Jane Eyre, decided to use irony in the passage above. But before I explain Bronte's use of irony, a little background about chapter 7 of Jane Eyre; Jane, a young girl in England, describes her life during the cold winter months. She tells how she and the other girls she's with live on only minimal things, such as two outfits and half a piece of bread at each meal (except at tea-time on the Sabbath, when they got a WHOLE piece of bread). When Jane goes to school, she's met with somewhat of a surprise. Mr. Brocklehurst (what a horrible name) comes to visit the girls. He surveys the classroom, and then speaks with the teacher, Miss Temple. Brocklehurst goes on a little bit of a rant about how "the laundress tells (me) some of the girls have two clean tuckers in the week: it is too much; the rules limit them to one." Okay, that's crazy. You try have just one clean pair of tuckers (whatever those are) per week. Then he goes on to say "I find, in settle accounts with the housekeeper, that a lunch, consisting of bread and cheese, has twice been served out to the girls during the past fortnight. How is this? I looked over the regulations, and I find no such meal as lunch mentioned." That's a little harsh. THEN, (he's still not done commenting) he comments on how some of the girls have curly hair, to which Miss Temple tells him the girls' hair is naturally curly. He replies  "Naturally! Yes, but we are not to conform to nature; I wish these girls to be the children of Grace: and why that abundance? I have again and again intimated that I desiire the hair to be arranged closely, modestly, plainly. Miss Temple, that girl's hair must be cut off entirely." Excuse me. What? I wish some random guy would tell me I have to cut off my NATURALLY CURLY HAIR because it's CURLY. 

But here's the best part. Charlotte Bronte, the author, then describes Mr. Brocklehurst's family, specifically the girls, who happen to pop in to the classroom he's in. Guess what they are wearing. Basically clothes that, in today's world, we would attribute came from like Saks Fifth Avenue. 'They were splendidly attired in velvet, silk, and furs. The two younger of the trio had grey beaver hats, shaded with ostrich plumes, and from under the brim of this graceful head-dress fell a profusion of light tresses, elaborately curled: the elder lady wore a false front of French curls." THEY COULD HAVE CURLY HAIR BUT THE OTHER LITTLE GIRLS COULDN'T. This use of irony, describing the things the school-girls couldn't have but his girls could, provides a commentary on the social perceptions of class at the time. This Brocklehurst guy obviously has power in society. Therefore, he and his family are above the others. They can wear whatever they want and not have to conform to the social restrictions posed on the lower-class, poor schoolgirls. Bronte's use of irony in describing Brocklehurst's family is clear. Without knowing that Brocklehurst has the power to tell girls they can't have curly hair, eat bread and cheese, and have more than one tucker, you could tell by the description of his family that they are socially higher in class than everyone else. Perceptions of class at the time were denoted by what clothing they wore. If you got more than a tucker and could have curly hair, you were better off class-wise than others. 

In some ways, this can still be seen in our society today. It's more prevalent outside of a single setting, such as in a big city, where you can distinguish between those who have money to spend on nice clothes with well-known names from expensive stores and those who have the plain, not-as-fancy, clothes. At least those who are better off don't go around telling those that have less that they can't wear their hair a certain way.