Mid-Term with Pictures

1. Food shortage and spreading cholera epidemic further destabilizes Zimbabwe

http://www.thetakeaway.org/media/photologue/photos/cache/zimbabwe_large_image.jpg

In this image, there is a long line of women and children waiting in line to get a chance at getting clean drinking water in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare,. The image gives a look into the troubles that Zimbabwe is infested with, one of them being a lack of clean water for all inhabitants. The image provides a backdrop for the cholera epidemic that hit the country last August and still ravages today, leaving 3,688 dead (http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/02/17/zimbabwe-msf.html?ref=rss). The struggle for power in the country, and extreme division between the rich and poor, and the lack of clean water for all sets a doomsday on the country. In the picture, the poor are the ones who are represented providing not only a backdrop for the cholera epidemic, but also the strict class divides that are present in Zimbabwe today.

2. Hitman: Blood Money

http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/53254/the-most-controversial-video-game-ads-of-all-time-page-2/

In an ad that ran in April 2006 for a PC gaming magazine, sexualized violence is the obvious theme. From the provocative way that the woman is laying, to the bullet wound in her skull to the shoes on her feet, the ad screams sex. She’s in a sexual position that is often construed as “take me now”, giving the viewer a mixed image of what the video game is really about. The woman is meant to be taken over by the men who play this murdering game, and she is used as a ploy to get young males to buy this video game. She is a part of the Dream World, where women are for the taking, mere objects to be used and abused. The header for the ad reads “Beautifully Executed”, making the themes of sex and murder, in this ad, almost synonymous.

3. Well, at Least He Drives a Prius

http://www.autobloggreen.com/photos/well-at-least-he-drives-a-prius/673794/

When looking at this ad, it struck me as an ad essentially promoting violence. It shows a man dragging (presumably) a dead body into a lake, with the caption “Well, at least he drives a Prius”. The ad feeds into how society accepts violence, especially when it comes from men. It excuses it because the man drives an environmentally friendly car. This ad was a part of a string of controversial ads that Toyota ran for its Prius car, the other two with more sexual connotations. The ads in general were poor acts on the Toyota Company’s part. I chose this one out of the three because of the blatant violence that was present. At first, I found it mildly amusing, and then I started to think of how the company was making it apparent that they were okay with malicious violence such as murder.

4. No Easter Egg Hunt This Year

http://www.prometheus6.org/send/send/23696

This picture was sent in an email by a Californian mayor to friends that caused a monstrous controversy that lead to him resigning. The picture shows the White house lawn filled with watermelons. The image is blatantly racist and aimed at President Obama. It is stereotyping African Americans, with the age old “black people love watermelon”. I first saw this picture while watching a late night talk show, and was instantly offended. It attacks the president based on his race, and demeans his place in power. With Obama elected, people screamed of the changes that would occur and that finally racially inequality was gone; but insensitive images like this only prove that racial inequality is still a problem in US society. Merely electing a black president is not going to instantly get rid of social inequality when ignorance such as this still plagues people who are in government positions.