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Balance Ton Quoi, Angèle

Sept 9, 2019

The French based music video “Balance Ton Quoi”, pulls the viewer in by starting with Angèle the artist singing holding a cat, leading to a group of people discussing in a courtroom type room. They then pan to an “Anti-Sexism Academy” where they talk for a little then continue on singing about society and cultural practices. At the very end it goes back to the same group that talked at first to show the one asking the questions in a flipped role as the teachers position. The artist uses the phrase Balance Ton Quoi repetitively, sighting things that relate to gender roles and sexism throughout the entire clip. They make a point to bring up learning more and praying for the future as well. The persuasive clip shows a view on society as a whole in a very forward and outspoken way in current times. This all relates to the equivalent of the American #metoo movement except in France it pulls from their saying of, denounce your pig or “#balancetonporc”. This saying take the sentiment that the aggressor rather than the victim should be punished. Frankly this video wouldn’t fly in all parts of the world in current societal norms. Being based in France though Angèle had the power to use both english and french to express her point and claim throughout the video. She also hit home the importance of learning through the “academy” and “courtroom” showing how this affects us in all parts of society personal and public alike. The last message is that the man causing the most problems even has the ability to learn and change his standpoint. The position is clearly stated and translucent in meaning. Angèle is standing with the #balancetonporc movement in France, and anyone can learn to be an ally. The clip was something heavily discussed and highly regarded/criticized when it was released over the summer. Sitting at over 43 million views, being posted only 4 months ago, garnering 862k likes, and 50k dislikes, and over 53k comments. It was definitely a monumental piece of media to those who watched it and a huge conversation piece for women’s rights activists.

Julia Manipella

“Dream Crazier”

11-13-19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=90&v=whpJ19RJ4JY&feature=emb_title
“Dream Crazier” Nike (view before reading)

“Dream Crazier” by Nike, a campaign founded in exposing the injustices women athletes face, for what they are in order to promote equal opportunity and recognition. It pictures remarkable accomplishments of female athletes, emotional music and footage, and a motivational voice over featuring Serena Williams. The emotional connection to the women and sentiment in the commercial elicit action, acceptance, and respect for these athletes, as well as encourages girls to “Dream Crazier” and reach their goals. As a girl who faced similar backlash when growing up, preventing me from playing football like my male friends, this piece was very moving. I don’t think it drives girls to achieve their dreams as much as it shows that women deserve the chance to prove themselves. They have been breaking boundaries and rules like these for generations without an invitation. The problem lies in societies view of female athletes not how the girls feel about their own abilities. It encouraged me to write this post, so I’d say it was fairly persuasive. That all said, if I saw this commercial at the age of 12, I definitely wouldn’t have taken the no from my parents and the administration at my school at face value. Women have been misrepresented, underpaid, and objectified in athletics since the start of gender parity in sports. This comes from the assumption that women aren’t strong, capable, smart, or talented enough to perform at the same level as men. Female athletes are capable of the same feats as men, and Nike knows this is a fantastic way to market their athletic gear as well as support the cause. Maybe soon we won’t need this kind of propaganda anymore; currently, however, that is a crazy dream indeed.

prop·a·gan·da

/ˌpräpəˈɡandə/

noun

An effort to promote a biased or opinionated view on an issue or thing in order to elicit action of some sort by the audience for their cause.

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Julia Manipella

Big Yellow Taxi

Big yellow taxi by Joni Mitchell is a song I’ve heard for years through my moms playlists playing before dinner, to the radio stations around my hometown. I didn’t really realize the importance of the lyrics however until recent years. The song is a testament to cherishing the things you have in the present. It relates heavily to the unknowns of life and how time can have such a great power over all of us. It opened my eyes to the people and things in my life that I take advantage of that won’t always be there for me. The world we know presents challenges and obstacles for us everyday but taking a moment to appreciate the things we have and what their importance is can allow for us to realize our morals and values. In times of doubt you in turn can figure out what really brings the most meaning to your life. I recommend this song in order to understand many things about oneself. My interpretation is not the same as anyone else’s and theirs will never be mine, however, that might just be what makes the song so much more interesting anyways.

10-20-19

By: Julia Manipella

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