When you look at this picture what do you see? A normal answer would be some hot middle-aged women eating some apples, I see is sex, desire, and deceit. If you are unfamiliar with the show Desperate Housewives, these women live in a quiet suburbia where they have it pretty easy. To the unknown eye strangers think these women live the perfect lives with their white picket fences, behind closed doors however they all have dirty little secrets. Each woman has her unique story but in the end each character has to make decisions that either have a bad or worse outcome.
Why? This show is based off of the idea that we as humans, cannot deny ourselves the forbidden fruit. It is in our nature to want what we can’t have, and to find ways of getting what we want. Pop culture has designed our society to make us want many things we can’t have. In Desperate Housewives all the women are thin sexy women, to the audience this is saying we should all strive to be like these women. In Bordo’s reading she talks about how women overexert themselves by trying to reach a goal that is unrealistic for their body. Desperate Housewives creates desire, the audience desires these women’s lives, men desire these women’s bodies, and these women desire more. In our society everywhere you look there is forbidden fruit that we want to indulge ourselves into. Is the desire within us so strong that when we are faced with a dilemma we can often make the wrong choice due to our own greed or gluttony? Can we as humans be selfless? It is our job to take position on every matter we face. Our culture tries to steer us into the direction that keeps our cultural stable and functioning. The reaction to our actions decides whether we made the right choices or not.
As a Desperate Housewives viewer, I can understand part of where you are coming from. These women are deceitful; however, their lives are far from desirable. They stop at nothing to obtain what they desire, want, and ultimately seize to think they cannot live without. The theme of the show is coupled with the idea of 'eating the forbidden fruit," and the consequences that go along with doing so. This motif reveals the desire to eat fruit or in a larger sense, the desire for what we cannot have. Based on our discussion in class, culture is constructed from seeing things we don't have and making them obtainable. By viewing a gorgeous model on the cover of a magazine, we desire her body and might strive to make that possible. In some cases, we want, what we CAN have, but the journey to change our cultural norms and reach those desires is quite the challenge.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the idea of them laying in what some would call the ambrosia. It really reminds me of the images we are going to discuss on Tuesday, with the women depicted as holding apples.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting though when you think about a women holding the apple, as a sign that they are inherently devious.
I like how you show that their lives are what is desired, like the fruit but the bittersweet reality of owning that fruit comes crashing down once its doors are open.
While desperate housewives seeking some kind of a secret desire is arousing to some, there is also a basic biological reasoning that can be pulled from this. The cover is particularly geared for males, given that the women are all highly sexual in appearance and the presentation of simple, bold colors. Basic human interest of passing on one's genetics is played upon in this situation, such that for example a married man might find this appealing in that it is the 'extra juicy edition', which probably implies more sexuality than is shown on TV. This is an enticing situation in which the male brain is being told 'these women will have higher sexuality (on screen)', which stimulates the initiative to (most importantly to the company at least) purchase and watch. Biology shapes the culture in this sense in that the need for males to reproduce and pass on their genes is emulated into our culture in what advertisements appeal to men.
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