In the Disney Channel movie, The Even Stevens Movie, The Stevens
family win an all-expenses vacation to an island that is supposedly half way
across the world. Little do they know they are actually part of the new reality
hit TV show Family Fake Out, where
all their family and friends are watching back at home.
From the moment that the Stevens
family steps onto the island, the older brother, Donnie, runs into a native
(that are actually actors) that looks like a guy that he played football with,
Patrick Green, in high school. But the “native” denies the fact that they know
each other and moves along. Donnie still gets this weird feeling that he knows
that particular native. “The way we see things is affected by what we know or
what we believe.” (Berger 8). Because Donnie is so persistent that he knows
that specific native from somewhere, he becomes skeptical about their whole
so-called vacation. As the movie goes on, the family has been in the hot sun
for days with nothing to eat or drink. In this particular scene Donnie goes on
a venture to look for more wood for the fire and all of a sudden runs into
Patrick Green, but this time as himself and not a native. “The term
‘neoliberalism’ needs little introduction. It identifies under one label a
range of discourse, operating as a form of ‘common sense’, that absolutely
legitimates the market and delegitimates the social (or any indeed
institutional forces that seek to counter the market, such as the state).”
(Couldry 2). Since Patrick Green was noticed when he was in disguise as an
island native, the producers thought it would be comical for the viewers to
bring in Patrick Green as himself to distort Donnie mentally. The Stevens
family has no idea that they are part of this reality TV show and the producers
of the show are controlling everything. “He called the Panopticon “an
inspection house” for the reformation of morals, whether of prisoners, workers
or prostitutes, by means of constant surveillance”. (Mirzoeff 96). This island
the Stevens family are on is like their own Panopticon where producers of the
show are the cause of the events happening which affects the Stevens family
behavior and attitudes towards the situation and each other. (50:00- 53:41)
Surveillance, on the other hand is
quite comparable to neoliberalism. In this movie, the island is the represented
as the Panopticon figure. “The Panopticon- literally, the place where
everything is seen,” (Mirzoeff 96). On this island there are camera crews everywhere
and cameras hidden in the trees, plants, and rocks around the island to watch
the Stevens family every move as well as making sure the natives stay in
character. According to Andrejevic, “The portrayal of surveillance through ‘reality
TV’ as a form of entertainment and self-expression can thus be understood as
playing an important role in training viewers and consumers for their role in
an ‘interactive’ economy.” (Adrejevic 251). The producers want to make sure
they document everything the Stevens do and make the decision if it is worth to
air in order to bring up their ratings. Ren, the middle child of the family,
falls in with one of the natives, Mootai. Their chemistry is so strong that the
ratings of Family Fake Out, beat their
competitor show Gotcha by one point.
To really bring up the ratings the host of the show, Miles McDermott, decides
that Mootai has to kiss Ren and then breaks up with her because he thinks this will
definitely beat his competitor’s ratings and get that show canceled. “He
describes a scenario in which the stability of rigid forms of production and
the predictable patterns of demand that they relied upon are disrupted by
changing economic conditions,” (Adrejevic 255). The next day Mootai meets up
with Ren and they end up kissing but Mootai pulled away. He tries to confess to
Ren that her and her family are part of a reality TV show and that they have
cameras watching them. But due to the surveillance cameras being posted
everywhere, the producers saw that Mootai was trying to tell Ren the truth, the
producers quickly change the scenario.
(1:02:42-1:03:11) (1:08:40- 1:10:50)
The Gaze
Katy Perry, a famous pop singer sensation also known for
always having inanimate objects covering her abnormal size chest in her
performances. In this photograph of her, she advertises and promotes the item
“Pop Chips” by placing them in front of her chest while looking at the text
above her that reads, “nothing fake about ‘em”. In Ways of Seeing, Berger’s opening line states, “Seeing comes before
words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.” (Berger 7). By just
looking at the ad itself, one can take the assumption that the photograph is
trying compare the chips to her chest. Then reading the text above her is almost
as if she is also promoting herself by saying that her chest is as real and
natural as the Pop Chips. “The gaze is not just a look or a glance. It is a
means of constituting the identity of the gazer by distinguishing her or him
from that which is gazed at.” (Mirzoeff 171). In the photograph the gazer’s
focus is intended to be on the chips but can also be argued that the focus is
basically on how naturally big Katy Perry’s chest is. This would be the use of
male gaze by using her body in a sexual way in order to promote the product.
“women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded
for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.” (Mirzoeff 172). It
is interesting to see how compared to other male gaze advertisements, Katy
Perry uses more of a body language route towards as a more scandalous nudity
photograph.
Perspective
Looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing a body image
reflecting back that is not your true body image is an everyday occurrence for
someone who is struggling with their body image. Body image in today’s society
has taken a large toll especially on woman and young girls. The models
represented in the media are being seen by society that gives the viewers a perspective
of an ideal look that a girl or boy needs to portray in order to look
“beautiful”. The idea being portrayed in this image is a bone skinny girl
looking at herself in the mirror and seeing a totally different and bigger body
than what she really is. “Gradually it became evident that an image could
outlast what it represented; it then showed how something or somebody had once
looked- and thus by implication how the subject had once been seen by other
people.” (Berger 10). It is interesting to see the perspective of what the girl
sees when she looks at herself in the mirror because it is a whole different
perspective of what people see of her. “What you depended upon where you were
and when. What you saw was relative to your position in time and space.”
(Berger 18). The things people see in the media, puts an influence on their
perspective- in this case their body. The reflection in the mirror is the
girl’s perspective of her body even though when someone else is looking at her
body, their perspective is completely different. Everyone’s perspective is
different and can range all around so there is never a yes or no, or a right or
wrong.
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