Killing Us Softly.

Yesterday I watched two documentaries. The first one I watched was about children preachers and it was questioning their motivations, it was quite good, it's a National Geographic documentary called Pint-Sized Preachers.

The second film I watched was the 2010 “Killing Us Softly 4” by Jean Kilbourne.

Killing Us Softly 4 is an update on three previous films she made about the same subject, only in different decades, the advertising’s image of women.

And then, wow. All these small ideas and theories that I had about media and feminism and women’s image, they all connected.

Jean Kilbourne is my new hero. I admire her work just in this film so of course I will look into her work more deeply (once I finish writing this).

Everyone should watch this film!

“Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D. is internationally recognized for her pioneering work on the image of women in advertising and her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. Her films, lectures, and television appearances have been seen by millions of people throughout the world. She was named by The New York Times Magazine as one of the three most popular speakers on college campuses. She is the author of the award-winning book Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel and co-author of So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids. The prize-winning films based on her lectures include Killing Us Softly,Spin the Bottle, and Slim Hopes.”

I am not going to lie, in last few months, I have been a little obsessed with my weight and body. I watched this movie and it got me thinking. A year ago, I couldn’t care less about my weight in a sense; I couldn’t care less of what people thought about it, if they ever had an opinion. Although I must admit my grandma telling me I was fat every time she saw me only half-amused me (but now I’ve taken care of this little issue¹).

And it made me realise, all these images we’re fed, they’re all bullshit, why should we let others dictate what we should look like or what we should be? I for one, will not stand for that.

So googling images of a model mentioned in the film, I stumbled upon pro-ana/mia websites as they call themselves (pro-anorexia/bulimia). I’ve in fact known about such websites in a long time but I never really looked into them.

On there, girls share tips and “thinspiration”. It almost made me cry² to see the pictures of what these girls aspire to look like. Pictures of Ana Carolina Reston not long before she died, pictures of girls who are made of skin and bones. It is scary.

Media are destroying millions of people in the name of profit.

But it’s not only about weigh issues. It’s also about the objectification of women, the downgrading of women to a position of weakness, and vulnerability. It made me sad to think a lot people accept this without questioning it.

Anyway, go watch that film. Part one. Part two.³

1. Now instead of referring to me as “the fat Surya” (in front of me of course), my title has moved to “the shame of Belgium” (but that’s another looooong story). Don’t get me wrong, I admire my grandma, I love her to bits, but she can be a bit harsh sometimes.
2. I didn’t because I’m a cold hearted-bitch.
3. I just received new scores in the mail, I’m way too excited and I lost my chain of thought.