Visual Essay/Mall Adventure

Okay, so yesterday me and E were killing time before our movie, at the Rosedale Mall. And while we were killing time, we decided it might be fun to take a few pictures (and a couple videos) of the things we saw while we were there. Also...we did something that no person with any amount of dignity should do... We went...into...*dramatic breath*...Abercrombie and Fitch, as well as Hollister, to get a little up-close, and personal, insight as to what draws all these people there.

Check it out:

(-I apologize for the shakiness at times. It doesn't mean that I'm an unsteady photographer/filmer, it's just hard to film all that needs to be filmed without seeming too inconspicuous -or getting caught. And for the insanely loud music that may have muffled some of what we said.)

Stop #1- Abercrombie and Fitch

(Some guy with his hand in his pants. -Now isn't that sexy?? If I wanted to see that I'd go to high school...oh wait, I do. -Not saying I want to see that, however..)

What'd you think of that? Doesn't that just make you want to go shop there ASAP?! -Pshhh. Yeah right. They wish. Unfortunatly, though, that kind of thing appeals to a lot of people.

Stop #2- Hollister

(Ah yes, the all-famous no-shirt-on guy.)






Hollister was pretty much the exact same thing as Abercrombie. Except everything said "Hollister" on it, instead of "Abercrombie" next to the "Fitch" shirts.

And here are just a few other little advertisement things we saw at the mall:

(-Now, call me crazy, but I fail to see how that relates to perfume. Please, enlighten me.)

(-There you have it, people. Buy one of aerie's bras and you too could look like that.)

(-Fake girl meets real girl.)

(-Um...irony much? "Free Your Legs"... Mhmm. It all makes sense now.)

As you can see, ladies and gents, this is consumerism at hand -up close and personal. And I suppose an obvious conclusion that can be made about these pictures, is:

(-Note the security guard motioning me to stop taking pictures. What are they afraid I'm gonna do? Show the world what we're selling here?? --Newsflash: there's Google for that.)

Malls like this...

make people like this...

BECOME APART OF THE CONSUMERISTIC INFLUENCE.

Okay, so. To tie this all together (a.k.a. the hard part). The message that these pictures (and videos) portray, is that there has been ideals and, if I may, standards, advertised to us to make us not only desire the same things, but to try and conform to those things. You know the saying, "you are what you eat"? Well, couldn't the same be said for "you are what you buy"? It's those kinds of things that are influencing us everyday. And, no, not everyone gives into these marketing set-ups, and conforms, but there are a lot more people out there that do. (i.e. my sister; her picture above.) Or, there are just the silent buyers of the world. You know, like those middle-aged women who don't know what to do with their lives, so they find themselves going bargain-hunting and buying a million things that they're never going to use, all because there was a sign that said "Buy One, Get One Free!"

Consumerism affects all of us. In ways that are obvious, and also in ways that aren't so obvious. Just a few prime examples of those effects (or conformity, whichever), are in the posted videos, such as: being skinny -because all the clothes there were made for girls with the waste size of a pencil; less clothing is more (?) -more what? More skanky?; sticking to your gender (self-explanatory), meaning it's 'wrong' for a chick to wear guy's clothes because she wants to, and vice-versa; and, basically, they are showing us artificial people (-yes, I said artificial, as in they aren't real, as in their photos are edited and shopped, and nobody really looks like that), and pushing their definitions of "sexy" and "beauty" onto us so that our minds get the same warped idea of those concepts, and therefore we buy stuff to try and fit those descriptions and to look just like those models. Those fake models, who obviously have nothing better to do with their lives than to pose, half-naked, infront of a camera. -Um...sad.

So yeah. I hope that this answered most of the questions, and provided some kind of insight into the everyday, all around us, consumeristic world. If not, hopefully it at least gave you a giggle or two.

Anyways. Thank you E for being my (Ho) spokesperson!

Peace.