High School Girl?

February 4, 2016 7:13 AM

Mystery looms in this classroom at a girls’ high school. Something is being kept secret... (A suggestion: turn captions on.)

Behind the scenes.

posted by Sokka shot first (6 comments total)

For a minute there, I was really hoping this would have something compelling to say about the social construction of gender, but the "everyone can be pretty" tagline in service to a make-up company was not what I had in mind. Reminds me of some of Dove's recent ads, which take an important idea and twist it in a small but very wrong way to sell a product.
posted by cubby at 7:28 AM on February 4, 2016 [3 favorites]

See also Boy? Meets Girl from Quirky Guys and Girls (which as recently as 2 weeks ago was available on Youtube)
posted by Obscure Reference at 7:29 AM on February 4, 2016

On the one hand, like most right-thinking people I highly approve of pretty boys wearing makeup and girl ensembles. It's wonderful, the things that can happen when we accept how artificial gender presentation is.

On the other, more withered, liver-spotted hand, oh boy I do not need to be told by a make-up company that everyone can be pretty, any more than I need fitness magazines describing how everyone can have abs. Some of us are not going to be pretty in that youthful, fresh-faced way. And some of us feel very bad about that fact.

Please make another commercial where a bunch of fat old guys with weird hair and no money for professional aestheticians get to be glamorous and pretty...then I'll believe your makeup does something really magical!
posted by mittens at 7:54 AM on February 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yep....I was uneasy when I watched it.. (clever as it is)... And finally realized that the real message is YOU are NOT pretty... you need makeup, and wigs...THEN you'll be pretty....

and..."fat old guys with weird hair and no money": You talkin' about me??? huh?
posted by HuronBob at 8:00 AM on February 4, 2016

"hey! let's perpetuate the tropes of 'man in a dress' and 'men trying to trick you into thinking they're women' through an ad that sounds ~~progressive~~ and ~transgressive~~ (ooh pun! hoo hoo)"
posted by divabat at 8:14 AM on February 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

is this gonna be on the test
posted by chococat at 8:18 AM on February 4, 2016