Photo from Doritos ad 2010This was a rather inspired quote from a friend of mine on Facebook earlier. The friend in question is somewhat controversial for me. I had a ridiculous crush on her in high school and she didn't seem to give me the time of day. She went to the rival state college, married a Department of State guy, moved to Africa with him, got a divorce and is now living in NoVA YUPy bliss with her new boyfriend... who is also a sociologist.
Other than the obvious problems of the media and the rampantly bad representation of masculinity. One commercial gets to me rather personally.
I understand that the ad is going to be biased, but in its efforts to promote Google as the window to life's opportunities, it simplifies and disinfects the complications of the "international lifestyle" while at the same time pushes some odd ideas.
The history of travel has always been the history of wealthy people going to foreign lands and having sex with the natives. This commercial is a new post-post-modern interpretation of this old colonialist motif. What angers me the most is that the commercial hides the complicated and dirty parts of travel that I have come to respect. It opens up an entire life of going to Paris, seducing and marrying a French girl as something as simple as doing a Google search. It skips the problems of being on the streets of Paris, looking for a job in a town that distrusts Americans, months of doing nothing but washing dishes to pay enough for rent, being rejected by several women, and historically Catholic churches that won't let you have your non-denominational spiritual life-bond ritual. Living a life anywhere involves a lifetime of building trust and knowing the community, not just a simple information and monetary exchange. Unlike what Samantha Brown may lead you to believe, life outside of America isn't just a pretty amusement park for your enjoyment.
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