Vegetarianism will make you sexy like Alicia Silverstone
Or so PETA would like you to believe...
Sorry about posting a video the first go round!
My context is pretty much the same as it is for the video. This is an image that can be found on the PETA website, along with a little letter from Alicia Silverstone talking about how great veganism is. Right next to this photo are the words "I am Alicia Silverstone, I am a vegetarian." PETA is using a very provocative image of Silverstone to encourage people not to eat meat.
Content is also similar, except in the photo, you can't really see her body, just her face and the fact that she is naked. Here PETA uses her celebrity and her blond hair, blue eyed beauty to encourage people to be a vegetarian like her.
Form: Here we have a closeup of Alicia's face and a hand, with enough of her neck and shoulders showing to suggest that she is naked, at least from the waist up. She is shown lying in a prone position, with her hand in front of her, as if gesturing for the viewer to sit down beside her. The pose is clearly sexual in nature, and she is in a very relaxed, suggestive, almost post-coital pose. The blue background bring out the blue in her eyes, and the green grass also help to highlight this. The colors appear to have been brightened. The lighting in this photo are very soft and clear out any possible imperfections in her face, with a light behind her head to make her appear to glow (this is all sounding very familiar). It also has probably been photoshopped to be brushed and softened.
My take is also the same as my take on the video. Objectification of a famous woman to convert people to vegetarianism.
Context: I found this originally on Feministing.com. I check it about once or twice a week, and they had an entry about this video on the 20th, but didn't really go into analyzing it. You can also find it on PETA's website. It is currently on their main page. Basically, this is PETA trying to convert people to vegetarianism and humane treatment of animals. By showing off Alicia Silverstone's ass.
Content: Silverstone is a pretty well known actress and considered beautiful by American standards. She is white with blond hair, blue eyes, and PETA is exploiting her thin, toned body in order to pick at people's (especially women's) preoccupation with weight. She is also shown swimming in what we can only assume is her very own swimming pool (since she is completely nude) showing her wealth.
Form: The way the video was produced, it looks like a cross between a trailer for a crappy Hollywood movie and a bad porno. It seems like it took a lot of money and effort. A majestic, soft music is playing over images of Silverstone climbing out of a pool in slow motion. The camera frames her body in separate pieces before we even see her entire body, from the back, as she looks coyly over her shoulder. Not until half way through the clip do we hear her speaking in a gentle whisper about how becoming a vegetarian changed her life. She is shown naked, on her hands and knees, appearing to crawl towards the camera, completely objectified by its gaze.
My take: While I'm all for the ethical treatment of animals, I am also for the ethical treatment of women, and this video is nothing but objectifying. Basically, its message is that if you stop eating meat, you will look sexy, and be successful and rich like Alicia Silverstone. Instead of showing her eating a healthy meal, looking happy and content with her non-meat diet (which probably would have worked too, but had a much different affect), the director of this video decided the way to get the message across was to show an objectified female body writhing around by a pool.