UGLY BETTY: the anti-fashion or the model to follow?
My research will give attention to the concept of identity and on how it is formed. In other words, the issue of representation that looks frequently in press systems and particularly in TV shows. The mass media product that I have chosen to analyse is 'Ugly Betty', an American TV show created by Silvio Horta in 2006 on the ABC network. It really is predicated on the Colombian 'telenovela Yo soy Betty, la Fea, created by Fernando Gaitan.
Representation refers to just how people and places are portrayed, especially in the mass media context and about how they are seen by audiences specifically, by us. Since they are representations, this therefore means that characters and folks on Television and motion pictures are branded, formed, outfitted and shown because they are on display screen by the producers. In studying these representations, we live decoding them and then sketching on a range of meanings: are they fictional or real; implicit or explicit? By observing press representations of certain heroes and folks, we decide after whether these representations either challenge notions of id and exactly how certain public and minority organizations in world behave, have a discussion and function in true to life. Or if they seek to highlight and reveal those cultures, life-style and trends or simply portray a much maligned and distorted notion of these people and their situations.
We have to take into consideration when analysing and critiquing the press that every TV show is a representation of the way the producer or originator of the show for example, recognizes that particular world. Therefore, that world might not be entirely true in true to life and yet press producers want showing us their view of this world through the use of images and through the jobs played by actors in shows. Financial firms dangerous because media has a major influence on the real world and especially on teens who will be the group most affected by what is shown on TV and who the majority of all misinterprets what is being displayed in TV. Actually, within representations, stereotypes are commonly covered in Television set and motion pictures. Stereotypes are not actual people but broadly circulated ideas or assumptions about particular organizations. In other words, they can be exaggerated variants of what people tend to imagine are how certain collections of individuals behave, dress and conversation in true to life. Depending how that acting professional or celebrity portrays a stereotype, particularly if it belongs to a minority group: women, gay/lesbian, black, Asian and disabled, then audiences can easily see for themselves that they are displayed and portrayed.
The use of stereotypes in TV shows, specifically in 'Ugly Betty' is apparent. The male individuals are outnumbered by the feminine ones and yet all of them are either stereotypes or display stereotypical features in their personalities. Daniel, one of the main characters, is displayed as a sex addict especially in the first two times; Marc, the helper to Wilhelmina, is the flamboyant, effeminate gay men; teenager Justin, the nephew of Betty, has shown signs of appearing out of the closet down the road in the series and Ignacio, the father of Betty, Hilda and Justin, can be an against the law immigrant from Mexico settling in Queens, NY in the first season. For the ladies: Amanda, is the bitchy blonde receptionist, who later realizes that she was followed as a kid; Christina, is the Scottish seamstress, Claire Meade, Daniel's mother is a previous alcoholic and Hilda, is a single mother and ex-high college drop-out. Finally there exists Betty, a courageous, good-hearted, and just a little naive gal from Queens who is sorely without terms of fashion and beauty.
In my estimation, one of the reasons why 'Ugly Betty' has been such an internationally success is because of the script and the individuals who react to the current social concerns organised regarding women and their role at work.
Women's role in world is definitely seen historically in conditions of the husband going to work and earning the money to give the family whilst the wife cooks, cleans and looks after the kids at home. And yet, shows such as 'Ugly Betty' have exemplified that ladies can be successful in the world of work. And that famous brands Betty Suarez can become a valuable advantage, not just to the company but also to her co-workers, through the friendships that she makes and forges along the way whilst at Mode. The very notion that to become successful and also to do well, one has to be in physical form attractive and appealing in the work place, is proven incorrect by making Betty an example of someone, who regardless of her appearances is a reliable and hard staff member who concentrates on her job, irrespective of how many other people may think of her. On the other hand, the other feminine character types in 'Ugly Betty', Hilda, Wilhelmina, Claire, Christina, Amanda and Alexis, are more appealing and interesting than Betty. But what makes Betty a job model to thousands of young admirers, is the actual fact that she actually is young, wise and a living proof that in order to succeed in your career also to have a good life, you don't necessarily need to be good-looking. ; as a Latina, it is her upbringing, her culture and the environment she was raised in that continues Betty grounded at Function and that prevents her from turning out to be a different kind of person.
Betty is the show's main identity as well as the only 'real' figure of the show; the main one with whom one most easily recognizes with. Certainly, even her role has been exaggerated however in the end, she represents possible, the kind of gal with typical and common problems, hopes and goals. Indeed she actually is not the most beautiful girl on the globe and she will not know much about fashion, nonetheless she actually is a model to follow because of her enthusiasm, her kind-heartiness and her open-mind. The written text of it show is relatively contradictory because, in addition to the entertainment aspect, it show employs modern society's standards, displaying beauty as the only winning card but at exactly the same time in setting up a personality such as Betty, it offers you trust and also by leaving the stereotype it factors the finger to the style world also to the globe that surrounds it. Betty brings a real human aspect to the show. She actually is also the one person who recognizes what this means to reside in a difficult world where little or nothing comes free and where to obtain results you need to work hard, using your skills and your determination rather than just your good-looks. In fact, the show portrays the world of fashion as a cut-throat business where many people are by himself trying to make it through rather than to be destroyed by opponents.
But all along the series we can notify that Betty has already established an evolution, a change. The viewers notice at the start Betty is totally cut right out of the fashion world and then little by little she begins to participate it. The show is all organized around Function, a fashion journal, whose main focus is to showcase beauty, really the only important aspect. In fact, Betty must struggle a whole lot, to find her own place among people who dislike her for who she actually is, for how she appears and for just how she dresses.
In the last season, when she finally becomes editor in key and has her own office as well as Marc, she determines to hang up her preferred poncho on the wall structure as though it were a picture. The fantastic and famous poncho, that she wears on the first episode of the show on her first day at Function. That poncho had been made fun of by everyone for a long period. Her decision to hold up that poncho specifically and not something else is done deliberately to remind herself and the audiences of her roots and of her accomplishments for the past 5 years. At first, Betty was discriminated by the majority of her colleagues scheduled to her lack of fashion sense, but when she turned out what she was with the capacity of then the jokes diminished and they even treated her in a " kind" way.
But we see also that no real matter what, there's a change of image as she conforms over time with the standards set by the fashion world, undiscovered to her at the start. She does indeed this for herself but I feel that the show portrays properly well that it was almost essential if she wished to fit in with others. If she really wanted to help a fashion magazine she needed all the elements and that meant changing her style. She were required to test herself through a personal experience, on what's beauty and fashion to carry out a good job. She needed not and then dress in a stylish way but also to understand her new style. And she does indeed. She seems better, and she starts off to think that fashion is not so bad in the end. Her ideas and style change but this does not change her figure, it actually really helps to enrich it with new encounters and values. She's always dreamt of becoming a journalist and this dream remains until it becomes possible on her behalf.
Her kind soul is instrumental in changing and assisting out many personas, if not all, within the series. The main of these is Daniel who initially sometimes appears as a 'daddy's youngster', a gender addict without positive attributes. It really is because of Betty that Daniel increases as a person learning to be a reliable person with principles and with wishes for a family. Another identity is Marc who got always made fun of Betty and who got tried to mess up her career initially but who then finally learns to like Betty also to confide in her in several occasion: seeking her advice on the right move to make. In the "Tornado Young lady " tv show from season 3, there's a picture where Marc says Betty how he previously cheated on his partner Cliff, with another dude. He admits what he did and he seems guilty about what has took place but until he talks to Betty he does not have the power to confess the fact to Cliff. That is an example of how a personality such as Betty can change the life of everyone upon her introduction at Function. Despite their differences in id both Marc and Betty have numerous similarities: age-wise they are both in their early-mid 20s plus they both hail from different minority groupings. Marc is homosexual, whilst Betty is from the Latin American community; both are assistants who are developing their occupations at Method and YETI respectively. Marc is the associate to the co editor-in-chief, Wilhelmina Slater and Betty is the assistant to the editor-in key, Daniel Meade. Betty does what she is advised by Daniel while Marc does indeed what he's being informed by Willie. Willie's and Daniel's views on Marc and Betty are very much dependent on how they see themselves in them, the similarities they appear to share and how their actions and behaviours effect on them. Betty is a working course Latina, who has had no earlier experience working in a fashion mag but having arrived this position, she intends to make the most of it by working hard and remaining devoted to famous brands Daniel. Actually soon Betty became one of Daniel's most respected friends, constantly keeping him away from trouble, jail, and even once keeping his life when his partner, Grace, became a sociopath. She was also most supportive of him whenever he was battling against Wilhelmina or with his daddy Bradford.
In the series there are two female heroes, Amanda and Whilemina, with very different personalities but both beautiful women, seeking one common value. Amanda, the receptionist, who presents the normal good-looking and captivating young lady without brains who goes through an evolution process as the series improvement. She realizes that she wants another thing in life and not lead a meaningless life therefore she starts to place importance in expanding her internal home rather than just her exterior appearance. She no more desires to feel lonely and wish to be cherished for what she actually is and not just on her behalf looks. She longs for the warmth of a family and for a far more challenging job. Whilelmina on the other hand, is a lovely, successful and powerful female. A strenuous and different position for a woman in today's world. She feels protective towards everything and for that reason she is extreme with everyone to be able to maintain the thing she has, her work. It really is however clear that the truth is she is an extremely lonely woman who has never allowed herself to fall in love for concern with becoming vulnerable. Actually, the one man and really the only person close to her is her assistant Marc, a gay person, with whom she plots her conspiracies. In the last season, she comes in love and she realizes then that she can have both things and this in the end probably love is more important than her profession. She falls deeply in love with Connor, and ther is a funny episode where they are both on the beach and she is eating hamburgers and informing him, 'if you tell anyone, I will kill you'. She eats her hamburgers with pleasure and for the reason that point in time she breaks loose of all her fixed guidelines, her obsessions with preserving good health and beautiful because in the fashion world beauty is the one asset that matters. I thought we would depict these two examples to show that these two women signify millions of women in the world. Many women who watched these series have identified themselves with one of the various heroes portrayed in the series. These character types of course have been exaggerated but nonetheless they have a basic of truth representing today's culture.
Mode is an effective fashion magazine whose motives are to market and promote the idea of beauty and fashion to the wider consumer. However, it may also be argued that having Betty Suarez, who signifies the anti- fashion and who views the concept of beauty and appeal as something that will go deeper which is situated beyond the physical aspect of beauty, it is conveying the idea that there are beautiful people with good personalities in the world. Betty's point of view is in contrast to what she detects at Mode: beautiful people who have unpleasant personalities - rude, obnoxious and bitchy.
Unfortunately, it is something that people face day-to-day in real life. The concept of beauty is related to the prevailing culture which is perpetrated by print out or visual multimedia. For example, women wish to enhance their breasts and undergo cosmetic surgery because there is an obsession to do this and for women to try to catch the attention of men for success reasons. These popular images of beautiful women are a regular thread observed in art work and are constantly changing, giving women forever seeking to maintain with the latest fashion at all costs. These images are seen by the entire world as the physical qualities that make a female beautiful. This ideal image has always been depicted by the arts but this image has dramatically evolved throughout the hundreds of years and, sometimes, has taken a less realistic, unnatural, and harmful turn. Today, a lot of women would prefer to be slender than healthy.
'Ugly Betty' combines components of comedy, theatre and public commentary altogether which is then integrated and tied within the storylines and script. The show engages the audience through the constant plotline whilst emphasising themes or templates associated with gender and identification as well as work, companionship and credibility. In terms of representation, it is reasonable to state that the show has prevailed in highlighting and embracing these variations. Homosexual culture, fashion, gender, Hispanic culture, family, work, a friendly relationship- these are all themes symbolized in 'Ugly Betty' and shown on mainstream tv.
