My Room Madness

I chose it because I adored the mini passage it had 🙂

Reinvention of a Fairytale

“…For this assignment the student must reinvent a fairytale of their choice to conceptually fit within contemporary society.”

I have chosen to use the evil queen, and her magic mirror, from Snow White. I feel that this is a relevant issue in contemporary society, as we are surrounded by objectification of the human body in advertising and in the media. Our constant exposure to female-oriented advertisements may influence girls to become self-conscious about their bodies and to measure their self-worth based on their physical appearance (HealthyPlace, 2015). This may lead to eating disorders or plastic surgery. Therefore, the recurring themes that contrast with this image are body image and self acceptance (including the acceptance of others).

This image does not portray the drastic effects of ‘society’ on a person, but it does show how it could all begin. The image pertains specifically to females ages 18-30, who may be able to relate to an immense pressure from society, even sub-consciously. The image is therefore meaningful in this way.

I attempted to get the message across effectively by using colour and symbolism. The left side of the image is an icy blue colour, gradually fading into a warm orange colour (these are complementary colours). These colours reinforce each other and bring the image to life in an interesting way, because they also represent the subtext within the image, which I will touch on below.

The image deals with a present-day lady who has just settled into her career and faces the harsh realities of society on a daily basis. As a ‘professional’ lady in the working world, she tries to appear presentable and formal constantly. Sometimes she just wishes she could wipe her makeup off and be herself.

There is symbolism that links to the original fairytale, including the red lips on the lady and the masked face (‘magic mirror’) that represents society. The mask also has a secondary meaning to it, which links to makeup being almost a ‘mask’ in her world. The blue colour that fades into the orange colour reveals how she tries to focus on the positive things in her life, rather than the negative. Also, the close proximity of these colours show how easy it is for her to ‘turn off’ the effects of society, although this is just a temporary solution. The cold mirror frame and the warm light juxtapose heavily in the image. The Rule of Thirds effect has also been used.

Society is represented through a white mask, as it closely resembles the ‘magic mirror’ face and also because the word ‘society’ refers to all of us. I chose to keep her reflection in the mirror as the fade effect with the white mask gives the viewer a sense of intrigue and insecurity. The mask is looking down at her reflection, showing how she feels pressured, yet suppressed, by society. Since the lady’s character is based on the evil queen, it may also imply that she feels as though she needs to be the best or to appear the best in order to further herself in her career. It is up to the viewer to decide whether she is arrogant and selfish or if she is under immense pressure from society.

Reference:
HealthyPlace, (2015). Eating Disorders: Body Image and Advertising – HealthyPlace. [online] Available at: http:// http://www.healthyplace.com/eating-disorders/articles/eating-disorders-body-image-and-advertising/ [Accessed 1 Jun. 2015].

Bibliography
Bouwman, R. (2011). A physiological look at complementary colours « Van Gogh’s studio practice. [online] Vangoghsstudiopractice.com. Available at: http://www.vangoghsstudiopractice.com/2011/09/a-physiological-look-at-complementary-colours/ [Accessed 1 Jun. 2015].