The Blues in the Bluest Eye

Despite its name, blues music is a rainbow of variety; country blues, urban blues, jazz blues, modern blues, Chicago blues, Detroit blues, with the list going on and on.  Blues music is what it sounds like when the heart is ripped open and all of the pain and love and emotions flow out.  Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Etta James, Catfish Keith, and dozens of others who have popularized the blues genre also have characterized the stereotypical sadness of a blues song.  Bessie Smith’s famous Downhearted Blues is a prime example of the display of emotion in a blues song.

Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye could easily be sang to the sultry, slow rhythm of a blues song.  The heartache, despair, and the melancholy tone of the plot and the characters would fit like a glove to blues music.  The Bluest Eye if converted into a blues song would be slow.  The first verse would be reminiscent to childhood and nostalgic for innocence and ignorance of the world and how harsh it can be.  The chorus would be a repetition of the sadness of the characters and so on.

A common theme to both blues music and The Bluest Eye is repetition.  Blues artists always repeat common phrases and words throughout a song and the music itself has the same 10 or so bars over and over again.  The main characters in The Bluest Eye all have repeated tales of misery and a loss of hope.  For Pecola, it's the lack of lovely blue eyes, her desolate home life, and want of love and affection.  Her parents constantly fight, and her mother is frequently abused by her drunken husband, Cholly.  Pauline, Pecola’s mother, who had a relatively good life growing up, slowly sunk into misery after marrying a man she used to love.  Her inability to love her children and the abuse from her husband was certainly key factors of her unhappiness.  Such tales of woe can only be told through the emotion and feeling given in a blues song, which furthers my thought that The Bluest Eye can be read like a blues song.

Blues music originated from African-American communities in the Deep South in the nineteenth century.  The actual term (blues) came from Western African cultures, which used blue indigo clothing and materials for death and mourning ceremonies, and was the base for such phrases as, “feeling blue.”

In my opinion, the connection between the dejection of the black characters (Pecola, Pauline, and Cholly to name a few) and their sadness with the origin of blues music and the book’s title is not accidental.  The story of Pecola, Claudia, and the other characters moves at a slow pace, with Morrison expertly weaving a tale that leisurely moves towards its conclusion.  The tempo of the progressing plot makes a good beat for the words to flow not only from the author, but from the characters.  One can almost imagine Pecola walking dejectedly through town, singing mournfully for her blue eyes and how glorious she’d be if she had them. 

The only element that doesn’t make The Bluest Eye a blues song is the lack of music.  If there was a mournful beat, one could easily and soulfully sing the entire book.

Dove Dives into a Self-Esteem Promotion

Smooth. Clear. Flawless.  These are words that are frequently used to describe “perfect skin", but would not describe the picture above.  This woman doesn’t have clear skin, but does that make her less attractive?  Of course not! But let’s face it (no pun intended), we can’t all have smooth and clear and flawless skin.  However, Dove is trying to show us that and how we should accept the things that make us different and own them.  Upon looking at this picture for the first time, you immediately look at the woman.  Then your eyes dart to the check boxes, which defiantly say, "Flawed? Flawless?" This effective play on words is very well done that adds a lot to the ad.  In addition to that,  to me, the woman’s eyes are saying, “Say flawed and my freckles will turn into lazer beams that will zap you.”

The format and look of the first ad is very simple and clean, using a white background, which makes the woman and the words really stand out.  You don’t need any other images that would take away from the message of the ad.  In fact, it would be weird if there were other images that would detract from the simplicity of their message; all women are beautiful even if they aren’t clear and flawless.

Finally, your eyes wonder to the bottom right corner where you see the Dove logo and the website for their campaign.  It isn’t big and you’re not supposed to focus on that.  But if the logo wasn’t included, would this ad be as effective?  Dove is a major authority on skin and it utilizes its power in order to successfully let their message across.

Dove has really gone above what they normally do with their Campaign for Real Beauty.  This movement is one of the few that has challenged the conventions of traditional beauty shown in ads.  Instead of showing thin, perfect, and pretty models, Dove is using women of all ages, body type, and colors.  Below is another picture from the Campaign for Real Beauty that shows the diversity of their campaign.

What’s so wonderful about this movement is how it would really touch the heart of all women.  The women pictured above would never be considered models by traditional standards, but seeing them striking a pose and looking genuinely content does make them models.  These ads show all kinds of women and all women would see themselves in these ads too, for they display all types of women, those with wrinkles, freckles, or both.

Dove takes the plunge and is very daring by challenging the typical ideals of beauty.  Many see freckles as cumbersome and annoying, not at all beautiful, when they are really just kisses left from the sun (at least that’s what my grandma told me).  This ad is saying, you’re not flawed, you’re flawless!

In addition to these two advertisements, Dove created dozens of other similar posters that ask you to choose whether or not the woman is pretty or not or extra-large or extra-sexy (as shown in the ad below).

In my opinion, this is one of the most powerful ads I’ve ever seen.  It disputes societal norms and goes against long-established standards.

It is so rare that one sees an ad, let alone more than one, that shows big women and old women looking beautiful and confident.  I’m sure that this series of ads has given many women confidence and the ability to accept and love their bodies.   Good job, Dove.