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Alicia:

I chose this ad because although this is not the kind of exotic other that we are usually dealing with, it does say something for our need for the other. This guy is made an exotic weirdo by putting on face paint and we can almost hear the parent's bourgeoiseness screaming in reaction to the Polaroid. The text situates us as a knowing outsider, listening in and perhaps sympathizing with the parent's dialogue but hip to the knowledge of what the Polaroid discloses. I think this ad could also be read via appropriation of subculture for not only is his face-painting being appropriated from somewhere, but this photo also provides no context for why he had his face painted. It takes the moment out of context (Berger) and situates it via the parent's dialogue, thus exaggerating the exotic Otherness. This kind of recontextualized Otherness will is used repeatedly in advertising.

Lynn:

I sort of thought that his face was supposed to be tattooed, but face paint (which is what it probably is) works too. the Polaroid catch phrase -- see what develops -- works in a few ways. One, the parents will be 'saved' by Polaroid -- they will see the exotic craziness of their daughter's man, catch it just in time -- that is, before they invite the freak to thanksgiving. in the other TV. ad with the guy on the plane -- see what develops refers to the relationship that just might develop between the guy and the sexy French woman.... see what develops -- literally, on the film, but it also refers to the commodity relationships. but back to this ad in particular -- the parents will judge the boyfriend on the basis of his appearance in the Polaroid -- hey, appearance is everything in the world of commodities, right? his appearance goes against bourgeois values, but at the same time, through this ad, it appeals to them. he is posed as a freak, as a joke -- not as anyone who could truly shake up the parents' lovely world. thanks to Polaroid, I guess, the parents can rest easy -- or at least easier than if the guy just showed up one day. ahhhhh.

Jessica:

I first thought of the face tattooing that the Maori do in New Zealand. I mean it is strikingly similar. So that is the type of association that I make. I mean even if you don't connect it that way, this face painting or tattoo still suggests a tribal idea. Polaroid rips images out of context that in some odd way has us recall that aura of Otherness which gives us the idea of untainted wildness, a savage being unrestrained by the social codes. I mean, sure, Tom-boy and his wife will be shocked by the face paint but why, besides that it goes against dominant structure of normalcy? This kid is made to be the Other entering into their world, breaking the boundaries which define us verses them. This Maori kid, with his tattoos and ear ring is positioned against the idea of the normal football player and thanksgiving dinner.

I think of Polaroid and I wonder what is their selling point. And I think that is about catching the moment, preserving and producing something in a instant which no regular camera could do. In this way, they have preserved the crossing of boundaries, the intrusion of Otherness, something which confuses the definition of us/them, something which is not allowed to happen and jars our world when it does.

Alicia:

I definitely think both of you are on the mark. One other thing I think is interesting in this ad is the audience. The text on the side makes it so that we are viewing the picture through the parent's frame. We are made to sympathize with their bourgeoisie values. However, I found this ad in the Rolling Stone which usually seems more related with the kind of pseudo-individualistic sub-culturally based values like the gut in the photo. I mean, I'm not quite sure who would exactly relate to the guy in the photo, but perhaps his difference is something that would attract many youth (more the wannabe than the "already"). In that frame, we look at this photo through the eyes of the girl who is psyched over his exoticism because it is going to freak out her parents. Exotic Other as rebellion more than romanticization.

Lynn:

The ad is in rolling stone, so I tend to think that we are not, in fact, supposed to be sympathetic to the parents' bourgeois codes. The text sets it up as a dialogue between the two parents about their daughter and her boy, but I think it is also poking fun at the stuffiness of bourgeois mentality. see what develops -- It's kind of an in-your-face exotic Otherness as rebellion, as you said Alicia. It sets up the parents as losers, who have no clue what their daughter is up to. It breaks their sense of what is acceptable -- posits them as unknowing, unsuspecting fools. To me, it's more like - ha, you don't even know, but Polaroid does....