This TV spot irks the hell out of me. Perhaps because it cuts in during virtually every show I watch - from MLB playoff games to America's Next Top Model marathons. Perhaps because borrowed interest always turns out phony and lazy.
Or, perhaps, my distaste has something to do with the King Kong mockery itself.
By now, we should all get that the original King Kong film portrayed a <racist> metaphor for race relations in the U.S:
King Kong is all happy being the ruler of a weird, backwards island in the middle of nowhere. He's "discovered" by some White explorers, who basically kidnap him and bring him to the civilized world in chains and shackles. When King Kong escapes, he's murdered. But before he dies, he falls in love with a beautiful blond, and they have some sort of relationship. Which seems silly to viewers - after all, how could a proper woman possibly spend time with an uncivilized giant ape?
Now go through this synopsis and replace all references to "King Kong" with "The African man", and you should get the symbolism.
But apparently, this obvious allegory was totally lost on the marketing folks at DirectTV. The spot, in which a poor man's Naomi Watts jabs at King Kong for not being "evolved" and for "staring at her 24-7", plays up all the controversial racist undertones that the original film portrays. These insults on Kong strike me as gratuitous, and, given the history of the King Kong story, written in utter bad taste. Am I missing some crucial bit of info that makes this spot worthwhile? Somehow I doubt it.
Ok we are all family here I feel STUPID for never catching the racist metaphor, WOW. Anyway not I am awake thank you.
Posted by: Monique | October 13, 2009 at 12:55 PM
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Posted by: Doctoral Dissertation | October 15, 2009 at 02:01 AM