Tim Abbott

Body Image - 1

By now you've probably seen this image and the story behind it circulating on the web.

It is, allegedly, a Ralph Lauren ad featuring a ridiculously photoshopped model, Fillippa Hamilton. (Here she is on the Ralph Lauren web site looking relatively normal) As the image started circulating Lauren started issuing DMCA takedown notices to offenders (will they be calling here I wonder?)

Boing Boing has a full rundown of events.

Going after companies who posted the image inevitably invokes the Streisand Effect whereby an attempt to censor stimulates the multiplication of the information across the internet. Lauren subsequently admitted that they were indeed responsible for the "poor imaging and retouching" and that they have "addressed the problem".

There are a whole lot of unanswered questions, like, Who did the original artwork? and, Who signed off this image for publication? Surely no fashion house with the resources of RL would allow an image like this out by mistake. And no one seems to have been able to come up with the original ad in print or on the web. All of which makes me wonder what's really going on...


UPDATE, 15 Oct
Well, it seems the original of this ad was a display poster for a Japanese department store. But no matter, Fillippa Hamilton has now been sacked by Ralph Lauren "as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us" which apparently means she was too fat. Hamilton is a UK size 8. More details from The Times

How teenagers consume media

How Teenagers Consume Media by Matthew Robson, 15, on work experience at Morgan Stanley.

I am...

Just flagging up a great post by Phil from a few days ago looking at Jesus words, "I am the way, the truth and the life." He's uploaded the videos he used. My favourite is "I am the truth".
[If you're interested, there are several alternative versions on YouTube!]

Retouched

Another useful demo of how an ordinary model is transformed into a cover girl.

[via Maggi Dawn]

How much meaning...?

No Pressure is a lunchtime group we run attended by young people who are not Christians. The brainchild of Tom, our schools worker, No Pressure gets young people discussing the spiritual and practical response to the big pressure issues like alcohol abuse, drugs, self esteem, media pressure, eating disorders, self harm, and the like, with some reference to the way Christians face and deal with these issues. Quite often we have visiting guests who talk honestly about how they have dealt with these issues and the role their faith played.

Anyway, recently we used the Lifehouse Everything Skit on YouTube (and GodTube) which has been doing the rounds for a while now. We were interested to see what the young people would make of it. For many Christians is presents a powerful dramatic portrayal of the triumph of Christ over a range of influences that can ensnare us. But we know the story that underpins the presentation.
We were curious to see if the young people would be able to understand this Christian message without being told in advance what the drama was portraying.

They didn't get it! Some of them did seem to get a vague kind of positive message about breaking free from self harm and stuff, but they missed the significance of the Christ character and many didn't really understand the thing on any level.

We were not totally surprised, and in a way this confirmed what I have said before - that people bring their own meaning to films, video, music, art and that the (Christian) message we so often wish we could embed in these things barely communicates at all. That's why 'secular' songs can inspire us to worship (we bring our understanding of worship to the song) and Christian 'evangelistic' songs can have no impact at all (evangelistically speaking) on young people (even if they like the song).

We're left with a few thoughts.

• We may have done the young people a favour by allowing them to interact with the material (in this case, a video) and draw their own conclusions. This is, in some sense, empowering and respects their capacity for self-learning.
• The video may have the power of a parable in that although they didn't 'get it' on the day, the visual power of the drama may stay with them so that at some point in the future other events, or the working of God's Spirit, may create a moment of revelation for them about it's real meaning.
• We may have denied them an opportunity to understand the transforming and liberating power of Christ by not giving them a basic framework of understanding about what the video was saying before showing it to them.

At heart is how we tell the gospel story. We want to avoid anything that smacks of indoctrination, but we also want to give people clear information about the gospel so that they can make an informed choice for Christ.

We are continuing to work with this group and there will be many more opportunities to share aspects of the gospel and of our lives. That lunchtime, and that video clip, were just one part of our ongoing relationship and discussions.

What do you think? Did we leave them space to reach their own conclusions, or have we robbed them of an opportunity to consider Christ?

The Golden Compass

Jeffrey Overstreet posts a helpful overview “The Golden Compass” - Questions I’ve been asked, answers I’ve given covering the main issues surrounding the impending release of the film this Christmas. Among other things he asks...

Should Christians be afraid of The Golden Compass?
Should anybody?
Do Pullman’s stories pose a threat to children?
What does Pullman say about his own beliefs?
Christians always point back to Lewis and Tolkien as exemplary storytellers. Why hasn’t anyone come along to step into their shoes?
Okay, so we shouldn’t start boycotts and complain. But what should Christians do?

Will Christians be able to engage constructively with the real issues raised by Pullman's epic, or will it all turn into another shouting match, a bit like what happened over 'Harry Potter'. I'm not optimistic.

For further thoughtful discussion, Tom Gilson has a series of posts over at Thinking Christian.

And for an insight into Philip Pullman, the person, try this interview in Third Way magazine from Feb 2002.

Pornification

An interesting article in The Times about the 'pornification' of mainstream culture looking at the way this has influenced the aspirations and image of young women and reporting on a conference that included 100 young people organised by Women in Journalism.

“sexiness has become the new political correctness and it has profoundly shaped the way young people see everything from sex and relationships to pornography and personal power”
Fenella Souter

The article asks many of the right questions and there is positive response from the young people involved. I hope it makes a difference.

The Holocaust and the History curriculum

I may be late on this one, but since it dropped into my inbox yesterday I thought I'd mention it.

There's an alarmist email doing the rounds about the Holocaust being dropped from the uk history curriculum because it offends Muslims. With a subject line:
EVERY DAY - THE MORONS ARE CHANGING THE HISTORY BOOKS...
you'd be right to be suspicious. Here's what it said;

Recently this week, UK removed The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it "offended" the Moslem population which claims it never occurred.
This is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it.
It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended.
This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six millionJews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russian peoples looking the other way!
Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be"a myth," it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets. This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide!
Join us and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around the world.

Please send this e-mail to 10 people you know and ask them to continue the memorial chain.
Please don't just delete it. It will only take you a minute to pass this along -

Thanks!

Yes, you've guessed it - it's absolutely wrong.

The rumour started following a government report on the teaching of history which showed that at KS4 GCSE some teachers were avoiding historical events which would be emotive or controversial in their area. The report cited one history department in a northern city which decided not to teach the Holocaust as a topic for GCSE coursework.

The report was picked up at the beginning of April by The Daily Mail, The Telegraph and The Guardian all of which identified the difficulty of teaching some aspects of the history curriculum where there are strongly held views among the local community about these events.

On the specific issue of the Holocaust, it remains a coursework topic at GCSE and is compulsory at KS3 (11's - 14's). It will remain a part of the history curiculum at KS3 in the new syllabus which comes into force in September 2008.

The original report is here.
Here's how the BBC reported the issue.
There is a balanced and informative response from the Holocaust Education Trust

Whilst on the subject of email hoaxes, if you haven't already done so you should check out TruthOrFiction.com which keeps tabs on all of these eRumours and checks them out to see if they are true or not.

Alan Johnston

Away in Wales for a couple of days, it was Wednesday morning, driving from Welshpool to Llanfair at 6:20am that I heard the amazing news that Alan Johnston had been freed.
Welcome home Alan.
Peace.

Goodbye CosmoGIRL!

CosmoGIRL!, the younger sister of women's magazine Cosmopolitan, is to close with the August issue. The magazine, aimed at 12-17's pitches it's brand identity as,

CosmoGIRL! addresses the issues that all teenage girls face today. Confident, sexy and inspiring it reflects all that is exciting and challenging about being teen girl, encouraging CosmoGIRL!s to achieve what they really want from life.

What CosmoGIRL's want now, it seems, is available online rather than in magazine format, a factor not missed by it's publishers, The National Magazine Company Ltd, who also produce the CosmoGIRL! offshoot web magazine Jellyfish. However, in a subtle twist Jellyfish will be revamped from September to appeal to Cosmopolitan's target 18-25 readership rather than it's original 12-17 readership. No-one who works with teens will be surprised by this move. The collapse of a number of publications aimed at this age group shows that there is a rapidly diminishing market for a 12-17 readership who can now go to online publications aimed at their much older sisters. Publishers can't continue to produce magazines for a readership that no longer exists. The 'adultification' of teens, their needs, role models and aspirations, continues.

[via: Press Gazette]