Reading the World: SuperBowl Advertisement Deconstruction

The advertisement that caught my attention...


Some key excerpts from my "Critical Reading Paper" which analyzed this advertisement:

• In deconstructing the advertisement with a critical eye, some of the representation of racial identities and gender roles seems a bit limited. It is implied that the woman in the advertisement is a single mother, and is dressed in a somewhat provocative way. The man, Kyle, is treating his date with what are regarded as “typical” heterosexual dating norms by dressing up, bringing flowers, and then objectifying her when she was walking away by looking at her. None of this is stated explicitly in the text of the commercial because it is understood by the viewer as part of a cultural norm.
• The son in the ad challenges the norm in some senses by “stepping up” and asserts his authority over his mother’s suitor.  This re-positions the male figure, however young, as needing to defend the woman in his life, his mother.  The Kyle character even refers to Jaylen as “little man” which is a term often used to refer to African American boys.  In many ways Jaylen is the protagonist of this narrative, in which viewers are positioned to praise the 4-year-old African American boy for his strength, assertiveness, and “manhood.”  
• As a side note, the little boy and the man are discussing video games, which also plays off assumptions about what recreational activities African American boys and men engage in and discuss.  Van Dijk reminds us that racism is perpetuated in subtle, symbolic, and discursive ways (In Rogers & Mosley, 2006, p. 467).  I think it is important to recognize the racial assumptions that are largely reinforced by this text that at first seems representative and perhaps even empowering to African Americans.
• hooks (1994) asserts that the poor are rarely portrayed in contemporary culture, so while this ad was representing a racial minority it continued to adhere to a more defined societal norm of ignoring class.  
• As in all critical interpretations, there is not one neat and specific way to read and classify a text. Humor can often serve as a tool to reveal or conceal some of our cultural assumptions and beliefs. Another way to approach this ad is to ask, why did it make so many Americans laugh? What does this tell about who we are and what we believe? Rosaldo (1993) asserts that there are not discrete cultures but instead, “boundaries that crisscross over a field at once fluid and saturated with power” (p. 45). This Doritos commercial managed to cross over in terms of racial representation and interesting power dynamics, yet some of the more familiar past narratives seemed to reemerge. Jones (2006) states that, “positioning of people could not happen without someone exercising power – both power used to dominate and power used to liberate” (p. 79). The view of African American women as sexy single mothers, young boys as violent protectors, and men as only interested in women as objects is not a completely liberating view.

Reflection
My reading of this advertisement awakened a deconstructive lens that had been dormant for some time.  My freshman year of college, at 18 years old, I took a 4000 level honors class called:  "Discourse Analysis and Cultural Criticism."  I had no idea what I was getting into but signed up because I was intrigued by the professor.  It was possibly the most challenging reading and thinking that I have ever been asked to do.  The two authors that we read that stretched me the most were Michael Foucault and Jacques Derrida.  I was in way above my head and spent hours just trying to comprehend the words on the page.  However, through the support and patience of the professor and the amazingly rich conversations in the seminar, I began to see the possibilities of seeing things differently.  Throughout college this critical mindset stayed with me, but the process of thinking in this way almost felt like a game.  When I began teaching this framework of questioning text and the world did not leave me, but it definitely took a back seat to "pragmatism."  I felt so responsible and so much pressure to help my students achieve, that "deconstruction" became the last thing on my mind.  Even this year as I began this masters program, I remember saying after one of the first classes, “I don’t care about questions, I need to walk away from this year with some answers about the best ways to teach literacy.” It is ironic that one of the “answers” that I am walking away from the program with is an investment in inquiry and questioning everything.  

This assignment to critically read a text brought back and expanded upon this type of thinking.  What was new about doing this type of critical reading now is that I can see how it fits into literacy and my teaching.  What was once a thought provoking academic exercise, has new meaning in my work as a professional.  I believe that as readers (of the world and the word) it is a great asset if we are able to examine power, positioning, and cultural assumptions within texts.  The reading of the Dorritos advertisement helped me connect and see the relevance of this type of reading in my own life and the lives of students.