It's Like Kendall Jenner Handing You a Pepsi

 

Teenagers treat teenagers like shit. The deep-down truth is that, simply, hormonal people are shitty, and man teenagers are hormonal. I guess that’s kind of why they call guys who think with their penis…dickheads. I will be done with the potty words as soon as I finish this quote from New Jersey’s own My Chemical Romance. “…teenagers scare the living shit out of me. They could care less as long as somebody bleeds” ironically enough, both statements are very true.

The teenagers in M.T Anderson’s sci-fi parody novel Feed are beginning to be covered in these nasty cuts and lesions. These lesions represent some type of appeal and status. When two girls bump heads, they will go as far as they can to make a battle into a war. Quendy and Calista are two girls of a group of friends and they have fallen for the same guy. Calista is the current girlfriend of this guy and she has purchased and shows off a faked lesion to the boy and this somehow works on the boy. Quendy, gossiping out of jealousy and bitterness, puts down Calista behind her back speaking of these lesions “It’s so stupid. God, I can’t believe how stupid it is.” (P184) To escalate, later on, Quendy arrives at a party covered in artificial soars, cuts, and lesions “It was pretty good until Quendy arrived…her whole skin was cut up with these artificial lesions…they were all over her.”(Pg191) This behavior is not right but it sure is common. It’s revenge driven by hormones. This is honestly why teenagers scare the living poop out of me (I promised no more profanity and I’m going to hold me to it).

It is honestly getting to a fatal point. In the television series adaptation of 13 Reasons Why you get to watch Hannah Baker describe why she took her life, following the aftermath that has set in already, through series of tapes she has recorded. Let me tell you something, these teenagers are wicked evil but, it is not far off from the average high school or even middle school. The amount of unnecessary mocking and bullying of Hannah Baker pushed her to a limit and honestly, its justifiable. The argument is usually made that, because the action of suicide, the final moments all come down to that one person, that no one else is at fault but the deceased. The whole series really debunks that. In my opinion, it draws from the Tyler Clementi case, and ties it in with the book by Jay Asher. Clementi was bullied in college and ended up taking his life because of his roommate’s constant teasing and extreme bullying. It went as far as exposing Tyler on the internet, shaming him for who he was. The issue went international and the roommate has served jail time for several charges against him. The show and its creators are trying to show that bullying is a tormenting crime that should result in legal punishment. Even in the show, the people who are featured as Hannah’s reasons, consistently show that they know for a fact what they did was wrong, as if they are avoiding the consequences of murder. Bullying has also been made a law in New Jersey, in recent years, as part of the wave of change.

The most reactive people are teenagers. It’s just the hormones man I’m telling you. Feed’s main character is full of these instant reactions that he regrets later on. When his love interest is being put down and made to feel uncomfortable, while he is with his friends, he originally is disgusted with her telling him she wants to leave. I feel like this was not how he meant to handle the situation, because later on he admits his wrongs(Pg172). I think initial reactions are one of the most human things that can happen. It’s within those moment that you make and hopefully learn from your mistakes.

With all this bad going on for humans, it is only a wonder how someone can reach out to them. Well, for advertisers it is actually pretty simple, make the world seem less crappy! This strategy is used over and over. Sometimes, it can go really good. The round of applause would go to Budweiser. I mean they’ve even done so good, their new slogan is ‘Not For Everyone’ and even that’s working well for them! 

Some how this is good...

From animal friendships, a soldier returning to his home town, and plenty of beautiful Clydesdales that the personalities of the humblest Nobel Peace Prize winners, Budweiser has continually hit the mark for make things not stink for a minute. Other times, though, it rubs off the wrong way. The Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad will forever be one of the biggest flops at trying to portray happiness. This advertisement shows a guy playing violin, and drinking Pepsi, a woman photographer, also drinking Pepsi, and they are both really frustrated with how they are doing at their tasks. So, it’s convenient that a protest march is coming down the road when these people are frustrated, of course they and their Pepsi’s would love to join! Now, protest is something that is serious, and though it is not always violent, usually, it is loud, cluttered, and well not cheery. Pepsi did not seem to know that much because every person in this march was smiling. They were playing music the violin artist was finally hitting all the right notes! Proud of you, violin man. And the photographer too she finally had the shots she wanted! But wait, is that, could it be, Kendall Jenner is also on this street for a photo shoot! She tosses her wig and smears her makeup and joins this protest, bringing of course, her Pepsi. She then walks to the calm front line of the protest where she hands a cop a Pepsi and he drinks it and everyone cheers! Hooray! Woohoo! Horrid. I hope I don’t have to spell out why this is so bad, I mean with the reality of ‘Officer dead in protest, 3 killed in riot’ headlines, it’s like really? Come on. The reality of protesting in America is not something you can doll up and suddenly the alternative reality is cool. The point is, puppy’s and horses are a yes. Kendall Jenner joining the world’s most peaceful protest is a no.

...And this is bad

Yet, Feed clearly warns us that advertisements really do push and push and push their product to seem like this path to happiness. In mocking advertisements, shows Violet being overwhelmed constantly by ads when all she is trying to do is look for help. Lines from the automated but personalized operator include “...as if it were always Saturday!” and “...throw away the bad and find the good!”(P157-58). It is this shove down the throat tactic that causes some of us to puke.

Jordan L. 1145 words.