Aaron Paul Commercial

Aaron Paul's critically acclaimed role of Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad is how people generally know him

Commercials are one of the few things in life I find really annoying.  They exist for the sole reason of companies trying to sell products or imprint messages with mass marketing.  Not to mention, it's usually an interruption to something, which is just inconvenient in itself.  But one commercial with Aaron Paul has recently been making me change how I feel about them.  For those of you who don't know which commercial I'm talking about, I'm talking about his one for XBox 1, where he plays TitanFall.  It hasn't convinced me to get an XBox 1 (though he makes it seem awesome) because of the price and how little I play games, but just seeing him and his Jesse Pinkman persona on TV again is great.  He's a humble and hardworking actor, with lots of similarities to me, I think, in his determination and belief in life, which is why it's so great to see him succeed.  It's all very well deserved, so if you haven't checked it out, go watch it.  It's pretty hard to miss.

Jesse getting to relax now that there's no more Heisenberg around

Realizing What You Say

On TV, they have commercials featuring Hilary Duff and Wanda Sykes confronting people who use the word "gay" when they want to say something is bad or stupid.  To some, the commercials may be lame, but I like them and commend them for spreading an important message that people shouldn't discriminate against others.  You'd think it would be something obvious, but it's something around us all the time.

With that in mind, I have to talk about Kevin Durant.  I know you're probably wondering why I'm talking about an NBA player with this topic, but it has to do with something that occurred with him over the week, when he was posting pictures of his new fiance on his Instagram when a person commented on it saying "she looked like Rondo", a comment he obviously didn't like.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but there comes a time when someone has to realize when to not say anything.  A celebrity or a person posting personal stuff online is doing it to celebrate happiness or to share with friends, not to be attacked verbally by someone's opinion.  One person's opinion may not matter in the grand scheme of things, but it's always hurtful when someone criticizes someone you care about whether it's a family member or significant other.  You wouldn't want it done to you, so like the ads that say knock off saying something is "gay", don't be rude to people on social media.  That's just bad taste and a reason why I don't have a Facebook anymore.

The Un-Beautiful People

In my house, we have tons of magazines from Time to TV Guide, but the magazines that always stand out to me are Entertainment Weekly and People magazine.  It's not just because I'm a film guy; it's because of who they have on the cover, which is always celebrities (barring some tragedy).  Nothing makes me pay more attention to them than when they have a headline which says "Best Dressed" or "Sexiest Woman Alive".  You'd think something like that would make me drool, but it doesn't.  I honestly think it's sick.

Forgive me if I'm being a hard-ass on this subject, but it's the feminist in me.  I think it's nice to acknowledge beauty when it's there, but publications like magazines only advertise beauty and objectify people.  You never see average looking people like a majority of people actually are.  You see someone like Beyonce or Matt Damon.  For someone young, who reads magazines all the time, seeing those type of people all the time can be damaging to their self esteem.  They may think that to be well liked, they have to be that good looking, which can lead to serious consequences if the wrong steps are taken.

It's not just the focus on beauty I hate in magazines; it's the fact that most of the time, it's fake!  I've read in articles and books, that most magazines airbrush and clean up advertising and pictures of even the most beautiful people in the world.  Don't believe me, you can read anywhere about what happened to Beyonce or Kate Winslet when something like that happened.  They were pissed off!

I'd be lying if I said there weren't beautiful people in magazines, because I think some celebrities are attractive, but honestly, why pay attention to beauty in magazines, which is fake and unrealistic, when there is beauty around all the time?  What I mean is, there's beauty around us all the time in regular everyday people, so why focus on people in magazines?  Case in point, there's one woman I know, who is absolutely wonderful.  She's one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen in my life.  She's not a celebrity, but she's real and has personality, which to me stands out than any celebrity in some magazine.  People in magazines are beautiful, but give me a person I know any day, and I'll be satisfied.