You can turn on the english subtitles by clicking the bottom-right button of the youtube screen and then click the “CC” button.
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I still remember the first time I chanced upon this Television Commercial (TVC). I was about to leave the house when this young girl speaking to various objects in the house captured my gaze for a good three minutes.
I was intrigued, but not particularly bemused by the actions of the young girl. While some may quickly pass judgement that the girl has psychological issues, I was captivated by her wild imagination and creativity of how she was able to relate
This is due to the different perception different people have, which causes each person to interpret messages differently. Apart from how the audience’s perception, within the TVC itself, there are different characters who judge the young girl different. Her parents, teacher and friends see her as psychologically unsound, perhaps due to social factors and the influence of mass media; a mentally unsound person is often protrayed speaking to oneself. This is also a social constructionist perspective of communication where her parents, teacher and friends judged her based on the society’s judgement of how a person should behave.
However, she made friends with this young boy who interprets her actions differently. He saw communication in a psychological perspective and understood her from her point of view, where he saw her as “unique” / “special” rather than “weird“.
It is also due to the support of her friend who accepted her and her “weird” antics that we see years later, she is able to succeed in her acting career due to her imaginative mind.
This TVC effective brought across the message of “Believe in your strength, Unleash your talents“. In order to attain our very best, we should not to let anyone waive our feelings or choice or let anyone put us down.
Apart from believing in ourselves, I believe that, like the TVC, we really do need someone to stand by us and tell us that we are “special” and “unique”. We humans are social creatures and need to constantly have support from the people around us.
Support can come in any form. It could be constant words of encouragement, or merely actions like in the TVC where all the boy did was befriend the girl. Nonetheless, the message sent by those around us, whatever form it may take, can affect us in many ways.
If the girl in the TVC did not had the constant understand and support from her friend, but instead suffered with the judgement and prejudice from the people around her, she would not have been able to succeed in her auditions as an actor.
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So to everyone who may have judged someone due to their choices, think back and check if you had been too harsh on that person, or was your judgement sole based on society’s expectations of life without regard of the person’s interest?
Or have you been put down or judged because of your choices? Do not be despair, just believe in your strength and you will unleash your potential.
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Like in Eminem’s song Beautiful, “Don’t let them say you ain’t beautiful ...” [Click to enjoy the song]
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* Credits: This TVC belongs to MediaCorp Channel 8.
♥ junying
That’s a lot of concepts used. Haha. Yes, I do agree with you in believing ourselves rather than believing the things that people judge us by. In that way, we can gain confidence in everything we do. (Something which I really lack of). Moreover, I feel that media can be a double-bladed sword that can be used in a positive or negative way for a person to form a perception of something or someone. Thus, it’s still best if one knows his/her own strengths
Comment on my blog too! http://handwritingsonthewall.wordpress.com/
I feel that the TVC is quite innovative by using somewhat of a short film to portray a message. It also uses images, sounds and actions that spark our own perceptions of the girl. As we are likely to be stereotypical and deem her as psychologically unsound and weird, the ending of the TVC would then strike us and leave a lasting impact in our impression.
However, this would only occur if people understand the message of the TVC itself. Upon first glance, it seems like a scene from a movie or a television show and people may be puzzled and confused at the end of the TVC and it may take multiple viewings before the message gets across to people. As such, I feel that perhaps the TVC is not that effective as it is not clear enough such that people will understand it upon the first viewing.
However I feel that the TVC was effective as it did managed to capture and draw in audience which is what advertisements should do. And the TVC shows a progression and slowly allows us to change our perception of things, like as though it is creeping into our subconscious. Eventually viewer can easily grasp the main idea of the commercial and accept it completely. Hence I actually feel that the TVC is actually very effective.
Yeah, I think that in life, it’s really important to have someone who truly believes in you and supports you no matter what. I think that is what makes us strong and helps us gain confidence in ourselves and in our lives.
Looking at the video, it made me realise that it’s actually quite common to see such things happening in reality because I think it’s human nature to be stereotypical. But, that should not be an excuse. I feel that it’s best to always keep an open mind as that will greatly help us in life.
Similar to you, I feel that this advertisement speaks a lot to me as well
FIrstly, I think it is in our human nature that we tend to judge people too quickly, like how the girl’s parents, teacher and friends judge her as a mental kid just because she talks to objects. I believe everyone has different mentalities and behave differently to progress. Some take longer, some may show uncommon behaviour, in this case, talking to objects, but still, the girl did progress emotionally and physically throughout the years.
Yes I agree that we should all have this psychological perspective where we look at things at different point of views to understand better what the other person is thinking. In this way, when we communicate, we would be on the same platform instead of having different level of mindsets.
I guess when we communicate, words play a very important part. It can build us up or tear us down, so it is good to encourage one another, but if we really do face unkind words, we have to stand strong and believe in ourselves!
Personally, I feel that this TVC is a creative way of bringing across the message “Believe in yourself, Unleash your talents”.
Although I believe that the main aim of this TVC is to encourage acting as a career, there are other aspects of life which are worth noting. For example, it is clearly evident that encouragement and support, together with affirmation, will help to increase a person’s self-confidence and the unleash of potential. Overall, I feel that this is a great TVC with many messages for the audience to take away.
Personally, Its also the way the directors chose to shoot the video, their parents and the teacher could just be thinking that she’s at it again. The case of the students are a different story. Then again, had the directors not choose to shoot it this way the attention of the viewers might not be captivated the same way. “Believe your strengths, Unleash your potential.” an awesome caption that is short but catchy. Kudos to the directors who made this TVC and thank you for bringing up some of the points you have. You make me see it in a whole new perspective.
Cheers,
Bryce
Firstly, I think this is a great advertisement. I’m glad to see our home-grown channel eight producing such advertisement. “Believe your strength, unleash your talent”, what a powerful message.
What was being portrayed is how the society functions. Often, those who are not socially normal are being stereotyped and sidelined in our society. It is sad to see that even the little girl’s parents seems to have also given up their faith in her. The friend came at a right moment and reassured her uniqueness. Fortunately, she believed in herself and strive to achieve her dreams.
More often than not, we tend to see things from one perspective. This advertisement is a good example. Each of us is unique, as our society matures, we should learn to respect and accept different types of people.
Hi JY,
Talking about perspectives! Mine was really off the track. When i first saw the video, my first thought was that this girl is a very deprived child, that she is probably the only child to parents who are too busy to care for her. I had to watch it a bit longer to truly understand she was an aspiring actress.
Anyway, this video is really good, I believe it will make people reflect on the way they see things. For example, me, I’m going try not to jump to conclusions too early
Cheers,
Chin
Believe in yourself, even if others cannot understand you. Having the strength to break through social rules and factors often brings in a new perspective of life that people who stayed in their comfort circle cannot achieve.
Challenge the world, embrace your dreams.
Hello there!
I totally did not expect the commercial’s ending!! Good post I think this commercial really did a good job in showing how sometimes people’s perceptions are flawed. At first when I saw the girl talking to random objects I just thought she was wierd.
I really admire the boy who befriended her though. However in reality, how many people out there are really like that? Able to perceive and accept beyond social norms and perceptions? Without her one friend, the girl would probably have conformed to society’s expected behaviors eventually. Did we all not once during our childhood do something society thought wierd and frowned upon?
We all have different perceptions, but I think we share some common ones, which is frightening when used to unfairly judge others.
Hey! Perhaps the intention of the video is also to highlight the tendency of our society to perceive such talent and behaviour as inferior. There’s a large emphasis on science and math in our society, and sadly, such artistic talents and abilities are overlooked and thus underdeveloped. I see this video as challenging all people, in particular Singaporeans, to think out of the box, realize the long-term impacts of a well-honed talent (in this case, acting) and to not despise such gifts.
hi!
I think the commercial has effectively shown how we tend to judge people based on our own perception. Initially, most people would think that the girl has a mental problem because she was talking to objects. This is because we tend to rush into conclusions and have the mindset that people who converse with objects are abnormal.
Personally, i find the commercial inspiring and encourages people to believe in themselves. It also highlights the perpetual bias we have towards people and serves as a reminder to us not to judge others by their actions and looks.
an interesting ad
what i feel is that what you are when you were young doesnt make you the same when you grow up. our surroundings and the values we learn over the years serve to influence us when we grow up. the most famous example would be einstein.
if you believe you can do it, you can. if you dont believe yourself you can do it, you would never be able to accomplish it. it is only when you believe in something you can unleash your potential.
so thats what i guessed happened in May 2005 in Istanbul when Liverpool beat AC Milan in the Champions League final after going 3-0 down at half time. thats what the believing part reminded of.
This a very interesting advertisement. I remember seeing it on TV. At first I also misinterpreted the girl to have a problem. However eventually I changed my perception about the girl. I also liked the message of how we should believe in ourselves. I feel that this commercial has effectively bring across this message. However the commercial is a little bit too long and I believe that Mediacorp Channel 8 has chosen to cut out certain clips of the commercial when they showed it on TV.
Hey!!! I mentioned that I really enjoy this TV commercial in another blogpost of yours!
It is indeed one very good commercial.
Indeed, many people would think that one is unsound when one does not conform to the beliefs and actions of others. I could relate part of the commercial to myself. When I was younger, I used to talk to dolls and other objects, just like what the girl in the commercial did! My parents said I’m mad to talk to dolls. But I guess no one else saw me talking to other objects. It happened mostly when I was alone.
One day, I told a teacher whom I was really close to, that my parents think I’m weird just by talking to dolls. At first, I thought she might scold me for doing such a silly thing but no, she said that I was unique and very similar to her when she was young! In fact, she was the one who inspired me into believing in myself that I can do whatever I want as long as I believe and stood strong for what I believe.
I feel that this speaks of different perceptions of people.
=)Kai Ting
I think it’s okay to talk to your dolls. Personally I still talk to myself at times. And yes I mean NOW at the age I am. But of course I do it in private like when I’m in my own room or when I’m in the toilet. (home toilet, not public toilet) Sometimes I just feel the need to express myself verbally to make myself feel better. I also have friends who do that, and even one of my close friend actually talks to all her things (e.g. pencil case, water bottle, a flying insect) I guess birds of a feather flock together. But all these things we’re mindful not to do it in public so as not to be judged by others to be crazy. This is how society has reduced us to be unable to express ourselves. But thankfully I have this group of friends who are like me, and we can relate to each other and be ourselves in each other’s company.
I’m glad you had that teacher who made you the person you are now.