“Barthes’ purpose is to tear away masks and demystify the
signs, signals and symbols of the language of mass culture.”
-Dennis Potter and The Times
Just as Visual Communication doesn’t have a language of its
own, Barthes explains how signs are used to portray a vague example of a
visually perceived thing for example in advertising. It is a world of signs and
gestures everywhere that communicate to us but all of them are completely
meaningless if it is not seen in a context. A sign could mean nothing at all or
multiple things. Culture plays a very important part in our understanding and
interpreting them. This is what the lecture was based on today, on Roland
Barthes who believed in ‘tearing away the masks’.
Barthes talks about the myths in society and how they have
gone unnoticed for such a long time. They were made to appear so natural to us,
and the ideas are packaged as such to appeal us that we have gotten used to
them manipulating us. Barthes talks about how language plays such an important
part as it could be used to change the meaning. He noticed that some people
control the language, which could be completely harmless but it gets ‘sinister’
when it is used for political purposes. An example of this is the poster of the
boy saluting in a French military uniform on the cover of the Paris Match
magazine. On the surface it is a poster glorifying the republican us, but on digging
deeper one realizes that the poster operates as a legitimizing force for
colonialism and imperialism.
He deconstructs these myths, that society provides which are
then reinforced by social beliefs and systems. We have gotten so used to them
that we do not even realize how they have been integrated in our lives. Some of
the mythologies were very interesting and eye-opening using the example of soap
and how it is advertised even though it contains the same ingrediants.
One was the myth of
cleanliness. Soaps such as lifebuoy and Dettol advertise how it kills “99.9% bacteria”.
It promotes the idea of such an unhealthy clean environment as germs are good
for us to boost our immune system. This is one of the main causes of
hypersensitivity in kids because they are not exposed to bacteria. Looking at
the poster for the safeguard advert we see uses signs and signifiers such as
the use of two innocent look children, that have the connotations of love,
innocence and vulnerability. It would probably trigger parental concern and
would make them feel irresponsible if they did not use the product to protect
their children.
Let us look at Asepso; A soap claiming to antibacterial
which links in with the idea of the myth of cleanliness. Another myth that it
brings to light is the myth of magical plants. It shows the fruit extracts that
is somehow important. We do not stop and see why it is, what the link is
between apple and moisturizing and antibacterial qualities it is advertising. It
is because it gives an ambiance of something organic and pure and healthy that
we buy into these things without thinking. A number of signs portrayed on the
bottle that show us and sort of make us believe what the bottle contains.
There is an entire book written by Barthes on mythologies
which would be an intriguing read, delving into a mind to uncover how the
others think.
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