Post #624104 by aquarj on Wed, Feb 8, 2012 10:31 AM

Quote: "VIEWS OF HAWAII THROUGH THE DISTORTING LENS OF TIME"

"These advertisements played upon mainstream stereotypes of objectified natives and idealized tropical landscapes, perceptions that were encouraged by the Hawaiian tourist industry to attract visitors. Regardless of the ethical implications, Coiner’s ingenious use of stereotypical images to evoke elitist desire played a significant part in the success that greeted the Dole rebranding."

Not to play dumb, but anybody know what this blogger means by elitist desire? Is that a racial thing (whites desire "objectified natives")? Or some kind of vague class distinction (civilized and sophisticated desire for "idealized [and un-civilized?] tropical landscapes")?

Or does it just sound good to throw in the word elitist with the usual gripes about tourist imagery? Really, I don't get who the elite is and how that relates to their desire. And just to bring it back to the topic a bit more, I wonder if this blogger would consider Covarrubias' other work as serving some elitist perspective. So much of his work romanticizes the atmosphere of places he visited. But I always think of it more as capturing a culture's essence, as opposed to looking down on it or objectifying it. Oh well, not much point in trying to understand the blogger's critique, I guess.

BTW, the same blog has a nice Stanley Stubenberg image that I don't remember seeing before, under the "Tiki Cubism" post.

-Randy