An "A" Paper!

Just Another Stiletto on My Foot

“I don’t like pointy toed shoes,” I thought, “Or as I’ve heard them called, squash-the-bug-in-the-corner shoes. They are absolutely hideous!” That is what went through my mind when I first saw the stiletto, power woman, shoes. “ How could anyone be remotely comfortable in something so….so….bleh?” Those were my thoughts about three years ago, before I began watching TLC’s What Not to Wear. I began to indulge myself a few times a week to watch Stacy and Clinton change the fashion of people, or should I say the lack thereof, forever. At first, I was not a fan of the shoes, then I began to be tolerant of them, finally, I gave in and bought my own pair because I had come to love these shoes! Stacy and Clinton thought they were fabulous, so I, of course, thought they were too. Stacy and Clinton are the masters of fashion, who would I be to go against them? Why would I want to try to conquer the world of fashion on my own when someone can tell me what’s hot and what’s not?

However, I have recently come to find that I have actually been another victim to advertising that comes across our televisions to create mindless slugs who cannot claim to have minds of their own because their original opinions are not original at all. They are merely copycats of those they see on TV. I did not think that this was bad because fashion is not the only thing in my life. But, as I pondered my existence and my so-called opinions, I realized that I rarely, if ever, have my very own opinions. This led me to wonder if anyone even had a mind of his or her own. The great American writer, Mark Twain, would agree with me when he said:

We know it is a matter of association and sympathy, not reasoning and examination; that hardly a man in the world has an opinion upon morals, politics, or religion which he got otherwise than through his associations and sympathies. Broadly speaking, there are none but corn-pone opinions. And broadly speaking, corn-pone stands for self-approval. Self-approval is acquired mainly from the approval of other people. The result is conformity. (221)

As an avid watcher of What Not to Wear, I began to look around and saw that many women were following the rules that were set forth by these highly acclaimed fashion artists. Thus, began my exhibition for “self-approval” or the admiration of the public (221). I was desperate to become consistent with the fashions of the world. I wanted to conform. As I have observed those around me I have concluded that people want to conform to others in their society, which can lead to mindless masses that can be controlled by whatever comes their way.

I am sure that some people would disagree with Twain about his depressed view point of the non-originality of the human race, yet let me further prove Twain’s point by giving an example that everyone can relate to: high school. This point in a person’s life is full of hormones, drama, classes, dating (is that redundant of hormones?), and clicks. When I refer to clicks, I am not talking about the remote to the TV. I am referring to the crowds of people that hang out together, dress similar, talk the same way, and even look like each other. The many different kinds of clicks in high school could lead a person to the deduction that these teens are not conforming, however, they are doing quite the contrary. These clicks are showing in a vivid way that people can conform to a variety of things. Typically, this conformity comes from the television. The “popular” crowds watch MTV or American Idol. The “emos” watch VH1. The “Goths” watch goth TV. The cowboys watch CMT. The nerds watch “Discovery.” The reason that television is used by so many to mimic others is because it is so entertaining. College professor, Neil Postman, has said, “The problem is not that TV presents the masses with entertaining subject matter, but that television presents all subject matter as entertaining” (182). This amusement is coming from the advertisements and programs that display the drivel that people conform to. These crowds are not making their own opinions. They are so lost that they have become mindless followers that cannot think for themselves.


Because the world is filled with people, it is justified to say that the world is thus full of conformers. Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, described that the Nazis were in compliance to the system that Hitler enticed them with. However, Hitler made sure that the citizens were prepared before he helped the public correspond to his wishes. One way he did cause the people to become a mindless mass was to use the little technology they had to get his ideas to them. The people did not have television, like we do now, to get messages as to how they should act. Instead, Hitler coaxed the masses to become irrational crowds with the use of the loudspeaker. The use of the crowd was extremely important to Hitler because of the repercussions that can come from the large gatherings of people (75-77). As Huxley puts it “A crowd is chaotic, has no purpose of its own and is capable of anything except intelligent action and realistic thinking…they become very excitable, they lose all sense of individual or collective responsibility, they are subject to sudden accesses of rage, enthusiasm and panic” (77). It is as though crowds are what occupy our world today. People are not thinking for themselves, thus leading them to think what others are thinking. However, this can lead to a devastating fate, such as with Shakespeare’s character, Ophelia, in his play Hamlet. Ophelia did not make her own decisions and relied on those around her to make them. This eventually led to her insanity and suicide. Thomas G. Plummer, Brigham Young University professor, discusses Ophelia and her father Polonius, writing:

Ophelia does not know what she should think, and Polonius, reducing her to the stature of a baby, presumes to tell her. Polonius pontificates. He purports to know answers when he has none. He claims to have truth when he himself obscures it. He feigns expertise by virtue of his authority. (171)

This is precisely what is happening as people, such as What Not to Wear addicts, refer to the entertaining television to receive opinions. We are not doing our own abstract thinking, just as the Nazis never did as they were gathered in their crowds. We are relying on those that have the same or less knowledge than ourselves to make our minds up for us. Just as Ophelia relies on Polonius, we are relying on television to make up our own minds about what is popular, accepted, or worthy of our attention. The reason we do this is that we want so desperately to be a part of something. We wish for “self-approval,” yet, this is only obtained through our search for the admiration of the public eye (Twain, 221). Why are we giving up on the chance to have our own opinions and not just the opinions of those who have access to us through technology? We are people that want to conform, which means we may never separate from the world that tells us what to think.

Works Cited

Hartvigsen, M. Kip, ed. Thinking About Thinking. Mason, OH: Thomson Custom, 2001.
Huxley, Aldous. “Propaganda Under a Dictatorship.” Hartvigsen. 75-79.
Plummer, Thomas G. “Diagnosing and Treating the Ophelia Syndrome.” Hartvigsen. 171-179.
Postman, Neil A. “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” Hartvigsen. 181-185.
Twain, Mark. “Corn-pone Opinions.” Hartvigsen. 219-222.