It is so hot in Berlin (I like that, I am NOT complaining) that one needs little gentle pushes to keep the circulation going.
One push into the right direction is this advertising in front of the HUGE KaDeWe. Our most luxurious shop in Berlin.
So - what will our hip Berlin advertisers tell us?
- Will they remind me of my dentist-appointment tomorrow? (Yes, after 8 years of being utterly true I changed my Hamburgian wonderful dentist to a hopefully also wonderful dentist in Berlin - the journey by train is too long, and the fare pretty high).
And: I want to meet my Hamburgern friends from now on without a swollen lip - hope they will recognise me... :-)
- Or: will they remind me that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder? (If so - sorry boys: I will NOT buy that lipstick - thank you, but thank you no !)
- Or: will they remind me of Shakespeare's famous lines :"There are more things between heaven and earth, Horatio/ Than are dreamt of in your philosophy" ?
- Or are they jumping on the band waggon of "diversification"? Only Germany, I think, can have such an extended debate on putting officially an " * " between our gender-specified words like "StudentInnen" (Student, der = male; Studentin, die = female - and, being fair: officially and short "StudentInnen", pl - thus demonstrating that there are men AND women who study - and now they fight for the rights of the third " * " group of transgender people. We are asked to write that into each and every text, dear "reader- * -resse".
Uiiii....
OK - their only aim might be to catch my attention. True: they have it.
BUT......
Try my dentist in Bremerhaven. Thömas Drewes. Tell him I recommended you. He is a lovely man and a dear friend.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tom - if I am really in need I will remember! But I did not leave my Hamburgern dentist because I was not content with his work - I left (with a very long handwritten letter which explained my gratitude and my reasons - they called and thanked when they got it!) because he is too far away - and that is Bremerhaven as well.
DeleteI needed someone also for minor tasks. Today I will test it.
Oh, is the photo of a man in lipstick? That's a bold move, if it is! But, nonetheless, nice to see a mouthful of free-range teeth rather than the orthodontically-enhanced fangs that would normally grace a gigantic banner.
ReplyDeleteDear Pipistrello, thank you! Reading your comment I saw that what I had written was slightly muddled - well, 33° C might be an excuse...
DeleteThe photo - so I assume, is one of a girl. And I see your point - not the typical "perfect" set of teeth can be a refreshing sight - but honestly: they would not my first choice for an advertisement.
I love the little really imperfect eyetooth of Senta Berger or Hannelore Elsner, both German actresses. Meaning: I am not striving for perfection - but have (personal) ideas of beauty - and these teeth are for my liking too imperfect.
though I would not be disturbed by a real person sitting in front of me.
Of course I see the advertiser's idea of the "shock-factor', burning the 'never-seen-before' into my memory - what I wanted to say was, that their strategy - in my case - backfired.
The other point is: I have a lot of homosexual friends, and am utterly glad, that Berlin is one of the most tolerant cities I know, and glad that laws changed thoroughly . What annoys me is the German way to order changes in orthography. They try to put everything into a "law" - and that makes writing/reading a text highly complicated and aesthetically unpleasant - and I get honestly furious when they try to change even historical works of art by either renaming (they could add an explanation, that would be OK) or even cutting out passages they do not think political correct - that is censorship for me.
I agree, that does amount to censorship and I wasn't aware that Germany was setting to "correction" with such zeal. It does all get a bit mad and I also think some political correctness presumes too little of the citizen and that we're not intelligent enough to recognise context when we see or read it. The past is the past and the fact that things were done differently should be no great surprise to anyone.
DeleteMy sympathies for your aesthetic discord, orthographically speaking! The gender neutrality of English means it's been left relatively unscathed, as you're aware, and it's only really the haphazard application of the suffix "person" that leaves you sighing.
Thank you, Pipistrello! As I heard (but maybe it is not true?) in England they insisted that in "Thomas, the tank engine" they had to add a female tender loco? I had to read that book so often to my son...
DeleteI always love English language an literature for its beauty and clarity.
I know what you mean about diversification. The only thing is that I don't care. If others leave me alone I will leave them alone. That includes race, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliations,gender,age, or any other method used to put people into a group. I have my own beliefs and feelings. I understand the another person may have different beliefs. They are entitled to them as am I. I want to be around pleasant people. It doesn't matter what classification they fall into. I do not wish to make everything a 'statement'.
ReplyDeleteDear Emma, thank you! You see that I explained a lot in my comment to Pipistrello - and I was really shocked that my text might be understood as if I have something against "diversification" in people.
DeleteI - of all persons! I have so many homosexual friends staying with me for holidays in my Berlin flat that people often say to me that I evidently attract them very much - thus I am sure that I did not even unconsciously wanted to offend them.
No - it was really my concern about language and literature in Germany, that I talked about above. And although I know that language shapes not only thoughts and thus reality, I think there must be other ways than to write (in every single sentence of a text!) "Student*Innen".
I feel we should not be examined for anything other than ourselves. I thought you made excellent points in your post and I wished to give my point of view also.. I think we agree.
DeleteThe advert does nothing for me. It fails to hit any good spot or prick my conscience, if that is indeed what it is supposed to do, it doesn't.
ReplyDeleteI am with you, Rachel! I am also lost.
DeleteWe switched our dentist last year after being with him for over 40 years - driving over to Hertfordshire from the west side of the country, and setting off at 6.30am in the morning was proving to be too much. When we first started with him he had just finished university and now he is almost retired.
ReplyDeleteHowever, we now have a young girl locally and she is lovely so we are now happy and glad that we made the change.
Hope your new dentist proves to be to your liking and that you are as happy with the change as we were - good luck.
After 40 years that is a big decision - I had mine the last 16 years, I think. But driving, as you say, is too much if one has to go more often. I have a good impression of the new one - and will see... Thank you for your good wishes!
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