“Appropriation” refers to the act giving new meaning to an adopted or borrowed object, event, or other signifier. In other words, “appropriation” describes the way in which the borrowed objects, events, or other signifiers are removed from their original contexts and are ultimately placed in a new ones. “Re-appropriation” on the other hand, refers to the cultural process by which a cultural institution or group can reclaim or “re-appropriate” the meaning of a cultural signifier, object or event. In other words, “re-appropriation” is often times a planned action of a group developed as a means to “take back” an object, event, or signifier that is typically assimilated to them in a negative way. This video, “How to Make Your Breasts Look Bigger,” can be viewed as both a “appropriation” and “re-appropriation” of sexual signifiers from early pornography. “Appropriation” is developed in this video through it’s use of realistic situations, such as air condition problems, as a means to develop a plot that in the end is based on a sexual encounter rather than actually getting your air conditioner fixed. “Re-appropriation” is developed in this video through its continued references to pornographic films through its use of language, the plot, cinematography, and the physical appearances of the characters. In the end, by having the female character turn down a sexual encounter after seemingly trying to entice one throughout the film, the sexual signifiers surrounding pornography are in a sense reclaimed or “re-appropriated” by this group of people or the pornographic industry.
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