Modern Issues in "The Bluest Eye"

In The Bluest Eye, which takes place in 1941, Toni Morrison addresses an issue that is still very prevalent in our society today. Pecola, a young black girl longs to look like Shirley Temple or Mary Jane, who are stereotypical young white girls- with blond hair and blue eyes. "To eat the candy is somehow to eat the eyes, eat Mary Jane. Love Mary Jane. Be Mary Jane," (Morrison 50).  Pecola does not buy the candy because she particularly likes the taste, she likes the image of Mary Jane on the wrapper; and hopes that by eating the candy, she will somehow become Mary Jane and feel accepted. This is similar to an issue that occurs very much today. So many people, mostly girls, are influenced by the media and are told that they have to look or act a certain way in order to be accepted. Although society is much more accepting now than it was in 1941, people are still pressured into living up to certain standards, that are sometimes unattainable. Similar to how Pecola admired the pictures of Mary Jane on the candy wrappers, companies advertise using "perfect" people so that customers will purchase their products. However, there is no such thing as the "perfect person." Advertisers use Photoshop and other techniques in order to create this unrealistic standard. So many people idolize celebrities, and many companies use them in advertisements so that people will be drawn to their product. For example, many more people would buy the makeup product modeled by Taylor Swift than the one modeled by someone else that no one has heard of. Logically, adults know that they will not end up looking like the celebrity that models the product, but they feel that if the celebrity uses the product, then it must be good enough for them to use. However, children, like Pecola, have hope that they will end up looking exactly like the face on the wrapper.