Project#1
Watch Anish: Exploring the Meaning of Genre through Luxury Lifestyle Blogs
“An indulgence in something that provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease” -- this concept of luxury, of wanting one’s life to be grander, prettier, and sleeker, is universal and has manifested throughout human history. The desire for more, nicer, newer and better has long been the goal of the human endeavor, but for the majority it has typically never been attainable. Man’s fascination with the finer things in life has continued to deepen as new forms of media have evolved. Over time, the lure of “the good life” has been further flaunted through the channels of radio, television, magazines, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and a vast array of internet websites and blogs.
Scrolling through Watch Anish’s Instagram account is equivalent to viewing a pictorial spread in one of the most upscale lifestyle magazines. We are given glimpses of gold and silver watch bezels set off against a slab of white carrera marble or muted by a backdrop of dark, smooth calfskin. The pictures have a shallow depth of field with extreme clarity on the focal point: the watch deified in every image. And although fine wristwatches are clearly the center of attention on the Watch Anish blog, these timepieces are not alone. Anish indulgently includes other luxury content including exquisite meals, such as beautifully-seared succulent beef filet with a meaty bright white and red lobster claw gently perched on top in a pool of butter, and insanely fast cars that boast 0-60 in under 3.5 seconds with powerhouse engines hidden under a flawless glossy black or red paint.
Watch Anish’s luxury lifestyle Instagram blog is, in my opinion, the epitome of all others in its genre. Anish and his compatriots display extravagant watches, fine menswear, and exotic destinations on a daily basis. Watch Anish engenders a multitude of feelings in it viewership with every post. These feelings no doubt include sophistication, class, intelligence, savvy, as well as envy, desire, and even lust. Watch Anish has an extensive fan base and a widespread following, consisting of those who are in his tax bracket, as well as those not anywhere near as affluent as he. For some, lifestyle luxury blogs act as a window into a better life and even provide motivation to strive harder every day until they too can possess the beautiful watches and exquisite clothing and visit the breathtaking destinations such as those that Watch Anish constantly dangles in front of them. This artistic method of touting expensive goods in a way that evokes a perplexity of emotion in its audience truly defines this artifact within a genre. I choose to define genre not based on the classification of the content presented by the author, but rather by the journey it takes the reader on and the emotions that the reader feels.
When one thinks of the conventions amongst the various forms of lifestyle genre, the one most likely to come to mind first is the element of flashy photography. Eye-catching photography is essential to my artifact and other blogs and websites like it. The Watch Anish Instagram Page employs the use of very crisp and vivid photos of fine timepieces that are like candy to the eye. They often incorporate exotic destinations and beautiful people in the background to enhance the dream. The expensive, hard to obtain items featured in these images are very important in creating a sense of exclusiveness. Another convention typically found in luxury blogs is the use of the persona’s ego in an elitist way. On his own blog, Anish refers to himself as a “jack of all trades” and a “watch and menswear specialist.” He even goes as far as to say that his “overinflated ego comes as standard.” This draws the audience in even more because they must learn how they can be more like Anish in this pursuit of the perfect life.
The luxury lifestyle blog genre is afforded the “luxury,” excuse the pun if you will, of perpetuating the high life by the nature of the Instagram blog format itself. Blogs allow the writer to put forth snippets of things rather than having to provide in depth coverage. Thus, luxury lifestyle blogs such as Watch Anish are able to post glimpses and flashes of all things good, without needing to acknowledge the existence of hardship, sadness, or the drudgeries of everyday life. Another affordance of Watch Anish’s Instagram block is accessibility, so that even the average Joe can feel like he too has a taste of the fine things in life. Watch Anish is very successful with his Instagram because it is such a casual and easy way for anyone and everyone to get their daily dose of the high life. With Watch Anish, all you have to do is take out your phone and click on Instagram and the good life is waiting for you in your personal news feed. You may be checking your phone while on your lunchbreak from your mundane 9-5 job, and there’s Anish lounging by a magnificent pool with his flashy new Rolex on his left wrist and a glass of fine scotch in his other hand. While you are viewing this post from the drab break room at work, you may forget that you are sitting there eating a cheese sandwich with a glass of tap water and wearing a $30 Timex. Joining Anish on his journey to Dubai, London, Italy or wherever he happens to jet to that day may be just what you need to make it through the rest of the day in your boring pencil pushing job. In the same vein, until luxury blogs came around, those seeking a glimpse of the “lifestyle of the rich and famous” would have to wait a whole month for the next edition of “Travel and Leisure” or the “Robb Report” to hit the newsstand. Now we need only wait a short while for the next post to give us our fix. And using the medium of Instagram as a blogging platform provides a personal connection with the viewer in almost an intimate way. After a short time, the subscribers know the posting schedule and have a sense of trust and friendship with the persona.
Luxury blog specifically increase the exposure of these themes that are lying under the pretty face of a fine Swiss watch, Italian sports car, or exquisite suits all elegantly used together by man to have the ultimate appearance ego of an alpha male. Unlike ever before luxury blogs constantly bombard its audience with content creating a never quenchable thirst for more glamour, excitement, and adventure. Some other essentials to the luxury lifestyle genre is the “ooh” and “ah” factor. Every time watch Anish posts on his Instagram, the viewers have most likely never seen the item before and this make the content extremely alluring. This also makes the viewers want to see more and more of these marvels of engineering, class, and life style. Seeing these incredible items on the day to day and even multiple times per day makes the viewer life feel more luxurious because their lives are being influenced by its content. This also gives the allure that if the viewer had the amount of money and type of luxury items that watch Anish has than they too would live an extremely happy and almost perfect life just like the life that is portrayed on his Instagram page. Perhaps Watch Anish’s page even makes his viewers feel like they are a member of an exclusive clubs because they can see things that the average person wouldn’t typically see in their day to day, unless they are a faithful subscriber to Watch Anish’s Instagram.
No matter where you are or what you are doing when you see a post from Watch Anish while scrolling through your Instagram feed you’re taken on an adventure packed with a plethora of emotion. This complexity of feelings that the reader experiences allows them to forget their daily struggles and enjoy the finer things in life even though they themselves are not in contact with them. Due to this phenomenon, I truly feel that Watch Anish’s Instagram account helps me define genre as not the category of a piece of literature or art but solely on the places that it takes the reader and the emotions that are felt.
Sources
"Watch Anish (@watchanish) • Instagram photos and videos." Instagram. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.
"About." WATCH ANISH. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.
"Watch Anish (@watchanish) • Instagram photos and videos." Instagram. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.
"About." WATCH ANISH. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.