There is nothing wrong with this picture, nor the man in the picture. It took me a while, actually, to figure out what bothered me about this add so much. I assumed at first that my money-poor student heart was aching after an apartment of my own with swanky windows and shiny hardwood. I finally realized, however, that instead of being attracted to what this man had, I actually wanted nothing to do with him or his bright, spotless apartment. What was so off-putting was the complete absence of this man's life in his apartment. Where were the stories, the relationships, the history, evidence of interactions with and connections to the world? Where was the inevitable dirt that rides in on the shoes and under the fingernails of a house's vibrant characters?
Tired of waiting for our hero to venture out into the world, I brought the world in to him. I filled his sanitary, sterile, static hideout with songs, conversations, voices, smiles, earth, growth, and life. Now seated at a table full of food and companions, he may hate me for my invasive impertinence, but at least he will have to encounter the world to kick it out.
Source: Martha Stewart Living, [Advertisement for Anderson Windows and Doors], October 2007.
Grace
