'Having it all' has officially jumped the shark

A once-thoughtful discussion is now just navel-gazing about managing abundance

Chanel
(Image credit: (Facebook.com/Chanel))

In the latest "short film" for the perfume Chanel No. 5, model Gisele Bundchen stars as a modern woman struggling to balance work and life. The long commercial begins with Bundchen surfing, while a man — presumably her husband and the father of her daughter — waits forlorn at their palatial beach house. He places a love letter on a glass table and then leaves in his chauffeured Range Rover, right before Bundchen returns.

Once back at the house Bundchen quickly embraces her daughter before sending her to the nanny, discovers the letter, makes a sad face, rushes off to do a photo-shoot, reads the letter on a break, and then abruptly dashes off to make peace with her man. They kiss at a concert, "No. 5" surfaces above the ocean, and it's over. The lesson? A woman can never please everyone if she also takes time to please herself — but if she is gorgeous, wealthy, and wearing the right perfume, things will probably turn out alright.

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Elissa Strauss

Elissa Strauss writes about the intersection of gender and culture for TheWeek.com. She also writes regularly for Elle.com and the Jewish Daily Forward, where she is a weekly columnist.