The clincher is that once they digitally alter human beings, it is NOT humanly possible. Their images turn into mere shadows of their former selves--their "beauty" and "attractiveness" becomes so grossly distorted that they resemble a cartoon character more than a living, breathing, beautiful human being. Anyone with even meager anatomical knowledge rolls their eyes to see models on magazine covers with necks longer than humanly possible, with eyes larger than humanly functional, and tummies tighter than humanly practical. And yet we continue to succumb to the lulling music from the flutes of these media-maven pied-pipers, buying into the idea that a naked Emperor's clothing actually exists.
And perhaps the worst side effect of it all is that which attacks impressionable children, who lack the life experience to judge for themselves the distortion of truth and reality. They see images with human beings distorted almost beyond the recognition of a human form, and that becomes the ruler with which they attempt to measure themselves, predictably falling short every time the measuring occurs. This failure is written into their psyche as they grow, and in an instant the world is populated with men who demand an unachievable, inhuman perfection, and women who won't stop starving themselves until they reach it. What a sick world we have created for ourselves.
Dove did a commercial a while back, on True Beauty. If you haven't understood my intense feelings on the subject, watch the video--you'll understand.
The advertisers might say something along the lines of, "There are helpful truths, and there are harmful truths" . . . and the "harmful truths" don't help us sell our magazines or products. Shame on them. There is a quote that states, "No position or belief is valid when one has to lie to support it."
There will most likely be more to come on this subject :)
3 comments:
I feel very lucky to be married to a man who realizes all of this and who is so insightful! Thank you Jer, beautifully written!
That was amazing to see. I wish I could be digitally altered sometimes . . . to look better, not worse!!!
Sadly, that's the view of many people. But that's why it has become a problem. Instead of realistic expectations, we are bogged down by illusions of grandeur that don't exist. It clouds our own judgement of ourselves and of those around us.
In my opinion, any time any alteration tries to mislead us from what is really there, it doesn't matter if it appears to some to look "better"--if it is taking us away from the truth of what is really there, it is destroying the most valuable beauty in the world: Truth.
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