Normally, I do not criticize the use of exaggeration in art; at least, not if it has some sort of meaning.
Advertising has become an art form, and I can understand that as well. To a point.
Mom recently emailed me a link to this short video on YouTube. As a teacher, she had taken it to school and shown it to her class. The video speaks for itself, so I won’t add to it, except to say as my mother did to her students: She does not exist.
The woman we girls compare ourselves to does not exist. The girl staring seductively out of the glossies into the mind of a man does not exist.
I knew there was tweaking going on, but I had no idea how much, despite having seen Photoshop and similar software packages at work in other situations.
Ladies, if you liked the Evolution video, check out this one too. Mom and I both cried.
The video still haunts me...
ReplyDeleteWhen only 2% of women in this world consider themselves beautiful, one no longer has to wonder about the impact of these radically tweaked images. As women, we search the mirror for any semblance of the billboard’s definition of beauty, but it eludes us. A woman may perm and primp for hours, managing to pull off a hazy imitation of the one in the magazine, but all resemblance quickly vanishes as she walks out into the wind and humidity or becomes tired. Yes, I speak of myself as well as "everywoman". Indeed, the whole thing is smoke and mirrors… and Photoshop. How disheartening when we use an illusion for the measure of our worth instead of the knowledge that God created us beautiful.
Men seek the image but she eludes him as well. Is it any wonder why the marriage age continues to rise? Why settle? She is out there, right? After all, there are pictures of her everywhere…
Could the same thing be happening in women’s hearts when it comes to men? I’m reminded of Sabrina’s comment about David not looking as good as his image in the Gap ad (Sabrina).
I can only hope the students in my class paid attention...