As soon as I saw this video, I knew I would have to blog it. The only problem is I just don’t know where to start.
I suppose I could begin by telling you that my students at AUC are writing a paper right now on “beauty,” how the concept is culturally determined, and the hidden (and sometimes not-so-hidden) costs that people, especially women, pay as they attempt to be “beautiful.”
One of the readings I had my students do before they sat down to write was “The Beauty of Symmetry” by Elizabeth Snead.
Snead argues that beautiful people are those whose faces and bodies are most symmetrical and that there is a “golden ratio” that determines perfect symmetry. This theory challenges the old adage that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” If Snead is right, beauty can be objectively and mathematically determined.
Reading Snead’s theory makes me feel very sad. I guess I’m just too much a romantic at heart to gladly accept what she has to say.
OK, back to the video. With all the makeup and computer software tools at the disposal of those who put together photo spreads in fashion magazines (and the type of billboards shown in the video) one wonders why they even need real women to appear in such photos. Perhaps they should use the computer to generate the perfect face and not worry about going through the hassle of all the steps shown in the video.
Actually, while I was watching the film, I began to think that the longer they worked on “correcting” and “beautifying” the model’s face, the less relevant the real flesh-and-blood woman became.
At what point in the video does the real woman disappear?
I’ve included a screenshot of the model, after her complete transformation, so you can see how little of her original look remains.
