Four or five years ago, as I worked on social media postings corporately, I got into an amusing dialogue with one of my coworkers. He picked the images to go with our twice weekly blog. Sometimes he created them himself. Sometimes he selected stock photos.
I had never really perused images on the Internet, never really thought much about air brushing, perfect teeth and hair, no blemishes on the models, and everyone looking slightly hip (35-years-old or younger). It just was. You looked at brochures, marketing collateral, web sites, and hmmmmm, “everybody looks pretty darn good.”
That’s cuz they were air brushed. Images are selected very carefully. They must fit certain criteria. Smile. Show your pearly whites. Smooth skin. Shining hair. Trendy clothes. Not an ounce of fat.
That’s America, isn’t it folks? When you get out of your car at work and step into the office or assembly line, you see all those people perfectly lined up, don’t you?
Of course not. But over and over and over, the continual refining of the perfect image is jammed down our throats.
We don’t know what hits us. We don’t think about it.
Instead, the pictures are just there. Everybody is looking good, smiling. Why don’t I feel that way?
BECAUSE YOU HAVE A LIFE and life has ups and downs and problems and sickness and pain and things that don’t go your way and your hair looks like crap and that zit won’t go away and you better get a grip to deal with it or your emotional well-being isn’t going to last. I think the Air Brushing of America (and the world) is one of the biggest problems we face because what we see and what we come to expect is not the reality of life.
All the models are young. That makes you presume there are all these gorgeous young people parading down city streets, looking awesome, when it’s just not the case.
Some are 20 or even dare we day 50 or 100 pounds over-weight. That’s reality.
They might have a slight body odor. Ewwwww. God forbid.
Their teeth may buck in or out. Gross.
That’s one of my pet peeves. OMG, check out the perfection of teeth in ads, TV shows, talking heads on TV. You would thing the dentists of America have rearranged the rows of incisors of everyone under the age of 30 if you go by what you see on TV, magazines or the Internet.
If you put together a pamphlet to promote your company, you’ll be faced with a decision. Reality or fantasy?
Quite frankly, I’m coming down on the reality side. Show people as they really are. Show the bad clothes (or funky ones), the weird hairdos, the off-kilter lips, eyes, cheeks, ears, nose, whatever body part you choose. Show the reality.
If you do that, you win. If you choose to put in front of your audience a reality test, I think they’ll follow.
People want truth and justice. They want the straight shooter. “Tell me what’s really going on.”
What’s not real is “Air Brushed America.” That’s fantasy. If you choose to live in that world, you’ll have nothing but frustration the rest of your life.
If you go to stock photos, it doesn’t matter your race or creed. Everyone looks spectacular. The image-creators give you a taste of every ethnicity, just a touch. They think that’s enough.
It doesn’t cut it. Our species is a messy one. We screw up, we look bad, we fail, we fall down, we lose our hair, we trip, we fall. But we get up. And that’s the awesome thing. Remember that.
I had never really perused images on the Internet, never really thought much about air brushing, perfect teeth and hair, no blemishes on the models, and everyone looking slightly hip (35-years-old or younger). It just was. You looked at brochures, marketing collateral, web sites, and hmmmmm, “everybody looks pretty darn good.”
That’s cuz they were air brushed. Images are selected very carefully. They must fit certain criteria. Smile. Show your pearly whites. Smooth skin. Shining hair. Trendy clothes. Not an ounce of fat.
That’s America, isn’t it folks? When you get out of your car at work and step into the office or assembly line, you see all those people perfectly lined up, don’t you?
Of course not. But over and over and over, the continual refining of the perfect image is jammed down our throats.
We don’t know what hits us. We don’t think about it.
Instead, the pictures are just there. Everybody is looking good, smiling. Why don’t I feel that way?
BECAUSE YOU HAVE A LIFE and life has ups and downs and problems and sickness and pain and things that don’t go your way and your hair looks like crap and that zit won’t go away and you better get a grip to deal with it or your emotional well-being isn’t going to last. I think the Air Brushing of America (and the world) is one of the biggest problems we face because what we see and what we come to expect is not the reality of life.
All the models are young. That makes you presume there are all these gorgeous young people parading down city streets, looking awesome, when it’s just not the case.
Some are 20 or even dare we day 50 or 100 pounds over-weight. That’s reality.
They might have a slight body odor. Ewwwww. God forbid.
Their teeth may buck in or out. Gross.
That’s one of my pet peeves. OMG, check out the perfection of teeth in ads, TV shows, talking heads on TV. You would thing the dentists of America have rearranged the rows of incisors of everyone under the age of 30 if you go by what you see on TV, magazines or the Internet.
If you put together a pamphlet to promote your company, you’ll be faced with a decision. Reality or fantasy?
Quite frankly, I’m coming down on the reality side. Show people as they really are. Show the bad clothes (or funky ones), the weird hairdos, the off-kilter lips, eyes, cheeks, ears, nose, whatever body part you choose. Show the reality.
If you do that, you win. If you choose to put in front of your audience a reality test, I think they’ll follow.
People want truth and justice. They want the straight shooter. “Tell me what’s really going on.”
What’s not real is “Air Brushed America.” That’s fantasy. If you choose to live in that world, you’ll have nothing but frustration the rest of your life.
If you go to stock photos, it doesn’t matter your race or creed. Everyone looks spectacular. The image-creators give you a taste of every ethnicity, just a touch. They think that’s enough.
It doesn’t cut it. Our species is a messy one. We screw up, we look bad, we fail, we fall down, we lose our hair, we trip, we fall. But we get up. And that’s the awesome thing. Remember that.