Photoshop is your friend. Or is it?
Check out this great piece in the Huffington Post in which clinical psychologist Vivian Diller discusses how certain celebrities are taking a stand against unrealistic photoshopping. To which I say GOOD!
Years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing British actress Kate Winslet. It was right after that big dust up during which GQ magazine put Kate on a digital diet, making her look several pounds slimmer than she really was at the time. Winslet was NOT happy about what had happened and while I’ve always liked her as an actress she really gained my respect as a person for taking that stance. If memory serves correct, Kate had just had a baby and wasn’t sporting that super slim, rock hard, I-eat-nothing look so many in Hollywood have. But she still looked damn good!
Now the American Medical Association is weighing in, wondering aloud whether excessive photoshopping is contributing to eating disorders. While that link may be tenuous, I can say with a good deal of certainty it messes with my head and I worry about our daughters.
I’m a 48-year-old woman. I admit that because it’s listed in Wikipedia and to say otherwise would make me a 48-year-old liar. As such, there are parts of my face that are showing signs of life’s wear and tear. So with a touch of a button, those lines are miraculously erased and my complexion is evened out, plain to see, even through the soft focus placed over the entire photo.
But the real me is far different.
This illustrates what I really hate about Photoshop; it puts a hazy glow on reality. When people see my photo in a speaker’s program and then they see the real thing, while not drastically different, they are different. Even with high dollar concealer and expertly applied foundation, guess what? I look older. But you want to know the part of photoshop that really chaps my backside? When they start removing pounds more deftly than deftly than a plastic surgeon on steroids. 50-year-old women, even with a diet of water and 3 hours of exercise a day, just do not look like 20-year-olds. I don’t need to draw a picture do I?
I suppose I could take the same stand that Kate Winslet did but truth be told, I’m afraid. I work in a visual medium where the jobs for 48-year-old women just aren’t that plentiful. So I relent and let the click of the mouse remove the vestiges of age from around my eyes and mouth, then wonder, why, when I look in the mirror, there’s always something I want to change.
So let’s wade into this Photoshop debate, what do you think, good or bad? Do you think it skews reality enough to contribute to eating disorders? Would you buy a magazine with a model who was NOT photoshopped on the cover? Fire away!
