Wednesday, November 18, 2009

When an airbrush is a cement mixer

What do these have in common?
  • Thanksgiving without turkey (or Tofurky)
  • Disliking chocolate and peanut butter together
  • Fruit for dessert
  • Air brushing human bodies to make them inhuman
Check out this link.

The term air brush sounds so fluffy and harmless. This Photoshop disaster on the cover of W exposes the intentional scaring from altering photographs. We know (read: rationalize) this is done to all celebrity photos and finished products appear harmless and beautiful. The images end up looking like no one ever messed with them making changes seem acceptable.

Finding the W oversight transitions my brain to believe altering images is not normal rather it is perverse. Perverse just like a turkey-less Thanksgiving and shunning Reece Cups.

Instead of referring to it as air brushing, we need to say we are sending the images to the cement mixer. Something as harmless as sand, rock, water and air can be combined to create something permanent, rigid and pervasive. Sounds familiar.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cement mixing sure is a whole lot more fun!!! I used to help my Granda McConnell mix cement when I was growing up back home in N.Ireland. I miss those simple days that seemed so boring back then?

 
Header Image from Bangbouh @ Flickr