10. The Meaning of Beauty

As I watched "Killing Us Softly," I began to think about what it truly means to be beautiful, and that made me remember a Dove commercial that I've seen some time ago. In the commercial, which I've posted at the end of this post, you'll see what Ms. Kilbourne has touched up on in the documentary: our manipulated perception of beauty. The media relentlessly plays with the public physcology, and distorts our definition of beauty. Nowadays, the formula of beauty equals to this:

Razor-thin body+colorful eyes+straight hair+always make-up ready face+stylish and expensive wardrobe..

OR

to make it easier to visualize in our minds, it is either Angelina Jolie or Cameron Diaz.

I bet for the ladies who are reading this, my 'formula' is not a big surprise because after all, don't we hear that men find these women attractive and chase after girls with similar qualities or don't our friends say they wish they had a butt like celebrity A or lips like celebrity B??

But why must such feature of a person be beautiful? Who decides this?

Obviously, the media does, and women are the ones who are victimized by these impossible, unrealistic, and shallow standards of beauty. These days, it seems like having a unique appearance or an amazing personality is not appreciated at all.It actually scares me to say this, but if this is how we are in year 2009 when the rates of eating disorders have skyrocketed like never seen before, then what will we be like in year 2019?? That is the core issue that we must tackle as soon as possible.

Finally, please watch the video below:

5. When the Media Lies About the Marines(!) *My Double Post

Since I'm feeling more creative than usual, tonight, I'm making two posts :)

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The picture above is from The Harper's. When you look at it there is nothing wrong with it, right? Marines that are absent without leave(AWOL) grace the cover. The only problem is that these people are not from the Marines! In fact, they are random people with no relation to the military at all.
Of course, this 'plot' gets discovered, people demand an explanation. Since Getty Images has the rights of the photo, their representative is made to provide an explanation. This is what she says, "We are decorating pages. We are not saying the soldiers are AWOL. Our covers are not necessarily representative."

All I can say is, "Wow! They must think that I have a brain at the same size of a peanut."

You see the media not only lies but thinks that I have no sense at all.

Are they looking for more ways to insult me??
I wonder..

For more information onthe incident go to: http://news.cnet.com/2300-1026_3-6033210-4.html

4. When the Media Lies..

As I listened to others’ opinion on news photography, I noticed that most people talked about when a journalist should interfere with a scene that shakes our most sensitive humanitarian values. When a picture of someone in a desperate situation makes the cover of a newspaper, we immediately feel sorry for that person, and wonder if someone, particularly that photographer since he/she was there, helped that person in need.
At first, I thought exactly like this. I wished for that person’s rescue to be quick as possible. However, as I read Patricia Holland’s’ detailed article on news photography, my thought started to change and so did my focus. In her article, Ms. Holland talks about a particular work by the Picture Post photographer Bert Hardy.

Bert Hardy received a lot of praise when he documented a soldier ‘sharing his last drop of water with a peasant,’ as stated in the article. Unfortunately, this photo turned out to be a set-up. Hardy had asked the American soldier to give some water so that he can have ‘the shot’.
As I read this, I realized how easily we, human beings, can be deceived. In order to sell maybe a 100 or 1000 more copies, the media is manipulating our feelings. Manipulation is almost inevitable since even the most strongest at heart, have a tendency to feel sympathy when something really tragic happens to someone- even when that someone is a total stranger.
It just disgusts me when I read stuff like this. Dishonesty is something I cannot stand. Not a long time ago, I considered becoming a journalist. However, I easily realized that it is a tough world to survive in, and events like this made me aware of this fact even more. I still don’t know which profession I’ll choose; however, if I do pursue journalism, I’ll make sure that both the stories and the images are real. At least, that is what a true journalist should do.