Is what you see ever really what you get?

Is what you see real?

In this age of Computer Aided Animation and Photoshop how can we ever believe what we see?

From Katie Couric to Demi Moore, we see that even the best of us may end up having our photos enhanced. Some of us would welcome such help and others really have no need, yet the touch-ups continue. Can we ever get thin enough or smooth enough or tan enough? If people don’t look like we want them to, isn’t it alright to fix ‘um up a little? I mean, how many women wear make-up? I know a little mascara goes a long way toward making my face look more pleasing. Is that cheating? Is Photoshop that much different from Clinique`?

Sweet Katie Curic, surely the darling of daytime television is fine, just the way she is. I bet she had a fit when her Photoshop fiasco was exposed all over the press. There is a chance she didn’t even know it was being done, but then, it probably wasn’t even her call whether she knew or not. Katie looked a little filled-out but probably it wouldn’t be so noticeable if she didn’t have her slimmer alter-ego posted right beside her. But, you know, if she wants to be slimmed down or if her publicist thinks she needs to be slimmed down, isn’t it OK?

So what if Demi Moore is so thin one wonders if she can really be healthy? I bet face to face, too skinny or too fat, she looks pretty amazing for a woman of 47. Doesn’t she have that young guy for a husband – he’s the one my children watch on that 70’s show, isn’t he? The teenager? In all actuality, she might want Photo Shop to follow her around every where she goes! (Personally, I think she can pull it off without any trouble – she is a knock out!) But, whether or not someone needs it, or wants it, do we really care if they get it?

I guess it boils down to what we want our society to support. We average, or even, below average lookers can never measure up – or down – to compare with the photo enhanced. Maybe we, of the older set, can buck up and face the mirror but many of the younger crowd can’t even look at themselves and smile. Young girls are hard put to live up to the beauty icons paraded as models before them by the media today. How must it feel to be a 20 year old girl who looks like a like a slob next to a 47 year old woman? It isn’t fair, is it, to have these false realities drive our expectations for ourselves or our daughters? I wonder how we are going to come to terms with this – because it doesn’t look like the photo shopping is going to go away.