I don’t want to get too preachy, but here goes….
Shame on the media, I mean really. It is bad enough that we are constantly inundated with updates of the Train Wreck Trio, (Lindsay, Britney & Paris), but now the images we see of the beautiful people are apparently not quite pretty enough. The first I really took note of this was not long ago when Katie Couric took the anchor spot at CBS. Some genius decided that she was not thin enough and felt the need to retouch or “Photoshop” her photo to be released to the press.
Katie Couric
To be honest I am somewhat of an amateur Photoshop geek. I like putting pix of my kids in weird places like lion cages and what not. And I also understand that sometimes you need to adjust certain aspects of the photo like contrast, sharpness or whatever to make it look better. Retouch a laugh line here or there, fine I get it. But then there is flat out lying.
Nate & Gabe - I'm not Lion
The latest lie came to light this week. Country star Faith Hill is on a recent cover of Redbook magazine. Apparently the fine folks at Redbook thought Faith was not good enough as is, and ordered some Photoshop guru to fix her up. I don’t know who ordered this and truthfully it does not matter. I’m quite certain that Redbook is not the first major publication to use this tactic. This same crap has been going on for a while, but now we are seeing the proof. When mainstream media publications take it upon themselves to Photoshop a photo to drop 20 lbs and 20 years off a personality it is the equivalent of flat out lying. And it is nothing less than insulting. Here is the photo in question along with the original photo.
Faith Hill Retouched & Original
Faith Hill is a gorgeous near 40 (next month) year old woman. Most women would love to look anything like her. But notice how Redbook, thinned her face, thinned her arm (almost half the size!) and thinned her waist line. I ask - was any of that necessary? Would they have sold fewer copies had they used the original? I think not.
We all have our own little insecurities and body image issues. We all have some aspect of ourselves that we would rather not see in the mirror or in photos whether it is a big nose, pointy ears, a big butt or a bit of a tummy- whatever. Having the media perpetuating a body image that is quite literally unattainable does nothing but harm.
Of course I am all for looking good and being healthy. And please Photoshop out any zits I might have or whatever. But here’s my take on it- F the media and what they think. Having realistic goals is part of having a healthy life. I will never look like Brad Pitt. Most women will never have Angelina Jolie’s figure. That’s fine. For true health and happiness we need to be true to ourselves. For most of us there are adjustments that we can make to the way we live that will improve the way we look, the way we feel and therefore the way we feel about ourselves. There will always be people we wished we looked like – I do not need some computer dork making them look any better than they already do.
And this is just taking things too far….
If you need help setting realistic goals give me a call. When you make make health and fitness a part of your life you never need a Photoshop retouch (well, almost never) :)
Joshua Carter
The Body Transformation Expert
Carter Fitness
joshua@carterfitness.com
http://carterfitness.com/
818-337-6175
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