The Eye of the Beholder

Dear blog... i'm sorry i've neglected you.  there have been tons and tons of things i've wanted to write about and i've sat in my chair, or laid in bed thinking "this would be something great to write about" and yet i choose not to thinking to myself "it will always be there when i need it."   and now it's been months since i've written anything of quality on my blog.  nothing but videos or photos with nothing of my original thoughts or voice placed here and I apologize that i've neglected it for so long.   All i can say is that:

life gets in the way

pretty much all there is to it.  there's no excuse or anything, all i can say is... just start again and see where it goes from there.

a friend of mine sent me this article today:

http://screen.yahoo.com/inspiration/watch-four-women-react-being-210400146.html

I can't post the video up for some reason (i'm too lazy to figure it out... i'm sure there's a way) but let me just take the description and give you my two cents..

Maybe it's no surprise that when offered the opportunity to be featured in a celebrity-style photo shoot, four women jumped at the chance. The shocker: their negative reaction to the retouched results. The BuzzFeed video "Four Women React to Their Photoshop Makeovers" struck a chord with viewers. It racked up over 5 million views in one week and has become one of BuzzFeed's top 10 videos of all time. The idea for the video was an "experiment" that asks: "How would women who weren't models or celebrities react if you Photoshop them the way that cover models are regularly Photoshopped?" Andrew Gauthier, the video producer, told Yahoo. He added that the women were chosen for their "unique backgrounds and perspectives." Their conclusions to the photos were all the same, and everyone involved in making the video "was totally surprised by the reaction," said Gauthier. 

My initial reaction to watching this film and reading the description was that it was complete bullshit.

for these reasons:

I question these people really. "Who really looks like this?" there are actually those who NATURALLY look like this and i bet you anything that if these girls put their photos up on facebook or instagram and within 5 minutes, will immediately change their tune. Even if they put up a caption saying "just got myself professionally photoshopped.... i can't believe it doesn't look like me!!!!" and then immediately the masses of people on social media begin "liking the photo" adding the "you look beautiful" comments... i almost FULLY believe that some of these girls will all of a sudden change their tune... it's human nature.... and lets say a few of them don't.... what are the odds that the producer of this video found 4 girls AT RANDOM to all have the same opinion about their alter egos...   shouldn't there be at least some who don't share their same views?  anyone question that 4 is such a small sample size?

which leads me to my second point:

the power of media and surveys... the producer of this film found 4 women who all reacted the same way to their touched up photos? i guarantee you that does not express the general views of the world. i get that they are trying to send a positive message but 4 out or 4, a 100% hit-rate on women who were shocked and appalled at their own looks changed to make themselves look more beautiful is utter horse poopoo. the validity of this would have been 75% but 100%? i doubt they only took 4 people... because you take 4 people at random and i guarantee you it won't be 100%. Maybe they took 20 people and found 4 with the exact reactions that they wanted to portray for this article piece...  so at least be truthful about it.... say over 80% of women were shocked at what they saw and then proceed to show the testimonials of the 4 who gave the best answers... i would have accepted that and yet i still hold my ground to those two points....

not all people would react the way these 4 just did... just scour instagram, twitter, and facebook and you'll find millions of people who take nonstop selfies to promote just how good they think they are by putting on makeup, pushup bras, cute outfits, or taking their selfies in the right angles to make them look prettier and then wait for the  tens, hundreds, or thousands of likes and comments to inflate their own egos

i don't doubt that there are those (noble ones) that view the world the way these 4 do... but call me a cynic or a realist but i'm pretty sure that the rest of this world would not react the same way these 4 would.... at the least 50% could not wait to post their photos up on some form of social media...

and please don't think i'm just directing this to women.  i would say the same if this video was all doods as well.  we all share the same want and desire to look better in this world and we shouldn't be surprised at how much people are willing to take shortcuts in order to get to that desired "like" on social media.   How are diet pills any different than falsely photoshopping yourself?  both are shortcuts to a different you that you can post up somewhere.  

in the end, i get what this video was trying to promote.  and it is a noble cause.  i just question that it was 100% all of them thought the same way.  it was just too good to be true to be considered a "shocker"   but in the end it is a positive message, one i share and hope to take to heart.  i do catch myself (more than i care to admit) looking at myself in the mirror wishing maybe this was different or that was different, but doesn't mean i don't love myself.  that's what working is for.  wanting to change yourself for yourself.  you want to lose that love handle?  go and do it... the baby fat cheeks?  go for it... that's what the gym is for or running shoes... we've all caught ourselves wishing we could change something about our selves.... but we sometimes forget why are we doing it.  are we doing it because we want to feel better about ourselves.  healthier.  lead a more positive life.   or are we doing it for vanity, a like on facebook or instagram, or to say we're better than others.   maybe everything is a little bit of both, and that's just how i think the world works sometimes.  after all is said and done.... do what makes you happy i guess...