Idolizing Ghosts
Did you know that 78% of girls between the ages of 16 to 18 are not happy with their body image? According to afterellen.com this becomes coherent by age 6 in girls. What drives this obsession at such a young age? One factor is bullies throughout school and extracurricular activities. Another is the media since television seems to be more engaging as time goes by. Kids see their favorite characters on TV. They are usually cute, young, and seem to ‘have it all’.
One thing that is clearly not identified is that they are portraying a character. They are made up by directors, creators, and producers on the show. Then when a show becomes popular they advertise it like crazy. One thing that children do not realize is that most photos, items, and also any products sold have been manipulated. They use a program for editing…and that software is called Photoshop.
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Photoshop is one of the most powerful products made for users. I appreciate it when it comes to my studies. I have never used it to manipulate photos to make them ‘better’ i.e. for portraits. I believe that photoshop is for ENHANCING photos rather than manipulation. Honestly, I could not imagine someone retouching photos of me to make me look thinner or pretty. Drastically changing someone is cruel in my opinion. No matter what, someone might idolizing another person just by their looks. Yes, they could be the most caring or sincere person…but do readers see that with redone pictures. I for one can testify by looking at photos throughout magazines, movie posters, ect. I have also have had body issues my whole life. So, I do understand what it is like to look at female celebrities and wondering “wow, they are gorgeous…why couldn’t I look like that”. Although I know now going into the digital media industry and maturing that very few pictures in the media are not touched. As a digital media student, how could I change the way people see Photoshop as ‘just a people changer’? For one, we could show that Photoshop can be fun, exciting, and also enjoyable to learn. Not only can it help others in enhancing their photos, it can also be a better editing software other than Ribbet, Fotor, or even Instagram!
An example of how the use of Photoshop can be helpful for people is from an article about a family who lost their daughter. Nathan Steffel asked around on Reddit for people to recreate a photo of his child. The response was incredible. Many people used Photoshop to remove the medical supply that was cover the little girl’s body. There was a lot of supporters who hand drew or painted the picture to show the precious girls face. It is news like this that gives me hope for people can use Photoshop to help others out.
It is amazing to see what we fantasize as “beautiful” or “perfect”. Even back in 3000 B.C. there were records of make-up being used. Our society has become more and more worried about “me” than it ever has before. I think it is because we want to be “popular” or even “perfect” in some aspect. Whether it would be by changing our style, make up, or even our friends, it has come apparent that we are so influential. We get these influences through media, yet why do we perceive something that has been edited nor in its raw form. It is safe to say as technology progresses so does our view on what is beauty. In this case, that is why we idolize ghosts.