Tuesday, August 26, 2008

enough with the beauty

So I was watching Mad Men the other night and a startling thought suddenly occurred to me: I’m tired of looking at beautiful people. Beautiful women in particular, all roughly the same age. Separate from the feminist issue of media images and the psychological issues of self-esteem and body image--all this beauty has become dull and predictable,

Specifically, it occurred to me how much more interesting the character Bobbie Barrett would be (she’s the comedian’s wife, Draper’s most recent dalliance) if she were a little more roadworn, a little less young and fresh under her hardened broad act. Give me a face that has lived a little, please. On a person who still manages to be sexy and sexual.

One reason British television shows and movies are so engrossing is that the Brits are unafraid of character actors whose faces are more interesting than strictly beautiful.

Which leads me, in a roundabout way, to an interesting campaign to get one of the women’s magazines to publish an issue in which the feature photo shoot and cover have no airbrushed imagines. If you join the campaign, you are promising to purchasing at least two copies of the first magazine to rise to the challenge.

Sure, it sounds like a very fat chance. But it’s worth a try, eh what? To join the campaign, click here.

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3 comments:

Cynthia said...

I joined the campaign, but I fear they'll only take the challenge with a girl under the age of 20. Not exactly what we wanted, huh?

Sophie said...

I'd be happy with girls under 20. They get the airbrush treatment, too. I think even a real, unairbrushed 20-year-old would look slightly shocking to our eyes. And that's shocking.

Anonymous said...

I've noticed that about British and even Austialian movies as well. People look... normal!! Imagine that.