Video Retouching Leak

I've written in my blog about photoshop and how it is used rampantly in magazines.  Not for small things like pimples or bruises, but for major body touch-ups.  I don't think anyone is surprised by those adjustments.  We live with it, we know it exists, and yet it still gets under our skin.

There has been a leak from Hoax Films regarding the latest Britney Spears video, "Work B*#ch."  The studio allegedly pre-released some scenes from the video prior to the official release date.  After the video was released audiences began to notice that Britney was noticeably better toned and in better shape than the clips.

In the past Britney Spears has actually come forward and chosen to show altered photos of herself seen below:

She has spoken out against photoshop in the past, although her team of producers, managers, agents, etc., would never allow her to be seen without digital alteration.  But I find this latest expose shocking.

I honestly did not think nor consider the idea that film would be digitally altered in that way.  We already know that reality TV is far from reality.  Now we're learning that film is farther from reality than we could think.  Those stars moving around on your television and movie screens are altered.

Altered.

On a personal note, may I say, that's not fair.  It's not fair to the public.  It's infuriating how much of an ideal is set before us and is sold and created as being true.  It's no wonder that so many eating disorders exist.  Not even these stars look the way they insist they do.

At award shows, don't be fooled.  Those celebrities have spent literally hours being tucked, pinched, and layered with make-up to appear perfect.  They've gone through crash "cleanse" diets.  And, of course, never rule out plastic surgery.

This is an intriguing article to read regarding the film altering industry, which is kept extremely hush hush:  http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/burning-britney-spears-only-star-put-digital-diet-014519004.html

We can't unlearn what is our culture.  It's permanently ingrained in us what is considered beautiful and perfect.  There is a part of me that wonders if Britney Spears purposefully let this leak.  She's been vocal in the past, and she is one of very few stars who has openly shown before and after photos.  Could this be her under-the-radar way of telling us how it really is?  Who better to trust that the one that nearly lost her mind due to the industry?  She would know best.

With this knowledge, how does that make you feel?  I feel cheated and lied to.  Granted, I understand that these celebrities are in great shape, especially since the camera really does add ten pounds.  But, again, we are being fooled.  Hollywood is selling us a fantasy, and we're buying it as reality.

We can't trust anything we see.

That weighs in my stomach like lead.

Lies at every photo.  In every film.

Where does it stop?  Or is it what we want?  Do we like buying the fantasy?  But the real question remains: do we really know where reality stops and fantasy starts?  And if we don't, what unfulfillable expectations have we created for ourselves?