This week's 'thought'
comes to you from Shane
Hipps
intriguing book, "Flickering
Pixels." It has to do with cultural trends, but especially the effect that modern media has
on the human psyche and personality (both positive and negative in
nature). Shane, the lead pastor of a church in Phoenix, Arizona, has some
wise insights, making this book extremely helpful for understanding
how and why people today feel the way they do, and react as they do. This
thought has to do with modern day photography's adeptness at what he
calls, "Soul Stealing." Enjoy."Certain African tribes believe the camera possesses mysterious powers that can steal your soul. The Amish reject the photographic image for fear that it will develop in people excessive vanity and pride. Neither group is entirely wrong....
The Amish fear of vanity has played out, though often in an unexpected way. The photograph contributes to the growing narcissism in our culture. Unlike Narcissus, however, whose self-obsession was excessive self-love, our self-obsession often takes the form of excessive self-loathing.
A friend of mine has a
lean, active and beautiful eight-year-old daughter who asked her one day, 'Mom,
do I look fat?' The question was jarring and absurd, and the answer was an
emphatic, 'No!' But the question indicates that the natural
self-consciousness of adolescence is
now beginning much earlier. Equally disconcerting is that this body-image
crisis of our culture now dogs us decades after adolescence has subsided. What
are we to make of this addict-like preoccupation with our looks?
First, you should know
this: It's not your fault. Really. It's not your fault. A few years ago
Dove (facial products) launched an ad campaign called 'Real Beauty.' It boldly
sought to expose and correct the body-image problem in our culture -- and, of
course, sell basketfuls of Dove products.
The campaign aimed to change our culture's narrow definition of beauty beyond
the artificial perfection of models and movie stars. One ad featured a split
screen shot of a models face. It was a 'before' and 'after' shot. That is,
'before' make-up, hair, and the all-important post-production retouching, and
the 'after.'
The woman who doesn't
really exist.
The real woman who
needed fixing.
The extent of retouching on
her 'after' shot was astonishing. The model didn't merely receive smoother
cheeks and flawless skin tone. The size of her eyes was increased. Her neck was
heightened. Her lips were plumped up. And her jaw line was completely reshaped.
It was no longer the same woman, or even a real woman at all. She had
become pixilated
perfection.
How noble of Dove to expose
the dirty tricks that advertisers use to make us feel unsatisfied with our
bodies. Yet their campaign had its own little secret. The man responsible for
the image retouching of the Dove ads is a legendary digital artist named Pascal
Dangin
-- the 'photo whisperer' -- able to coax unimagined beauty from nearly any
image...
Our culture has descended
to a place where even the natural beauty of a supermodel is simply not
beautiful enough to withstand the unflinching scrutiny of the camera. The most
beautiful individuals in the world must be thoroughly transformed before being
shown to the public. Is it any wonder that eight-year-old girls are
already questioning their own self-image?
The medium of images draws
our attention away from the inner life and toward the appearance of things, and
this has serious implications for the soul... Images focus our attention on the
realm of cosmetics. Often, it is for the sake of showcasing beauty and talent. It teaches us
to scrutinize not just others, but also ourselves. Thinning hair, splotchy
skin, love handles, cellulite, stretch marks, and wrinkles become sources of
preoccupation, depression and great effort (even great spending).
The funny thing is, Jesus
never talked much about thick hair, ripped abs, youthful skin, or sexy legs.
Paul never mentioned any of these things when he listed the fruit of the
Spirit, and yet our energetic pursuit of everything surfacey seems to say otherwise.
Think back to the last time
you looked at a photograph of yourself in a group of people. What was the first
thing you looked at? It wasn't the other people. It was you. And then the
scrutiny begins: 'Whoa, I look pretty pasty.' 'I'm never wearing that shirt
again.' 'Oh, how's the double chin treating me?'
Not to worry. Your true
friends will offer reassurances like, 'Oh, you don't look like that at all,
that's just a bad angle.' So we simultaneously blame that image
for making us look bad, and trust that the next image will make us look
better and restore our self-worth. Maybe God was on to something when he
commanded his people not to make graven images."
My twins (now thirteen)
will often look at a girl on a magazine cover and occasionally point out
to me (in almost envious fashion) that she has not one imperfection on her
entire face. Not one single pore, not one less that perfect white teeth,
not one eye lash or anything
that has any sign of even the slightest defect or imperfection.
So I showed them this
chapter from Shane's book, and have since reminded them that what they are seeing is not a real
woman, but a photo-shopped
woman -- an image that distorts the soul of the real person being portrayed in
the photograph. Even the most beautiful and shapely are not beautiful and
shapely enough for magazine covers -- how then could we ever expect to be?
It helps (I hope) to know
that that kind of beauty really doesn't exist. It's an image.
A graven one. One that is meant to make us all the more conscious of all
our own imperfections, envy that false image of pixilated perfection, and, of
course, see our need to buy the product the ad is selling.
May the reminder of Easter,
and the fact that God left the scars to remain on Jesus' resurrected and
immortalized body, helps us remember that with God it truly is a person's
heart that matters -- or better yet, what he or she trusts in, and not
what they will look like -- not even when "glorified," made,
"immortal," "imperishable" or "perfect" by
God.
In His Service, Pastor Jeff
