perfect

Have you seen this yet? Go ahead and check it out, I'll wait....

Tra la laaaa..............................................................................................................................................

OK, isn't that kind of crazy? I mean, everyone knows that photos of celebrities are Photoshopped, but there is something about seeing it happen right in front of your eyes that really makes you think.

It's easy to forget all of the work that goes into making people look that good, especially when they are just out laying around on the beach in a t-shirt, "oh this old thing, just something I threw on this morning". And it's not just Photoshop, but lighting, hair, makeup, wardrobe, all of these things work together to make this perfect image.

It's easy to forget that though, especially when you're watching movies or a TV show. It's not like you think these people are actually real, but if you don't think about it really, it is nice to imagine that Seth and Summer are out there somewhere making out still.

The thing that gets me, and I've even worked as an intern on TV show and commercial shoots before, is that I forget that what I'm watching isn't really happening. Like if you're watching Sex and the City, and Carrie is strutting down 5th avenue looking fabulous in her 5 inch heels and you're like man I wish I could look like that and wear that.. she is actually not walking anywhere, but the three steps she has taken away from her hair and makeup team since the director said "Action".

Or when you watch Marissa Cooper (I'm re-watching the first season of the OC right now) wake up in a hot, nasty motel room in Tijuana and she looks like an angel, and you're like why don't I look like that when I wake up?

It's because she didn't just wake up, she just laid down in the bed, and had her hair, clothing and makeup fixed by professionals 3 seconds before she opened her eyes and "woke up".

That seems extremely obvious, and maybe it is to a lot of people, but I tend to get very wrapped up in the story line and forget, which is probably a good thing, and basically the point of entertainment, but I think that it can be at least depressing, if not dangerous to compare ourselves constantly to something that is actually not real.

It's one thing for older people who at least have some idea that it's just a collection of a few second clips edited together to look like a continuous, and realistic event, but I think more effort needs to be made to educate younger people, especially younger girls, so they don't constantly feel the need to compare themselves to something that is not attainable in real life.

This is a pretty cool video I came across a few years ago, for the Dove Real Beauty Campaign: