In a world filled with filters that look like an angel kissed one's skin and celebrities with enviable bodies, it's hard not to get swept up in the craze of perfection. What is also hard is differentiating what's real and what is just a product of digital enhancement. Time and again, brands, agencies and publications have been targeted for editing and airbrushing away features, marks and body parts to the extent, that the individuals don't even look like themselves anymore. All just to fit the mould of restrictive norms of conventional beauty. Increasingly, however, celebrities are calling publications out on photoshopping.
Most recently, the actresses who star on Riverdale as Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge denounced a glossy for modifying pictures from a photoshoot. Lili Reinhart, who plays the saccharine Betty Cooper with a twist on the show, and Camila Mendes, who stars as Veronica Lodge, are besties both on and off screen and shot for an editorial spread in Cosmopolitan's Philippines edition with Camila covering it. Lili decided to take the opportunity of Women's Day to call out the publication for their highly retouched images. She also shared both their sets of before and after images to further drive home the point. While Lili's midriff has been made to appear thinner, Camila's entire rib cage is edited greatly.
Lili Reinhart's before and after images
Camila Mendes' before and after images
Along with this, Lili has also made a statement on her Instagram profile asking celebrities to stop retouching their images as this only adds to the problem and skews what we think of an ideal body image. She signed off saying that "we aren't going to hide behind photoshop to conform to beauty standards" and even thanked Cosmopolitan's main profile for keeping their pictures as they were in the magazine.
Lili spoke out about her photos being edited
She spoke of the difficulties often faced in the process
She called out the magazine with the retouched pictures
Lili signed off with a few wise words
There have been scores of retouched celebrity photos that have caused an outcry on the internet from the celebrities themselves. One such instance was when Nicki Minaj spoke out about her forehead being elongated on the cover of ESPN.
Another was when Lorde posted two pictures of herself from her concert - one evidently airbrushed, the other with acne marks and reaffirmed that flaws were indeed okay.
i find this curious - two photos from today, one edited so my skin is perfect and one real. remember flaws are ok :-) pic.twitter.com/PuRhxt2u2O
— Lorde (@lorde) March 31, 2014
In 2015, Zendaya too spoke up about her torso, thighs and hips being edited in Modeliste magazine with before and after shots showing the visible difference.
Comments
It's easy to believe that your favourite celebrity on the cover of a magazine looks toned and perfect with rock hard abs and clear skin. But if these cases teach us anything, it's that many of them aren't what they seem like. Celebrities, like us, are imperfect and if they can graciously embrace their bodies, we hope publishers who work with them, can too.
