Faking It

Is faking perfection -- by airbrushing, lip synching, and digitally enhancing -- some kind of inverse new form of acting responsibly?

When a noticeably thinner, seemingly photoshopped version of pop singer Kelly Clarkson recently appeared on the cover of Self magazine, many fans wondered if the popular American Idol was friend or faux.

Admitting that the photo had been retouched, Self's editor explained that the reason for the digital diet was to help Clarkson "look her personal best." She continued, "A snapshot is different than a cover. A cover's a poster. And the thing about a poster is you want it to capture the essence of you at your best."

The perfection-as-responsibility equation hasn't been limited to this year's cover girls. After Dream Girl Jennifer Hudson delivered a flawless Super Bowl performance of the national anthem -- her first major singing appearance since the murders of her mother and brother -- her producer let slip that her crooning was perfect because her performance was canned. "That's the right way to do it," the producer insisted about the use of pre-recorded Hudson vocals. "There's too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist to go live because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance."

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman faked their performance at the inauguration of President Obama, pretending to play in a quartet, while the audience -- and the world -- was treated to a recording instead. Mr. Ma soaped his bow so it would slide soundlessly across the strings. "It would have been a disaster if we had done it any other way," said Mr. Perlman, explaining the virtue of the virtual performance. "This occasion's got to be perfect. You can't have any slip-ups."

Is music good only when there are no mistakes? Can we achieve our personal best only when we're faked? Men's Fitness magazine digitally buffed tennis powerhouse Andy Roddick's biceps. A British magazine famously slimmed Kate Winslet's thighs. And supermodel Gisele Bundchen's baby bump was airbrushed out of a new ad campaign.

So perhaps then it is no surprise that the president's nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, has caused a flap over her undisclosed but noticeably non air-brushed Rubenesque weight. Critics say an overweight Surgeon General "sends the wrong message." Supporters say Americans will relate better to a head health cop who struggles with extra pounds. In an image battle of BMI vs. IQ, a newspaper editorial extended the issue to the White House by asking why "a thin, male smoker (is) considered a physical role model as president." And should presidential perfection be faked by digitally deleting his cigarettes?

Comments

[LadyLux]

Regarding Ma and Perlman.. Unitron, you bring up a good point, that too many things can go wrong when playing inside instruments outside - they are such a fragile technology that any fluctuation in temperature, humidity and other factors, can completely alter the sound. So I think "faking" it in that instance is excusable and understandable.

However, faking women's appearances is a dangerous proposition. I think it's unfortunate that our society is so focused on an impossible ideal of what a female body should look like, when very few actually look like that. Now, I am not advocating obesity; but if you are healthy, work out and eat well, but aren't stick thin, you shouldn't be made feel badly about how you look. It sends an unhealthy message to our teen girls, forever affecting their chance for a decent self-esteem.

I think initiatives like Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty and the recent photo of Lizzi Miller in Vogue (http://www.ladylux.com/style/site/article/loving-your-body-and-embracing-yourself) are a great start. We should focus more of our energy on stuff like that, instead of perpetuating an impossible ideal.

[unitron]

Ma and Perlman were playing indoor music (and indoor instruments) outdoors, in the cold and the wind, where string tension would be at the mercy of temperature changes and the microphones at the mercy of the wind.

That's hardly the same as football players on steroids.

Although I think they should have done it live and let it be imperfect if that happened.

Otherwise, why not just play the recording and let them sleep in, or let them play it live in a nice cozy practice room somewhere and pipe it to the stage?

Too bad they didn't make Roberts lip-sync to a recording of the oath, though. : - )

[temenos]

"Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman faked their performance at the inauguration of President Obama, pretending to play in a quartet, while the audience -- and the world -- was treated to a recording instead."

I can't help feeling that there is a parallel to the deception of athletes taking steroids. Both evince cynicism and contempt for the audience. If performers feel that there is nothing wrong with such artifice, let it be announced before a "performance" or printed in bold type on doctored photographs.

[apoyo]

"A poster"

What a perfect description for something or someone pretending to be something it isn't.

Perfect depiction of the plastic society.

[Romsek]

The word poseur does already exist and means exactly that.