Benjamin Button-ing it

There’s a crop of Hollywood A-listers, models, musicians and entertainers who seem to exist in that rarefied air where their ageing process has either halted dead in its tracks, completely transformed their appearance or, better still, has miraculously reversed time – with most of them looking even better than they did 20 years ago. So what, pray tell, is their secret? DR ANUSHKA REDDY takes a closer look.

- DR ANUSHKA REDDY

The 21st century has been an era of colossal technological advances – a span where social media is king – a great and influential king who is able to effortlessly shape our cultural, political, and social climate. Yet what’s even more incredible is the fact that this king wields all of its power (be it negative or positive) from a tiny phone.1

The evolution of media

Okay, let’s back-track a bit… say, to the moment social media exploded into our everyday lives. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in thinking that many of us were instantly addicted to this new phenomenon. I mean, think about it: for the first time ever, we were able to find (and contact) long-lost family members at the click of a button, chat and connect with old high school buddies, and – of course – post images and personal information about our own lives for the world to see. These pics ranged from what we had for breakfast to where we were spending time at that exact moment, who we were with, and, for some, what we look like naked (super edited and filtered, of course).

In other words, what initially started as an effective platform for people to communicate, share and engage in social networking has evolved into a medium where users are more interested in how they look to others in their online profile pictures. This is largely due to the recent advent of various facial transforming/photo editing apps, where one can now utilize all the unlimited options on how to virtually alter our appearance.

But, while this practice seems harmless in itself, there is an obvious danger in trying to measure up to filtered images when they are so far from reality – or even consistency.