The video attached below is supposed to be a joke. It is funny, but it also isn’t funny. How could this be?
In the video, you see a photograph of an attractive woman on a cell phone being held in the hand of the person recording the video. It’s assumed the person recording the video is the partner (family member) of the woman in the photograph. It’s known that the woman in the photo resides in East Harlem, New York.
As the camera in the video focuses on the photograph of the attractive woman, the same woman enters the frame of the video, and it becomes clear that the woman in the photo had used a filter.
A filter is a method of distorting an image to make certain features stand out. Without hesitation, you can see in the video that the woman photographed looks different from the woman who posted the photo.
The ‘haha’ comes in when you see the woman in real life at the end of the video. While she is still pretty, in real life she does not look as put together as she did in the photograph that was first focused on in the video.
This is where the controversy comes in.
In real life, she’s still pretty. She’s real. The photo she posted was an attractive one, but she had taken additional measures to present herself in a manner in which the photo made her appear… more airbrushed.
Of course, do what you want. Present yourself as you want to, to each their own… The issue, and the controversy, lie with filters both distorting the physical perception of individuals and an individual’s perception of themselves.
Filters have been proven to have a negative impact on mental health for all parties involved when they’re used. People meeting a job candidate, new friend, or someone they’re attracted to are deceived by the versions of people they ‘meet’ on social media compared to the person they meet in real life. Likewise, constantly presenting yourself with a filter has been proven to devalue people’s perceptions of themselves when they don’t appear as the filter alludes (in real life.)
Have a look at the video, and decide for yourself. Is it a harmless joke, or something else?
Video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqBFhgAgf2e/?igshid=ZjE2NGZiNDQ%3D
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