Do we really need to be picture PERFECT?

Long after the Closing Ceremony, the world may remember the

Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympics.    Unfortunately, the spectacle may be remembered more for China’s sleight of hand than for its perfectly synchronized showmanship.   The digitally enhanced fireworks.   The diaper-clad cast.   And most memorable of all, the masking of the little girl with the beautiful voice.  Judged not cute enough for camera work, 7-year-old Yang Peiyi was heard, but not seen.   Viewers were led to believe that the actual singer was a lip-syncing 9-year-old selected for her “flawless image”. 

Outraged?   Understandable.   

Shocked?    Only if you’ve been living under a discus since the Olympics of 1896. 

Increasingly over the past century, film and video technology have conditioned us to not only accept images of perfection, but also to expect them.   Thanks to the handsome stars of sitcoms and soap operas, we have come to insist that all people on television be totally telegenic. 

This includes even the people on so-called ‘Reality’ TV!  Anything less than blinding white teeth and tight young skin has, to the vast viewing public, become visually repulsive.  

There are many reasons why we should care.   Not the least of which is the harm done to the developing psyches of our children.    Those who are less than perfect-looking - say 95% - are left to feel unacceptable.   A minority of this unacceptable majority-say those with rich relatives– may find relief in plastic surgery.   The rest of our children are just plain stuck; forced to look, well… a lot like us. The world judges by appearance, and perhaps it has always been so.  However, as we teeter on the brink of ridiculousness with this, perhaps we should consider what it means to be a child with a great talent who is told to hide.