Tag: Media Production

I think that along with the different kinds of smiley faces you can generate on the Internet, the single best utility of the 21^st century are the new kinds of makeup people apply to their faces so they can conceal their imperfections while recording themselves digitally for sharing on social media.
The Internet and social media in particular feed our sense of self—specifically our narcissistic self. How could the “like” not be a confidence booster? So and so “likes” what you’ve shared. This makes us feel good. So, we keep trying to share other stuff that we think people might like.
But if it weren’t for makeup, some of the people might not like what we shared because we wouldn’t look as perfect or beautiful.
I saw a clip of a baseball game being played in the old Busch Stadium back in the 90s (the last great decade?) recently. The film looked less focused and ancient compared to the HD quality we now take for granted. We rarely see bad photos of our friends on Facebook. All of these get edited out and don’t make the cut. What rates as a bad picture today might not have been all that bad during the grainy 90’s.
To me, the best thing about the Internet is being able to make connections with members of the opposite sex and then meet them in person—my definition of online dating. I met the woman who became my wife this way. She lived a thousand miles away from me. If not for the Internet and online dating no way we’d ever have met.
I remember when I used to hear co-workers in the early 90’s talk about how they wanted to find their next job online. Most people were still using the newspaper classifieds to find employment. Finding a job on the Internet became sort of a status symbol for some of us (did you hear Marvin found his cool new job online). I was one of the last people to find a job online simply because I was able to utilize old-fashioned networking successfully.

As back then, today it’s still about who you know. While we certainly have many more acquaintances (the LinkedIn Open Networking (LION) phenomenon comes to mind), we still need to actually meet people and get to know them some before we can expect some help along employment lines. We pretty much still need a lot of face time in order to do things like win the support or recommendation of somebody who can help us win a coveted job or promotion.
Makeup helps us in the digital world but when done right it also helps us in person. Less is always more but you need the right stuff as they say. The only thing about makeup that I have a problem with is the portrayal of beautiful people on television. First of all television costs money. We have to subscribe to anything beyond just basic channels and that costs more money than many of us are prepared to part with. But I digress.
Back to breathtaking
Too often, television portrays women waking up in bed with beautiful, fully made up faces. How can this be you ask? It’s make believe. We have to suspend our disbelief. Everyone knows you don’t go to bed with makeup on. So how can these terrific-looking women be seen in bed with their angelic faces beaming on their pillows as they smile at you to begin their day?
The answer to that one is what I used to tell myself back in the 90s. These beautiful women woke up while it was still dark and then made up their faces for me (and whomever was sharing their bed). How else to explain it?

Footage of certain shows in the 90s looks to kids today like silent movies did to me when I was a child. I think the generation that grew up with those silent films were blown away by color television and the sitcoms they were able to experience in the 60s and 70s. Everyone looked vibrant in color compared to the mausoleum-like quality of talking-less motion pictures and black and white TV shows.
Now we have high definition television which makes original color TV shows look old like that ballgame clip I was watching. The Internet has given us a lot, lets us share with people all over the world, but makeup lessens our inhibitions at sharing such glimpses of ourselves.
Even if you’ve taken off your makeup before reading this (I don’t judge) can someone now please give me a like? Here’s an unmade up smiley face to help get you in the “liking” mood, too: 🙂 Thank you.

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