The "selfie" has taken off as a worldwide phenomenon because the focus of the "selfie" is one's SELF. People are obsessed with themselves, and they want to be known and be validated. The root of the selfie is narcissism, and as Elizabeth Urbanski pointed out in her TED Talk, people crave that attention by other's on the internet. As a collective whole, people want to show off what they have and what they are doing even if it doesn't display the entire truth. The man that was featured on Urbanski's TED Talk with the stack of money in his mouth for instance--the money could have been fake, it may not have been his, maybe it was one bill on a stack of blanks--the options are endless. No one knows the truth. The "selfie" is merely a front, a facade, of what is presented to the world.
While I have a mostly negative interpretation of selfie's, I do believe that they can be a work of art. While most selfie's lack originality entirely, if a little thought is put into the composition, subject, frame, background, etc, the famous selfie could really transform into something else. I would be excited to see more people taking an original approach to the selfie, and it would make social media more interesting--rather than logging on and seeing the same style of photo a hundred times.
The fakeness of people's selfies can be really sad. Many people are craving attention and approval of from random strangers because they're missing it from the people they actually care about. The extent some people go to be conceived as "perfect" is quite disturbing. I knew a girl who was literally 50% synthetic materials. She had fake boobs, a fake butt, fake abs (yes, abs!), and fake lips. Even then, she still photoshops the hell out of her selfies to make herself more "perfect" for all 350k instagram followers - probably few of which she actually knows on a personal level. This selfie generation is so desperate to get acceptance. I've been there myself in the past and it's a hard thing not to do, but it's sad.
ReplyDeleteWell yes and the example you give is evidence of another sad aspect of our current culture - the obsession with perfect bodies. The internet/social media is a dangerously powerful space for girls and women to feel insecure/obsessed/inferior about their physical appearance.
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