Humour

Skinny no more

T A Balasubramanian focuses on the world of image manipulation

“The Cosmo Polish magazine ran a story recently about how fashion magazines, who used all kinds of digital effects to make fashion models look thinner, are now going the other way—they are ‘fattening up’ their skinny models to make them look ‘fuller-figured.’ According to the Polish report, the move is a response to critics who blame images of so-called ‘size zero’ models for the rise in eating disorders in young girls,” says Georgio Urbani, CEO of Magic Image Systems and Technology, a gritty small business enterprise that is also known simply as ‘MIST.’

He is addressing the MIST promotion cadre under his command. It includes Valentino Vito, Chief Marketing Manager and Sellina Reddy, Regional Sales Manager, and their power teams.

“That’s right, Boss,” says Sellina, nodding. “It is now considered just as bad in fashion to be too thin as too fat. Every one is scared of being highlighted as the magazine or label that promotes very thin girls, so they are being a lot more careful about the images they present.”

“Ah, so this is where MIST can step in,” says Urbani, as he shakes his fist for dramatic effect. “As you know, Cosmo Polish is jittery about these things. I talked to their editor, Madame Tussard, and she tells me the situation is critical for the magazine. There have been cases where models are booked way ahead of a photo shoot and then they turn up two months later looking less healthy and perhaps a bit underweight. Readers of Polish do not want to see hip bones and ribs in the magazine, though, at one time, it was considered state-of-the-mart fashion. Girls today, even very young ones, are being bombarded with the message that they need to be super-skinny to be considered good-looking. Now Madame Tussard is petrified at the idea of showing them that way—so it is here that we can step in with our magic and make the model—look a little less skinny.”

“How do we do that, Boss?” says Vito, who is never the quickest in the corporate race to comprehension.

“Welcome to the world of image manipulation, as designed by MIST. A software package that is all set to revolutionize the way people look.”

“I have a question, Boss,” says Sellina, raising her hand. “No doubt altering bodies with digital technology to appear fuller-figured proves that the fashion industry acknowledges there is a serious issue with projecting images of very thin models. But would it not be better for Madame Tussard to hire naturally healthy models in the first place, instead of having to make them look that way?”

“Whose side are you on, Sellina?” says Urbani gruffly. “We are in the business of giving our fashion industry clients what they want. They cannot just ask all those battalions of skinny models to go away, can they? This presents a whole new problem for editors. Everyone has a story of a celebrity cover slimmed by artificial means. So many editors have been quietly ordering the retouching of slender model shots to make them look, well, a little fatter. The show must go on.”

“Of course, Boss,” says Sellina, hastily beating a retreat. “The show must go on.”

“Good, so we agree. My main point is that if we are to show the world in all its unblemished glory to consumers, it would be doing them a disservice—consumers cannot take too much of reality, it appears—nor should we have just one view of the world. At MIST, we subscribe to the vision of building a better model of the world, and if you want a better model of the world, you need to manipulate it with multiple fields of knowledge. You cannot let consumers be guided only by fashion gurus and not health experts. Psychologists and eating-disorder experts are worried about one thing. They say that fashion gurus have gone too far in promoting an unnaturally thin image that women, and even very young girls, may try to copy. Have you spent time with fashion people? They are ruthless. All they want is money. What do they care about skinny or fat models?”

“I am not sure that health experts would agree with the manipulation of images,” mutters Sellina, to herself.

“There is the story of the blind men and the elephant,” continues Urbani, enthused by his own sudden eloquence. “Several blind people touch different parts of an elephant and make up their mental model of the animal based on their limited view. Afterwards they disagree fervently on what the animal looks like.”

“Nice story, Boss. What does it mean?” says Vito, scratching his head.

“It means that you cannot model something based on only knowledge of a part of the whole. And if you do, your model is highly likely to be wrong ... right, Boss?” says Sellina, brightly.

“That’s it,” says Urbani, smiling expansively.

“Well, Boss, what’s the advantage of our package?” says Vito, ever focused on moving to the sales pitch.

“I call it the ‘Magic Of Retouching Everything’ or MORE,” says Urbani, sounding like a soap-box orator. “It will give the art of computer faking a new-born respectability. Just imagine how grateful the health experts will be when they begin to see the results of our products in magazines like Cosmo Polish. If people decide that thin is out, the fashion industry will not have thin models anymore—all of them will be airbrushed to look plump and healthy, at least in the pictures we will help manipulate.”

“How did all this ideal of skinny models start, Boss?” says Vito, busy scribbling on his pad.

“Well, if you ask Madame Tussard, she will tell you that clothes look better on thin people. The fabric hangs better because they are literally on walking hangers—these models are anomalies of nature—they are not average. They are naturally thin and have incredibly long legs compared to the rest of their body. Their eyes are wide set apart. Their cheekbones are high. But now, with MORE, we can change all that completely.”

“How is our product an improvement over other manipulation packages?” says Sellina.

“Ah, here we provide superior services,” says Urbani, glibly. “We will be giving MORE away free to anyone who wishes to change images of reality. They are free to run the program, for any purpose—change the way they look, place themselves in any environment, or even sprout wings, if they like.”

“Isn’t that dangerous, Boss?” says Vito, frowning. “I mean what if someone was to believe that I have wings after looking at my altered picture?”

“Ah, well, my boy, this is the 21st century, remember? Photography lost its innocence many years ago. Even in the mid-nineteenth century, images were already being manipulated. Before computers, photo manipulation was done by retouching with ink, double-exposure, dodging, piecing photos or negatives together in the darkroom or scratching Polaroids. With high-resolution digital cameras, powerful PCs and our new sophisticated software, the manipulation of digital images is a gift we offer to the world already going the same way.”

“And MORE will allow people to reach new heights of faking, and do the job much faster, Boss?” says Sellina.

“Right, Sellina. And to start with, we have a mission to get a message across to all those desperate girls who want to be like the ‘size zero’ models they see on the ramps. So pack up your notebooks and march … the show must go on!”