In his documentary film “why beauty matters” English philosopher Roger Scruton introduces the idea of beauty is disappearing from our world. The philosopher implies, that Art has become ugly, as well as our physical surroundings, manners, language, and music. Nowadays, the main aim of art is to disturb and break moral taboos. It has now lost its initial duty and is used to show solely the ugliness of our world, instead of taking what is most painful in the human condition and redeeming it in the work of beauty. What according to Scruton is the main purpose of art. The narrator claims, that beauty is essential to give us a purpose of life. It has the ability to transform our surroundings, and get us to a higher spiritual level. He explores …show more content…
The philosopher talks about how we look at the dead body or someone we love. Like they aren 't supposed to be a part of this world, the same goes with beauty, beauty is a visitor from another world. The world of higher spiritual being. It is not to be used or exploited but to be observed and contemplated. Art shouldn’t be be used to satisfy our appetites. the appetites of the consumer society that we have built. The society which has no use for beauty because it isn’t useful, this change affect our whole culture diminishing beauty from it forever. Our surroundings have become ugly because the only thing considered while building is personal gin and usefulness of the construction, there is no longer place for large golden fountains, curvy ornaments and mesmerizing green gardens. Instead we have grafiti and poster covered walls made by people trying to make some profit “vote for me” the poster says. Me, my campaign, my profit, that 's all there 's left. Phrases like “this world is a mess” “we’ll all die in the end” dominate the walls in the streets we’ve come to know so well. The question is wheres beauty? Scruton has one answer for this lost and destroyed by our society always tempted by appetite and the thirst for personal gain. There is no longer any place for something sacred or spiritual. However, based on the narrators arguments those aren’t the only reasons for the loss of beauty. The documentary demonstrates that
The author also describes how much appearance is important to us. In what point of time did we allow our society to tell us what is and is not beautiful. People worried about what others would say or losing friends because their teeth are not perfect or they are not skinny enough. Your appearance should not take away from the person you are on the inside. We entrust dentist and plastic surgeons to cause pain to our bodies to meet societies expectations of beauty and spend thousands in the
His unique perspective on the world allows him to see beauty in things that others might overlook, like the gentle snowfall or the
Instead, it is because “‘[she] think[s] he’s one of the nicest-looking men.’” This exemplifies the lack of knowledge and improvement within this society. Conformity and obedience to the government forces suppression of intellectual traits and instead encourages the expression of vain and superficial actions. In other words, the repression of creativity and originality has led to a monotonous society where trivial and
Intro: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional short story “The Birthmark” and The Twilight Zone’s darkly romantic episode “Eye of the Beholder” both use gothic elements and delve into the realm of science to explore concepts of beauty and perfection. Through their contrasting characterizations of the scientist and employments of irony and allusions, each work comes to its own conclusions about how to define and treat beauty. Body #1: The Birthmark From the very first paragraph, Hawthorne’s story revolves around Aylmer, a scientist who supposedly gives up his career to marry the beautiful woman of his dreams, Georgiana.
First, he must love a body. Then he must realize that beauty is a characteristics of all bodies, and love bodies in general, and then move on to loving the souls/ the minds. But he must not love a specific mind, rather a set of patterns that exist in many minds, which should lead him to love beautiful pursuit and laws. He must then love sciences and philosophy, and finally, beauty itself. If he gets there, he could then use the environment to “give birth to and cherish true virtue“(212A), and “if it is possible for any human being, to become immortal as well“(212A).
In the essay What Meets the Eye, Daniel Akst argues that look or beauty does matter in the daily life, that is, people’s life can be largely influenced or even controlled by look. Through reading Akst’s essay, I completely understand how people have different perspectives of others, as many people pay attention to and worry about how they look in the daily life. And people tend to judge others by their beauty or looks to a large extent. Akst’s ideas quite conform to and reinforce Paglia’s points that pursuing and maximizing one’s attractiveness and beauty is a justifiable aim in any society, and that good surgery discovers reveals personality. Both of them hold the idea that beauty plays an important role in people’s life and it is significant to enhance one’s beauty and attractiveness.
Not Just a Bowl Beauty is one of the main foci in society today where selfies, beauty enhancement or plastic surgery, celebrities, and the media reign over society—constantly defining what people should aim for in terms of appearance. Appearances are everything to many people rather than inner beauty such as character and values. In turn, this beauty-obsessed world has led to people becoming more shallow, superficial, and unaccepting towards anything besides the “norm.” It is quite ironic to have a “norm” considering how each individual is different and live in different cultures and such. People are not meant to be or look the same neither should they adhere to a certain standard in which someone else has established.
The beauty that is everywhere around these people will never be seen due to this denial. Another example of this is at the end of the film, Lester reflects on his life and says, “You don’t understand what I’m saying I’m sure, but you will one day.” This is in reference to the beauty Lester has experience in the last moments in his life. Lesters character has completely advanced from a busy body totally involved in work, to someone that has experienced true beauty in the world. In this statement he tells how everyone will one day see the true beauty in the world, it just takes time to see it all.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but society decides that (Kong “Plastic Surgery and Lookism in South Korea”). By creating a “utopian society” where beauty is not recognized, Chiang explores how beauty affects the world. For example, when Tamera removes her calliagnosia, she does not instantly feel beautiful yet. It takes her a while to familiarize herself since she’s truly never been able to appreciate beauty before (Chiang 246). Once Tamera figures out she is beautiful, she tries to win back her ex, Garrett, with her looks.
Natural Beauty is Perfection Itself In the short stories “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the value of science over human life is established. Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the characterization of beauty, emotion over love, versus intellect over science, and an exploration of creator over creation. He presents an idea about scientific research, especially regarding feminine beauty. These tales are told with a motive to give the audience a sympathetic understanding of women’s beauty; which is something precious and already the model of nature’s perfection.
Beauty is not one thing but many things that are determined by the varying opinions of the human race. “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self” is about Alice Walker’s life and how
In the core of Aestheticism, there lies the idea of appreciation of the beauty. This idea, values the art for its own sake, and believes that focusing on the beauty is more important than anything else. Oscar Wilde, being one of the represantatives of the the Aestheticism movement, reflects his understanding of the art and appreciation of the beauty in his novel called “The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891). When we look at the novel, we see that the character Dorian Gray has been influenced by a “ poisonous book” and that is the book which leads him to his tragic death. That book is, Joris Karl Huysmans’s Against Nature (1884), a book that values the aesthetic beauty and artificial sensations.
The elegant woman you watch walk in beauty, is as breathtaking as the starry night and entrances those who set foot in her sight. Where her love is innocent for her true soul mate. Where her mysterious eyes can portray the best and the worst of her and in the light, set upon people, her true self is shown. She Walks in Beauty also states, “The smiles that win, the tints that glow/ But tell of days in goodness spent.”
The way our societies view other cultures and spread the perceptions regarding them is an unfair practice. It causes discrimination and judgment to foster in the mind of the coming generations and they in turn spread these views even more and thus strengthen those perceptions. While I viewed culture as a part of one’s identity or genetics, I feel like I was rather apathetic to reality. Pride is a fault common in all human beings. We simply refuse to admit our mistakes when proven wrong.
The beauty myth refers to the ways women in society tend to take drastic measures in order to meet the standard and acceptance of the male power. Causing them to endure in costly cosmetic surgery and spending time, effort and money trying to seek the optimum beauty look for the male gaze. There are many elements that make up the beauty myth, as Wolf proves that the beauty myth is not shaped around women, however, the main factor that contributes to the beauty myth is the male authority and their values and customs. Shows some sort of male power and how the beauty myth indicates a loss of control towards the women’s physical and emotional power.