So I’ve seen the video in full now. I have a few thoughts. I’ll spare the obvious ones (WHY DID HE REMOVE HIS MOLES GOD??!!!). I had seen a few videos from this guy before. And my main question is: what’s the point?! His main series is called “defining beauty”, but he never says- https://twitter.com/kyiosprmanager/status/1289390080738471937
-what that entails. What’s the use of defining beauty (in a very biased way contrary to what the dry, clinical video-essay presentation wants you to believe)? At the end of the AD video, he mentions fine art. I’m an art student myself, and I found this weird. Yes, we DO learn-
canons in art school. We do learn rules of thirds, fifths, symmetry, some ratios... But 1) We understand that these canons are not set in stone and represent a certain ideal tied to a specific time and space (here modern western ideals). There’s this underlying europeocentrism-
-in this dude’s videos that cannot be ignored. Yes, even if he cites scientific papers. Scientists can be and ARE prone to racism (consciously or not). 2) These canons also usually represent guidelines in forms of proportions A MAJORITY of people have. Some sort of average.-
-I won’t even comment on the ableism of ignoring that. But this is why a lot of us joke that canon faces are ugly. They’re so average they don’t look “right”, because ultimately, what makes a face human is its unique features. Which is why it’s funny to see this guy argue that-
-AD, who’s ultimately more “conventionally” (read-Hollywood-ly) attractive than some might think (I actually agree with that), is considered handsom because of the “attractive” features of his face. Most people don’t think he’s hot because of the angle of his jaw.-
-They actually like his nose. They like his profile. They love his moles (still salty about this one)... The video wants you to think people think he’s hot IN SPITE of that. A 3 sec look at the comment section proves him wrong. When you design a character, you’re discouraged-
-making them “conventionally attractive”. Great character designs have defining features, accentuate some things, play with proportions, with symmetry. So once again I ask, what’s the point of these videos? The comments are riddled with people who judge everyone based on shallow-
-appearances. Especially themselves. Young (I assume) boys mostly, going straight into the incel hell-hole, if they’re not already there. Insecure women. I shudder at the idea of nb/trans folx finding these vids. They offer nothing but damage. If you wanna learn to draw human-
-faces/bodies, pick up an art book. Any dimwit can tell you most people like symmetry. All the other details are useless, dated weaponized evolutionary biology which uses evolutionary characteristics when it’s convenient (as in, follows western, white standards),-
-and wishfully ignores them when it’s not. Just because this guy doesn’t outright say “so and so are uggos yuck” doesn’t mean he’s not harmful. The videos are full of subtle, but weaponized language.-
-Saying that a leaner under jaw (paraphrasing) can be achieved through “effort and surgery” is ableist, fatphobic, ageist and creates an unconscious link between “effort” and “surgery”. If you’re not getting surgery, you’re not making effort.-
-In my language, there’s an expression: “you must suffer to be beautiful”. “Beautiful” with a feminine form in this case, which also tells a lot about how beauty’s regarded as an overarching goal for AFAB people. But I digress. This expression and what it entails needs to die.-
-Videos like these are its enablers. That’s it. That’s my rant.
PS: Adam Driver’s SO hot everyone eye...
But this thread isn’t just to dEfEnD aDaM of course, and even though I ramble a lot, I hope it’s evident my issues are deeper than that.
