The internet was filled with debates after a before-after GIF of Jennifer Lawrence’s June 2011 Flare magazine cover surfaced.
The GIF starts off with an untouched photo of J-Law, and the second frame moves into the actual magazine cover. The original photo and the magazine cover are in fact very different from each other. Jennifer’s cheekbones are noticeably higher, her facial features are slimmer, and so are her hips. You’ll also notice that her cleavage looks more pronounced compared to the original shot.
J-Law has yet to comment on the old magazine cover, but after her Miss Dior campaign shots were released to the public, the Oscar-winning actress said, “That doesn’t look like me at all”.
In a conversation with Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, Lawrence criticized the media’s obsession with unrealistic beauty standards. “The world has this idea that if you don’t look like an airbrushed perfect model. You have to see past it. You look how you look, you have to be comfortable. What are you going to do? Be hungry every single day to make other people happy? That’s just dumb,” she said.
A writer for Huffington Post, Karl Gude, who is also a former magazine designer at Newsweek, was approached by a magazine editor who defended the practice of retouching photos of women to make them look thinner.
Here’s what the anonymous editor had to say:
Sorry, as a magazine editor, I know what it’s like to flip through dozens of shots to find the right one. And, do you know what gets my email gong? “That shot, her lipstick is smudged. Her shirt is wrinkled.”
To “highlight” a glamour/fashion shot for a magazine cover is pretty common practice. We’ll correct color as much as we can.
Usually, the subject is quite happy that we correct.
If you want to know what Lawrence thinks of the photo, ask her. Don’t be lazy and insult intelligence of your readers by writing “and my guess is…” That’s the sign of a rank amateur.
As well, if you are going to use an old quote from Lawrence in your story, you should note that she agreed to do the cover of Flare, which is, ahem, a FASHION magazine.
And if the writer (Aker) is so outraged, why wouldn’t she have the courage to call the editors of Flare and at least seek comment for her piece? No, it’s sensational and plays to lowest common denominator to package some fabricated outrage.
When you shoot a celebrity for a cover of a mag, it’s a painstaking process. Your photographer and art director work for find the right set and a shoot can last the better part of a day. A big magazine (and mine doesn’t) won’t just grab a wire image and Photoshop it.
So, Lawrence took the time to be photographed for a cover feature in a FASHION magazine. Yet Aker decides it’s the medium that’s worthy of scorn, not the subject for making the decision to pose for a major fashion publication.
In a recent interview with Barbara Walters, J-Law expressed that it should illegal for people to called fat. “I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV. I mean, if we’re regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words because of the effect it has on our younger generation, why aren’t we regulating things like calling people fat?,” she commented.
The Hunger Games actress seems to be an advocate for the positive body image movement, and we can’t help but to love her for it.
Do you agree with the magazine editor? How will this help the impressionable youths of today to be more comfortable in their own skin?
