Supervenus: The Ugly Truth About Beauty
Updated: Jan 17
A few years ago, I attempted to move to New York City. I had received a $20,000 scholarship to an acting school, NYCDA, The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. I received the scholarship maybe a year or two prior but had decided to at least give it a shot at being accepted and potentially starting the two-year program. I wanted to share with you my entry essay about a visual, artwork, or motion picture that impacted me.
Introduction
"' This essay is about a visual art short film created by Frédéric Doazan called SuperVenus. It
went viral as it portrayed the horrors of following the beauty standards today and western ideals of feminism. When I first saw it online I was breath-taken by the amount of imagery that vividly displayed the message in such a short time to the viewers. It definitely had an immediate influence on my perspective of mass media, self-image, and purpose.
How Supervenus Influenced Me
I will start by saying I have always had a love for visual art. The use of imagery, movement,
and audio-visual effects can send a powerful message in a short amount of time similar to what this short film did across the internet. It changed my perspective of mass media by revealing what can happen to a person when they become fixated on popular trends in media. Every day we can read an article, watch a show, and even view ads about what’s the next best thing to purchase, or the perfect look to have for this season. The media specializes in having an influence the consumer’s buying habits, thus influencing women to even analyze their self-image and purchase plastic surgery procedures.
Seeing this Photoshopped woman go through so many physical changes has
influenced my self-image. What started off as maybe a few changes here and there soon turned the woman into a totally new person ending in a horrific pile of gore. It led me to question how I really felt about my own image. Did I like how I was made? If I could change something, what would I change? Wait, why would I change myself? It was a positive influence of reflection that also helped me reevaluate my purpose.
This short film influenced me by helping me reevaluate my purpose. I have a purpose that
stretches into the media industry and I couldn’t help but think about what kind of influence I want to have in my career. Either I will help impart negative information to the masses, or I will help bring a positive wave of information that challenges our decisions and perspectives. This horrific work of art brought a deep message to millions of people, hopefully, I can do the same.
To conclude this essay, I want to thank the creator of Supervenus, Frédéric Doazan, for
such a powerful piece of visual art. Personally, I deeply appreciate work that is realistic
and influential. This short video influenced my perspective of mass media, self-image
and my purpose. I cannot wait to see more work similar to his visual art. '"