Nick Scarfo
4/8/18
English 110-C
Professor Emerson
What is Beauty?
If someone were to ask a group of people “what is the definition of beauty?” you would think each person would have a different answer. However, society today is infatuated with the skinny models with the perfect faces and unrealistic figures. Men and women are obsessed with becoming those photoshopped people you see plastered on billboards in cities and highways all over the world. That obsession is causing people to stray away from the real beauties of the world. Something you find truly beautiful should give you a unique feeling that leaves you captivated. In today’s world, people should have more access to beauty, however the media is manipulating people and causing them to unconsciously stray to and favor certain forms instead of immediately getting a sense of gratification from the unique beauties the world has to offer. Individuals conform to the beauties that are thrown at them. This is bad for both individuals and society as a whole, because it can lead to everyone having similar opinions of beauty and be less comfortable not conforming with those beauties. In order for society to improve, people need to learn to appreciate the unique beauties and by doing that, it will allow people to find a harmony that will cause people to see the world and each other differently.
It is impossible to pinpoint what is considered beautiful, because every person enjoys different things. Somebody who loves cars would be in awe of an antique car they see at a car show. A baseball fan would be mystified by the sight of the Green Monster at Fenway Park or the iconic ivy that lines the walls of Wrigley Field. If you aren’t a fan of baseball, or aren’t invested in the game, you won’t get that feeling baseball
lovers get. In an article titled “La Bella Vita” written by philosopher John Armstrong, He goes more in depth about the feeling of beauty, and how each individual has different views of beauty and he states, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” (Armstrong 1). Nobody can tell you
what is beautiful, only that person can decide what gives them that harmonious feeling. That brings up the question, how come society can decide what is beautiful and what isn’t? There has to be a reason as to why people are drawn to the people and products displayed on billboards, or advertised in commercials. John Armstrong’s explains this in his article where he quotes
German artist Friedrich Schiller, who believes that humans have a sense drive and a form drive.
These two psychological forces, according to Schiller, serve two different purposes, “the ‘sense’ drive which lives in the moment and seeks immediate gratification. It craves contact and possession. It can be coarse, as when one yearns to swig great draughts of beer; but it can also be elevated” (Armstrong 3). This is the drive that gives immediate gratification to the person who witnesses something they believe is beautiful. The sense drive would kick in for a diehard Red Sox fan who settled into his seat by Pesky’s Pole, ready to watch his team to clobber the Yankees. However, in order to achieve the full feeling of beauty, the form drive must also play a role, “the ‘form’ drive: the inner demand for coherence over time, for abstract understanding and rational order. This drive, thought Schiller, seeks to leave behind the peculiarities of one’s own experience and discover universal principles” (Armstrong 3). This drive is fueled by the idea of a process behind something. That same fan would use their form drive watching a replay of a home run hit by Mookie Betts. The fan would appreciate how Mookie anticipated the pitch and delivered the perfect swing to send the ball to the bleachers. The sense and form drive together create the harmony mentioned by Armstrong. By not incorporating both of those drives, the person is missing out on the harmony that something truly beautiful should give someone. By having the sense drive take over, the person will be too caught up in the final product and will only notice the beauty that they see in front of them, like the beautiful ballpark they are at. If the form drive takes over, the fan will feel the opposite way, by getting too into the game and over analyzing everything, and forget to have fun and enjoy the full experience of being at the ballpark. The two drives working harmoniously will result in an unforgettable experience watching your favorite team play baseball in a beautiful ball park.
Armstrong believes that society has a tough time as a whole finding that harmonious balance between the sense and form drives,
“What was missing, he argued in both cases, was a full, harmonious humanity, and he thought it would stay missing – both in the leaders and the people. And he came to the unnerving – but perhaps correct – conviction that ambitious social reform would always be frustrated until a much larger number of people had reached a higher level of inner development of the sort enabled by beauty” (Armstrong, 12).
I agree with this statement by Armstrong, because I believe that society is overwhelmed by the form drive. There are so many issues going on in the world today, and society is too focused on finding immediate solutions to those issues. I’m not saying finding solutions to big issues in the world isn’t important. Rather, people should step back and appreciate the beauties that the world has to offer. There is so much beauty in the world that isn’t being appreciated by people who are too focused on other things, or it’s being destroyed by society.
One way society can be brought back to balance is by appreciating art more. I mentioned in the last writing prompt that art is severely undervalued. Art has many benefits that people don’t notice. Those benefits are mentioned in “What is Art For?” a short video by The Book of Life. In the video the first benefit of art is that it keeps people hopeful,
“We need pretty things close to us, not because we’re in danger of forgetting the bad stuff, but because terrible problems way so heavily on us. That we’re in danger of slipping into despair and depression. That’s why prettiness matters. It’s an emblem of hope, which is an achievement. Prettiness, those flowers and blue skies and kids in meadows is hope bottled and preserved waiting for us, when we need it” (The Book of Life).
Those models on the billboards aren’t the correct emblems of hope that the video talked about. They are a symbol of false hope, because society believes that people can realistically look like those models. Look at the picture above. Why can’t the woman be advertised the way she actually looks? By putting actual people or real artwork on billboards and advertisements will break the conformity that is going on in society today, because each advertisement will look different and appeal to different people, like differentgenres of music.
My friend
Jacob used his Let’s Talk About Art project to focus on rap music. Rap music is a form of art that is widely criticized due to it’s obscene nature. However, rap is a form of art that can bring people hope, and can unite the two drives mentioned earlier, “Rap, like many other forms of art uses juxtaposition in order to create a link between the emotional and logical aspects of human connection using lyrics.” Many rappers come from troubled areas, the areas that takeover headlines due to racism, shootings, etc. Those rappers use their experiences to create lyrics to describe the hardships that came with growing up in those areas. Rap is beautiful because the lyrics are from the heart and it can inspire people to go make a change or rise up and be successful from nothing, like the popular rappers.
Once society can find that harmony that is brought on by true beauty, individuals and the world as a whole will improve. Those unique beauties, like baseball, and rap music are just a few examples of things that can harmonize individuals. It’s time for society to delete those fake images of models and replace them with real people and backgrounds that are truly beautiful.
Work Cited
- The Book of Life, director. What Is Art For? What Is Art For?, The Book of Life, 21 Apr. 2018, www.thebookoflife.org/what-is-art-for/.
- Warren, Rossalyn. “We Spoke To A Woman Who Was Photoshopped To Appear Skinnier By A Stranger.” BuzzFeed, 15 Aug. 2015, www.buzzfeed.com/rossalynwarren/women-are-being-photoshopped-by-strangers-online-to-appear-s?utm_term=.uuwEyx0EO.
- MLB, director. NYY@BOS: Betts Rips a Two-Run Homer over the Monster. YouTube, YouTube, 31 Aug. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWk3hLHTJzY.
- Gijs. “Rap Is More than Words.” 8tracks, 14 June 2014, 8tracks.com/gijs/rap-is-more-than-words.
- Ferguson, Ryan. “The Green Monster Has Lost Its Magic.” Yawkey Way Report, 24 Apr. 2015, yawkeywayreport.com/green-monster-lost-magic/.
- Ballparks of Baseball. “Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs Ballpark – Ballparks of Baseball.” Ballparks of Baseball – Your Guide to Major League Baseball Stadiums, 2017, www.ballparksofbaseball.com/ballparks/wrigley-field/.
