James Villa– By Michal Elizabeth Smith –
Culture is continuously manipulating us into believing only musicians that are attractive can be successful. Society requires artists to measure up to a certain standard of “looks”, and if the benchmark is not met, they are thrown to the side. We are all guilty of scrolling through music websites, overlooking an artist or band because we do not like the way they look. Talented musicians are being bypassed each day, and it’s time we put a stop to it.
Advances in technology are doing wonders for our world; however, they are also skewing our vision. Men and women are harming their bodies because Photoshop is telling them they are inadequate. Our view of what “beauty” is has vastly changed over time in the most tragic way. Talented men and women are wrongfully judged each day and are not given the chance to show what they are capable of.
NBC’s television competition, The Voice prides itself in picking talent based on vocal performance alone; however, once chosen, the network dresses them in clothes the artist’s could probably never afford and paints each face to be “camera ready”. The ultimate goal of any televised voice competition is still the “image”.
Prior to cameras, society listened to music with little care as to what the artist looked like as long as he or she was talented. Let us not neglect artists based on their image because it’s not a fair assessment. Deserving artists are wrongfully neglected day after day and it is time to cease and desist. Instead of forming preconceived ideas based on a picture, listen to their music.
Tim Schumann
