Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to I've heard of "demonizing" conservatives...

Oh, jeez...
Mary Anne — (archived)

Not nice, definitely not sportsmanlike, but a Cover Girl job compared to the Uncle Tom "touch-up" linked to farther down the piece.

The difference is that Condi's, um, enhancement is more subtle, while the "simple Sambo" picture was adjusted with a trowel. (Sorry, Tom, I'm too embarrassed to link to it, but I bet a Google search for "simple sambo" would find it.) The subtle work is, I think, more insidious, because it can act on people's emotions in ways they don't notice if they're unaware.

Opinion: Enhancement tools are here to stay. We will continue to see enhanced photos as a form of art. It will continue in advertizing where it started, and is now in both entertainment and political commentary. I see nothing wrong with that as long as enhanced photos are clearly labelled as such, and are treated like other imaginative visual works, caricatures and political cartoons. Enhancers can be as crude and offensive as they want -- free speech being what it is -- as it will only reflect back on the creators, as long as they note that the images they publish are not true images. When subtle enhancements are presented as true images, however, they manipulate public opinion and can rightly be considered a form of yellow journalism or even fraud and defamation. Having a sense of humor doesn't figure into this.

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