Are These Stars for Real? (Not at All -- They've Been Airbrushed!)

by Jason Rowan — May 19th 2009 at 11:50PM

In the Golden Era of Hollywood, re-touching photographic stills of movie stars was the standard. The layers of illusion that the studio machine wrapped around the already striking actors was impressive; makeup, ingenious lighting, and delicate, highly sophisticated airbrushing were applied by teams of trained experts. The image you saw of Joan Crawford was unquestionably removed from what the woman would look like without makeup or manipulation. But the limits of the technology -- and the skill and intelligence of the artisans who produced the final images -- kept the bounds of physical reality within check; the stars, while greatly idealized, still looked like themselves.

In the digital age, all that has changed. The explosion of outlets for celebrity imagery (ads, music videos, television commercials and magazine covers) have created a much larger market for retouching, and the digital retouching program Photoshop has met this need (albeit with frequently calamitous results). The ever-increasing celebrity frenzy and fixation on looks promoted by magazines like US Weekly and The Star and sites like Pink is The New Blog have driven standards into a strange, otherworldly zone. The preponderance of plastic surgery, truly heroic dieting and physical training, and overzealous Photoshopping have created a new generation of idealized and, in some cases, not-quite-human images of celebs. While plastic surgery requires some degree of serious contemplation by even the most hardened Botox-junkie, to have your Photoshopper remove every last trace of individuality from your appearance you need only say the word.

Here are just a few of the more notable -- if not notorious -- digital facsimiles.

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Tags: celebrity, features, photoshop, photoshopped, top

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

marshall said 10:30AM on 6-26-2009

Ive used Adobe and correl photo shop they are good but way to complicated, Right now I use Microsoft digital image standard. It does everything I need and is very easy to use. Of course in their infinite wisdom Microsoft no longer makes or sells this product. Oh well back to the drawing board.

johnny b said 1:13PM on 6-26-2009

yeah Adobe is really a great software

johnny b said 1:22PM on 6-26-2009

I JUST WANTED ALL TO NO HOW (AOL) SCREWED ME OVER CHARGING ME WITH A $600.00 PHONE BILL ON (THE 30 AOL DAY FREE TRIAL) AND PROMISED ME 3 TIMES THE (REP) TOLD ME I WOULD NOT BE CHARGED ANY LOCAL OR LONG DISTANCE CHARGES NOW I WILL LOSE MY PHONE MY ONLINE AND (MY LIFE) WITH MY HEALTH PROBLEMS PLUS HEART PROBLEMS THATS NOT GOING TO BE GOOD. I LIVE WAY BACK IN THE COUNTRY THATS BAD ENOUGH SO AGAIN WHEN I LOSE MY PHONE AND IF I HAVE A HEART ATTACK MY FAMILY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CALL (911) THANKS (AOL) YOU GUYS MIGHT AS WELL (KILL ME) CAUSE THATS WHAT YOUR DOING IAM DISABLED AND GET A $600.00 SOCIAL SERCUITY CHECK EACH MONTH I CANT AFFORD TO PAY THIS BILL SO AGAIN (AOL) YOU ALL HOLD MY LIFE IN YOUR HANDS I THINK ITS (MURDER) BUT THATS ME THANK YOU & HAVE A NICE DAY P.S. THINK PEOPLE BEFORE YOU USE THE (AOL) 30 FREE TRIAL IT ALSO HAPPENED TO 5 OTHER PEOPLE THAT I NO OF IN MY COUNTY. OF MS. OH WELL ITS ( JUST MY LIFE) I GUESS THATS NOT GOING TO MATTER TO A BIG COMPANY LIKE (AOL)...

Sue said 5:02PM on 6-26-2009

911 is free and everyone knows long distance calls cost money--whether it's AOL or not. jeez. I gotta bridge to sell ya, too. Can't blame AOL for your personal problems, dude . . . regardless of how gullible you admit to being. That can occur whether you live in the country or in a city.

this4missmaia said 7:20PM on 6-26-2009

If you got charged long distance its because you chose a location ( on dial up) that was long distance ( for your phone plan) Its not aols fault.( not to be rude or anything) However, you are right, the rep should have explained to you how that all works. You should call the company and explain what happened, and call your phone company, because if you do have health issues you can keep your phone line. Its called lifeline Look into it.

shirlmay1942 said 3:38PM on 6-26-2009

Johnnyb,

I am sorry to hear abut your problems& Hope it will get worked out. I have been with AOL for about 13 years,& ave never had a problem. Before I was married & couldn't ay my bill I would try & cancel,they always worked with me & would give me a couple of free months free Maybe you didn't hear everything that was said. we have AOL through Quest and had longdistance on our house phone. It asn't free. My husband was told it was. But it wasn't. so we canceled the long distance. maybe that what you should do.
Talk with them & see if they can help. We use a cell phone for long gistance

I feel for you& your family

stingray427 said 3:45PM on 6-26-2009

Johnny B; Get "Safelink" for free!

johnny said 7:37PM on 6-26-2009

thanks stingray i'll try that

mhansen524 said 12:13AM on 6-27-2009

You should contact your local charities to see if any hardship programs may assit, also ask to speak to a supervisor of aol, these calls are recorded these days and if a rep told you that you would not be held responsible and they pulled the tapes of your phone conversations, they would have to honor the agreement made by there representative or deal with the consumer protection or attorney general for failure to follow through with their agreement. Good luck and my prayers are with you, I am in a similar situation of sorts and know with this type of problems and the economy, you reach your wits end and enough is enough. I also am on disability so what is small to one is huge to others. Good luck I hope things work out for you.

johnny said 7:44PM on 6-26-2009

WOW Sue your a Genius now tell me HOW do you dial (911) when your phone service is going to be TURNED OFF? Hello you might not better sell that bridge just YET!!!!

johnny said 7:56PM on 6-26-2009

SURE I PICKED MY location AND YA LONG DISTANCE COST'S DUH! WHEN WHEN (AOL) SWITCH'S ACCESS NUMBER'S ON YOU THEN YOU GET CHARGED I HAD ACCESS #S THAT DIDNT CHARGE UNTILL AOL SAID THEY CHANGED THEMMM THATS WHERE THE $600.00 BILL CAME IN AND THOSE OF YOU OUT THERE THAT HAVE (AOL) JUST THINK OF YOUR SELF AS LUCKEYYYY. IT HAPPENED TO 5 THATS 5 MORE PEOPLE THAT I NO OF THE SAME WAY YES THIS4MISS IT WAS (AOL)'S FAULT! YOU JUST DONT NO THE WHOLE STORY GOOD DAY! LOL

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'Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

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Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.

Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.

Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.

Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.

HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.

HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.

HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.

GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.

Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.

Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.

Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.

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