Beauty

(just reposting my comment on the original "beauty" post)

Every culture has its own idea of beauty. It's hard to say whether this is a good or bad thing; but I will say that it is undeniable. Who knows how these standards begin? True, there are many cultures whose idea of beauty may not seem valid to me, as a young American. Still, I think what we think of physical beauty can transcend many cultures, i.e. a beautiful man or woman would probably be considered so in many different countries. Maybe globalization has something to do with that. Now more than ever, we are in touch with the cultures of industrialized countries. Has what we consider beautiful been evolving more rapidly ever since technology has allowed us to interact with several different cultures and their ideas of beauty? 

I agree with the phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" but it seems like the "beholder" is really a collective of individuals. American culture says that a woman who does not shave under her arms is not beautiful. French culture does not necessarily put that stipulation on beauty. In this case, Americans are one of the "beholders" and the French are another.

Its interesting to look at the more studious aspect, i.e. women statistically being sexually attracted to square-jawed males. Maybe there is a standard of beauty that is rooted deeper than our cultural influences. Its hard to tell, really, since we are constantly being force-fed what is supposed to be beautiful anyway. I do know one thing for sure: even if we as humans are generally in agreement on what is beautiful, we put entirely too much emphasis on its importance.

"African Documentary"

When one hear the term "African documentary," it's easy to assume that the documentary in question simply has something to do with African culture, its economy, etc. Following that logic, this category would include documentaries made by non-Africans. In my opinion, this is incorrect. I'm not saying that only Africans should make documentaries about Africa; recently, the American-made documentary "Darfur Now" hit theatres with a some buzz (thanks in no small part to actors turned activists George Clooney and Don Cheadle). I haven't seen the film, but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that most of its subject matter has to do with people and events in Africa. This doesn't make it an "African documentary;" it's simply an American documentary about Africa. Another example I'll use to back my opinion up is Woody Allen. He's one of our great contemporary American film makers (in my humble opinion) and most of his films take place in his hometown of New York. His last three films, however, take place entirely in Europe. I think it would be a little absurd to call his latest projects "European films" simply because they take place there. So while I'm not discrediting documentaries about Africa that are not made by African filmmakers, African filmmakers are the only individuals who can make "African documentaries."