Has True Romance Disappeared in Consumer Society ? A Morinian and Baudrillardian Reflection of the Acute Crisis of Simulation
beauty ” ( 31 ). As Morin suggests in this passage , the embellished beauty of Hollywood actresses had already entered into the domain of the hyperreal as early as the 1950s . Lending support to his philosophical claims , Morin identifies Martine Carol and Juliette Gréco as two female stars whose new surgically enhanced faces only bare a vague resemblance to the ones that they inherited from birth ( 34 ).
For those who are wary of plastic surgery , the philosopher observes that a photographer or producer has many other options at his or her disposal , including the usage of different kinds of camera lenses , makeup , and lighting techniques . Illustrating how the star industry has long utilized various types of technology to distort the lucrative images that they sell to the public , Morin asserts , “ To all of the artifices of makeup and plastic surgery are added those of photography . The cameraman must always control the angles of his shots [ ... ] must always eliminate every infraction of beauty from his field of vision . Projectors redistribute light and shadow over the stars ’ faces according to the same ideal requirements ” ( 35 ). After reflecting upon how seductive images of feminine sexuality and romance that are not naturally occurring are generated , the philosopher explores the philosophical and social repercussions related to the proliferation of these manufactured simulacra representing an inauthentic ideal of beauty . Morin implies that this phenomenon is a real problem because actual flesh and blood women whose image has not been digitally enhanced cannot measure up to this unachievable goal . In her review of the existing literature devoted to this contentious subject , A . Poorani offers the following assessment : “ Many advertising scholars have offered cultural critiques of advertising . Some of the emergent themes in their works investigate the beauty myth . Wolf ( 1991 ) argued that portrayed images of beauty present im-
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