Body Image Depicted In Plato's 'The Republic'

In Plato’s “The Republic” he explores the idea that artists are known as wizards because they create representations of models of things that they do not understand. For instance, a painter will depict an image of a house, but he does not have the knowledge or skill that is required to build a house. Plato believes that God creates a form of the house, the carpenter uses the form to build the house, and the artist merely represents it. When the artist produces the image, he is only concerned with the appearance and does not acquire the knowledge of the functionality of the object. The artist becomes a wizard because he deceives others into believing that he has the same understanding on how the object is created and how it works. A person viewing …show more content…
Not only are these media outlets reconditioning the human mind to accept easy formulaic patterns, but they also portray characters and advertisements that conform to the ideal body image. Adorno warns in “The Cultural Industry Reconsidered” that art is only produced to be commodified and therefore the people used in the arts are what society accepts and beautiful because that is what is interesting and appealing to many. For instance, the American public would rather watch Deadpool, a superhero movie starring Ryan Reynolds than a complicated film about an old, washed-up actor trying to receive the recognition he deserves on Broadway such as the movie Birdman. Society is drawn to Deadpool since the movie follows the simple and standard action plot that is expected and because Ryan Reynolds is deemed attractive by society. It is more difficult for people to watch Birdman because of the requirement of engaging with the film to comprehend, but also the fact that Michael Keaton is older and not as good-looking. The actors casted for certain roles are determined by their attractiveness because society enjoys watching people who conform to the ideal body image and are repulsed by others who do not follow this standard. The media and advertisers have deceived and mislead society into believe that they know exactly what beautiful means and have persuaded people to follow unhealthy habits to strive for the false “perfection” for fear of being

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