Beauty - More Than Skin Deep?

The English have sayings such as "do not judge a book by its cover" and "beauty is only skin deep," proverbs that reflect the complexity of Man and warn the naive against misplacing their trust in a wolf in sheep's clothing. Deceit aside, the moral behind such idiomatic expressions emphasises the need to look beyond the apparently obvious into the underlying essence; yes, first impressions make a significant impact, but character determines what happens in the long run.

Or does it not?

The idea of the corporation has greatly increased our wealth and thus made us 'happier' in the economic sense, but its conceptualisation also brought about another idea called marketing. Yes, to push sales the product must be marketed to create consumer demand and to do so it must be presented to the public and for this to be effective it has to appeal to public taste, yadda, yadda, yadda. In the end, the hype is not what the product is but how the product is presented. Perhaps using it makes you hip, perhaps using it makes you a class above the rest; a vicious cycle of hype built upon more hype.

And in the end we are also sucked into this vortex; first impressions are important, because that may be the only chance you have. We 'package' ourselves into stereotypical characters: the suave executive, the sporty hunk, the arty designer and life becomes one big masquerade.

And where does character fit in here? People always say character is important, more important than looks. One question then, what is true character? Character is also a packageable product. The rebuttal is wise: "time will tell", but by that time it may be too late.

Beauty is not skin deep, character is also an integral part of beauty. Book covers are not the sum total of the book itself, you have to read it to know it. But whether one can comprehend the contents, appreciate its essence and distinguish truth from false is another matter.

And please, do not apply marketing concepts on how to read a book properly.

DreamCatcher