It’s true, everywhere you look nowadays, people have done everything they can to stamp out ugliness by streamlining and perfecting things. And it’s awful.

I mean buildings are all square and grey because God forbid we have some arches or alcoves or anything to give it personality. Bridges are steel and plain, meant only to hold cars and be an eyesore. Benches, fences, shopfronts, houses, and more are all being swept up in this grey-boxification, and its awful. I mean, every new house that pops up around my neighbourhood looks something like these:

I wouldn’t say these are ugly necessarily, but there is so little character to them, they are grey boxes and little more.

But it doesn’t stop there! People have their own version of this trend, as more people want to have the perfect Instagram-face or body, tamping out any value in individuality as they all want to look the same. Surgeries and injections help, as does working out or eating special diets. But it’s the same for hairstyles and clothing, the same makeup looks and standards. The rise of ‘instagram face’ or ‘pillow face’ is part of this too. I really dislike the way we discuss women’s beauty trends on the whole, but there is something so devastating about women choosing to alter their appearance to achieve the ridiculous standards that have been imposed upon them.

It’s insidious to see how specific lifestyles are marketed as the only possible goal or ideal, and anything else is wrong or abnormal. I’m specifically thinking of the high-roller, high-value, alpha man or woman, with a high income and high standards and other highs to high on. Of course, the great capitalist lie is that we all just need to ‘work harder’ to reach these ‘heights’, but we know that this isn’t always the case.

Most of us won’t actually achieve such a ‘high life’ in this regard, but the fact is we can’t go through our lives and not work. Perhaps this dream is the only thing that motivates us to keep going even when it feels like everything sucks. So we conform to the lives that the higher classes have designed for us to feel satisfied enough while ultimately serving their ends.

If we’re all depressed in our steel and glass cities, we’ll turn to all the material things that might help us feel better about ourselves and our lives.

“Maybe if I buy a gym subscription and work out more, I’ll feel better about myself.”

“Maybe if my lips are fuller, I’ll find the perfect partner and feel happier.”

“Maybe if I get a better job, I can work from a better location and not travel so far.”

These are all decent enough goals, and they likely will help you live a better life. But that’s the point, you have to achieve it all through spending.

Let things be ‘imperfect’ again!

Now calm yourself down, I know that the moment I used the word ‘imperfect’ a bunch of you started to clutch your pearls and worry about your hair, but I do not use this word in a nasty or derogatory way. It is amazing how we have given this word such ferocious and horrible meaning nowadays. Truly, I think imperfect things are the exact things that make life beautiful, and not just because they heighten or contrast with beauty. In fact, imperfections are what make things beautiful!

For example, Canadian model Winnie Harlow is clearly an absolutely stunning woman, and this beauty is heightened by her vitiligo. It makes her look unique and different, and does not detract from her beauty at all.

Another example is actress Kat Graham, who is also a knockout, and who has an asymmetrical face in a world where symmetry is considered the most attractive.

You can also think of it in terms of taste. My sister and I have very different taste in jewellery, clothing, style and just about everything else. Many of the things that I love or find interesting and beautiful, she turns her nose up at for their strangeness. The things that she loves, I find plain. Is there a universal standard of imperfection or beauty with which we can measure or compare our tastes? Not at all, and thats part of what makes it so amazing.

Side note: it’s equally hilarious and sad how often people on Social Media will criticise things they don’t like, and expect everyone to agree with them. Then, of course they become shocked and upset when people don’t agree with them wholeheartedly. Perhaps one day we’ll reach a place where we can truly accept what it means to ‘agree to disagree’, but that is a whole other post… (Also a disclaimer for the no-nuance-net: Please remember that I am talking about likes and dislikes for fashion or books, not human rights!)

Anyway, this desire for imperfection has been fostered as I’ve recently been watching two television shows that were set in the late nineties and early ‘aughts.

The first of which, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) is iconic for so many reasons: the fashion, the jokes, the vampires, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and the campiness. Seeing how clothing styles and humour has changed over time is fascinating, sometimes for the better but mostly for the worse. Most of all, I have enjoyed seeing how natural everyone looks and feels. The characters are awkward and weird and not always perfect looking. I mean, after watching The Vampire Diaries, the vampires in Buffy are refreshingly horrifying.

This less-than-perfectness extends to the production too! I actually love seeing how special effects, camera shots, fight scenes and so on have changed so much. It’s a fun time capsule and I’ve really enjoyed watching it so far, even if the fight scenes can be a little janky. It’s still good fun, and I understand why it still has such a cult following.

Then, the other show I’ve been binge-watching is the Australian classic: Bondi Rescue (2006-). Now, if you haven’t seen this you are missing out big time. Essentially, it follows a team of lifeguards who patrol Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. They rescue thousands of swimmers each year, handle serious injuries, and have even had deaths, shark attacks, resuscitations, spinal injuries, thieves, fires, and more. Literally any crisis you can imagine, these guys have just about seen it all.

The show premiered in 2006, and these early seasons serve as a sort of time-capsule, showing what Australia looked like, year-in and year-out. It’s amazing to see the fashion styles, the jumps in technology, as well as the ways that the landscape, norms, and accents have changed. Watching it over the pandemic, it was hilarious to see them trying to track a brand new iPhone, or their excitement at getting a security camera, things that we take for granted nowadays. Not to mention, the super bulky, green-tinged cameras from the first season!

Most importantly, these shows don’t set out to be perfect either. Buffy was a fun commercial comedy-horror series where Buffy and her friends had to balance the epic dangers of paranormal activity while keeping up to date with homework. Bondi is literally filmed guerilla-style as lifeguards focus on saving lives and the camera crew desperately try to capture their work. It’s messy and interesting and that’s what makes it feel so much more real and engaging.

It’s refreshing in a sense, to watch these shows and feel a little less pressure about looking perfect. I wonder at times how or even if we will ever be able to return to that.

For all the connection that social media gives us, and the ability to see into people’s lives across the globe, there is also something so sinister about the constant need to look and act perfectly. Online bullying is nothing new, and though people seem to recognise that it exists and is vaguely bad, they are still quick to join in shaming and tearing down others. Then there’s virtue signalling, where people are constantly sharing their ‘morally correct’ opinions to win internet points or policing what others say too. It’s a shame that these spaces of connection have become so full of division, but alas.

It will certainly take time and a lot of humility for us to give up the illusion of control that pride gives us, but I hope that it will happen in my lifetime. I’d love to see more entertainment that doesn’t take itself so seriously, and which embraces more imperfection.

Until next time,

Chris