Soooo, I also recently caught a few episodes of Jessica Simpson’s “Price of Beauty” – I have to be honest I really didn’t like Jessica Simpson before. I saw her as very plasticky and fake, and what made it worse was I saw her perform who will save your soul” with the lovely Jewel and it was HORRIBLE!!!!! “Watch it on youtube here. So after those bad impressions, I really placed her in my mind as a fake hollywood pop barbie… BUT, wait hold on….I am not writing this to try and bash her, or be negative for no reason, I am saying this only because after I saw her reality show “Price of Beauty” it changed my perception of her. I saw another side to her, and it was waaaay better then the Jessica she portrays herself to be as a entertainer in hollywood.
The show has some moments that were very heartfelt, and I could tell I had been wrong about her. And without all that glitz and glamour, and seeing her dressed in more down to earth clothes, I began to see she had some beauty that I couldn’t see before. Not to mention she did make me laugh, freaking out about those spiders and bat in Africa. I was enjoying seeing all these different parts of the world, showcasing the beauty of all woman, all races, all walks of life. I myself LOVE all kinds of beauty and appreciate seeing all the culture. I wish would they spend even more time on the country and really exploring this concept of what is beautiful to humanity, even going further into why it is this way – the traditions that these beliefs came from. Regardless, she was nothing like the Jessica she portrays in Hollywood, all glimmered and dolled up, looking excessively pampered, and always ready for red carpet, wearing designer label fashion over glammed, which to me looks like barf! Given the context of the entire world – how can materialism EVER be beautiful??? In my opinion, it can’t…it just looks like selfishness and heartless…and that’s not pretty. Down to earth will always be more beautiful to me because it shows more of a connection with Life, love, heart, soul, God.
So with the concept of the “Price of Beauty” fresh on my mind, I was browsing hulu and saw this episodes called the “Beauty and The Beast” from a reality show called “If I can Dream”. And it got me thinking, if beauty always comes at a price, what price do we pay for our dreams to become a reality? As I watched this gorgeous aspiring fashion model, Giglianne, laying with a snake draped over her, I couldn’t help but think of Eve and The serpent. Even though I am not Christian, I am a connoisseur of interpreting symbolism. Be it in my dreams, poetry, political, religious, I feel like symbolism can be very universal. Once you take a closer look like the theory of the mono-myth and even carl jung’s work….images speak to us. And if you’ve ever read the bible or the cosmic serpent, seen harry potter, or even had a dream of your own, you’ll remember how Snakes or the Serpent are a common symbol of evil. Cold blooded, split tonged…speaking both lie/truth. Not good.
As I watched this beautiful girl lay with this large snake that kept trying to make eye connection with her, which I found even more creepy because it was like it really wanted to connect with her, I started thinking of how symbolic this imagery was…and that the producers on some level saw this symbolism too, and in turn named the episode “Beauty and The Beast”.
The Beast, the serpent, the snake, the devil, darkness…selling your soul…so many names, so many symbols conveying the same message…evil. And the as so many stories convey, the hero must choose temptation or not – to be good or to not be good…that is the question. This is why I wondered, at what price is “Beauty” – meaning anyone with soul- paying to see their dreams become a reality in a world based on conditions?
In Jessica Simpsons show she shares the price women “pay” to be beautiful and attractive to men…some painful, some pleasurable, but when it gets down to it….all are cultural conditions, which if the individual doesn’t want to be this way – it would feel like a compromise to them. I am really curious what other people think….Do people pay a price for their dreams to come true? Do they have to compromise themselves in order to see success faster? Or is the symbolism of evil, the symbolism of Eve and the Snake, the beauty and the beast, all made up? What about you…have you ever been asked to compromise anything for your dream? Symbolically speaking, did Eve (The woman) compromise or give up too much for her curiosity of experiencing the dream of duality as being real?
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