Kaleidoscope Eyes

National Geographic has always been my favorite magazine.

Ever since I was a kid, I would gaze over the images for hours (my mother collected them) and feel astonished at how much wonder and beauty this world holds that the majority of us never even get to experience. I remember many years ago, I saw an image on the cover of the magazine of a woman/child with striking haunting green eyes that looked like they had a story to tell, but that were fearful.



I was very young, but the image left an impression on me I never forgot. Well, now, some 20 years later, I saw the image again on the cover of National Geographic, for a Collector's edition, and felt inclined to purchase the magazine. Upon reading inside, I discovered that this image was taken of a frightened young woman in a refugee camp in Pakistan. The photo, upon release, incited curiousity, this image provokes questioning...and as a result, this woman's plight, or cause, was brought to light.

This is how media can be positive, and good, and can redeem itself. If we could stray away from the Star Magazines and the Cosmopolitans, Vogues, Allures, and look at how much inspiration comes from abroad, perhaps journalism could be restored to something virtuous and honorable.

A fund that National Geographic raised inspired by this woman's visual story raised over a million dollars. I hope that our current state of obsession with pulchritude is a phase, and that the rebellion, or antithesis of such will bring a resiliant passion for our fellow man that can redeem us and take us to a place as a society where we can improve the world, not dwell on the promiscuity of celebrities or other such trivialities.

The Ugly Business of Beauty

Even for the beautiful, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Before: A University of Arizona law student, who had won the title of Miss Pima County in 2005, was a supporter of S.H.A.R.P. (Students Helping and Reaching People), and the drama of her life involved doing a theatrical interpretation of the "Phenomenal Woman".





After:
In the most recent of a slew of beauty pageant gals gone awry, 25-year old Kumari Fulbright of Arizona kidnapped her ex-boyfriend with a few friends and tortured, robbed, and beat him for several hours, telling him she would kill him while holding a butcher knife in his ear. She was indicted along with the accomplices, yielding this mugshot:




Not so pretty after 10 hours of hooliganism. This story has been getting lots of attention on the internet, namely being run as top news stories on abcnews.com, aol.com, and yahoo.com, to name a few of the more viewed.

Another story that gained a lot of buzz at one time was the story of the peppered dress, when Miss Puerto Rico Ingrid Marie Rivera claimed that ruthless pageant sabateurs had put pepper spray in her evening gown, causing her to have an itchy allergic reaction. Then there were the test results that came out saying there were no traces of pepper spray on the dress, causing most people to think she was either delusional or opportunistic.




What didn't gain much press, and has been overshadowed by Fulbright, is the fact that the second forensic test proved that there were traces of pepper spray on her gown. Why haven't the media outlets put this up in their headlines with the same voracity they did the veiled allegations? Not as interesting I suppose.

It's disappointing to see that even the big boys work in absolutes, she was already painted as a victim, then as a bad character, can't do another 180... the fact is the truth isn't as valued as the scandal, and Fulbright will continue to soak up the sour limelight.