Julianne Moore On Why She Prefers Unfiltered Beauty

Julianne Moore is one of Hollywood’s most accomplished Oscar-winning actresses, building a resum? of challenging and acclaimed roles that is only getting more varied as she grows older in the most graceful way. From Still Alice to The Hunger Games, there is no part this woman can’t play to perfection. Off the big screen, she’s an advocate for the issues that mean the most to her – most recently gun control as detailed in one of the most powerful Lenny Letters to date – is a muse of Tom Ford and has sartorial prowess on the red carpet that has yet to be matched by any of her industry co-stars.

She’s hitting the headlines today for another worthy reason, for speaking out about her aversion’to heavily manipulated images and the impact this has on on younger generations. She may be on Instagram (she posts infrequently), but she’s not a fan of its infamous filters, saying she believes they can often send the wrong message to impressionable?women when it comes to beauty standards.”Beauty doesn’t have to be a superficial thing,” she told Refinery29. ?She points out that even her own kids are now all too aware that beauty perceptions can be manufactured and that as a result, it’s continually seen as superficial when it can also be equally empowering.

“What’s interesting about social media – and kids are learning this very early, too – is that these images are manufactured,” she said. “Kids go, ‘Oh I put a filter on it, oh I stand this way, oh I do that.’ So, in fact, there’s a deeper understanding that the images that we consume daily are manufactured, and they’re learning it because they’re able to manufacture their images.”

However, the actress points out that this isn’t all bad, she feels that the manipulation of images means people are more aware of what real beauty is, and it simply is in the eye of the beholder. “People know that the world has become much more aware of what real beauty is – this movement toward celebrating that is in advertising and everything.”

“Beauty is subjective, truly in the eye of the beholder, but we are drawn to what we find beautiful. Beauty has visual meaning, but there is also emotional meaning. What we find beautiful in life is generally something that we’re moved by and we care about deeply. Rather than saying it’s trivial and throwing beauty away, it’s important to broaden our understanding of what it is we find beautiful and why we find it beautiful.”

And for all the positives surrounding social media, Moore feels that when it’s used as an outlet, young women can often misunderstand the emotional bearing their words have when they comment on someone’s appearance online. “I think unfortunately when we’re young we are more apt to judge and tend to be less tolerant. I believe that we’re seeing that reflected in social media because people have this voice. I honestly believe that some of those same individuals who are doing this stuff will get a little bit older and go like, ‘I can’t believe I said that’.?I sometimes think it’s a reflection of youth and immaturity, and just beginning to hear your voice and not understanding how powerful it is.”

Wise words from one of the greatest working women in the industry at the moment. Julianne Moore for president, anyone?

Via Refinery29?