"Now, in 2003, virtually every celebrity image you see-in the magazines, in the videos, and sometimes even in the movies-has been digitally modified. Virtually every image. Let that sink in. Don’t just let your mind passively receive it. Confront its implications. This is not just a matter of deception-boring old stuff, which ads have traded in from their beginnings. This is perceptual pedagogy, How to Interpret Your Body 101. These images are teaching us how to see. Filtered, smoothed, polished, softened, sharpened, re-arranged. And passing. Digital creations, visual cyborgs, teaching us what to expect from flesh and blood. Training our perception in what's a defect and what is normal. Are we sophisticated enough to know the images are not “real”? Does it matter? There are no disclaimers on the ads: “Warning: This body is generated by a computer. Don’t expect your thighs to look this way.” Would it matter to Ann if there were? Who cares about reality when beauty, love, acceptance beckon? Does sophistication have anything to do with it?"