Social media real Vs fake

18 Apr 2023 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:00

In this YouTube monologue, Eric Roberts shares a personal story from his youth about obsessively wanting visible abs and a constantly "jacked" appearance. He recounts looking in the mirror, feeling inadequate unless he flexed, and believing that the flawless, muscular bodies he saw on Instagram influencers and bodybuilders were the everyday norm. Roberts later realized that such physiques are not natural—they are the result of steroids, oil, perfect lighting, strategic posing, and Photoshop. He uses his experience to warn viewers that social media, magazine covers, and movies often present heavily edited, staged images that do not reflect real life, emphasizing that no one looks that way all the time.

Chapters

When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was have abs. And when I would look in the mirror and I didn't see them unless I flexed, I thought to myself, what the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I just have ripped abs all day long? Or when I would walk past the mirror and God forbid I looked at my arm, I was like, what is wrong with me? Why does my arm not look jacked unless I flex it? And it wasn't only until later in life that I realized, oh yeah, because that's not fucking normal. Yet every Instagram influencer or bodybuilder that I followed during that time, that's all I ever saw. I thought people People look like that 24/7 all year round. So when, God forbid, I just looked like a normal human being who wasn't on steroids, oiled up, perfect lighting, perfect posing, I thought there was something wrong with me. How fucked up is that? So this is your friendly reminder: not everything you see on social media or magazine covers or movies is real life. It's often Photoshopped, perfect lighting, tanning, posing, and no one looks like that all year round, every second of every day.