HDTV is Changing the Definition of Hot

Clive Thompson discovers an interesting New York Times article about the changing face of beauty. Apparently the medium is the message, and HDTV will not only impact Hollywood casting, but also related fields like plastic surgery:

Eve Arnold, one of Monroe’s favourite photographers, saw the actress’s principal asset as her “translucent, white, luminous” skin. “Her skin was pneumatic,” Ms. Arnold once explained, “one could almost touch it on screen. Cinéasts refer to this phenomenon as ‘Flesh Impact.’ “

If today’s preference for oversize features is due, at least in part, to the smallness and graininess of digital images, this is now likely to change. Wide-screen high-definition television could offset today’s fondness for the over emphatic.

Over at OnHD.tv, there’s an amusing list of who looks better or worse in high-def. For example, Cameron Diaz’s skin is apparently riddled with pockmarks, which are much more visible in high-def.