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The Greek Way in Hollywood Style

© Anne Paxton

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is displaying a new exhibit by fashion designers who were inspired by Greek fashions of the goddesses. The exhibit inhabits the dresses of many Hollywood leading actresses including Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez. The exhibit itself, not surprisingly, has been named, "Goddess." This struck a strange chord in me; the Greeks believed in an idealistic world where people and objects were seen as they should be and not as they really were. Hollywood practices the same beliefs with the illusion of glamour and fame. Yet this idealism has created two very different reactions from the Greeks and by people (mostly women) of today.

Greek idealism was an effort for people to improve themselves to strive harder, to do better. This was the only life they had, why shouldn't they strive for the best? In our society today that same idealism exists, but with many negative reactions and beliefs. Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez represent the idealistic woman of today. They are worshiped in the same way the goddesses of Greece were worshipped for their perfection. However, this "goddess worship" is fueled more by women who feel inadequate and unsure of themselves, so they look to others who seem perfect for the answers. This "perfection" is an illusion. Kidman and Lopez are still human beings, and though they may take a pretty picture, these two actresses have the same chemical makeup that every human has. The Hollywood style does everything it can to make people feel that these actresses are not flesh and blood but perfect statures. Ironically, Greek statues do not represent actual people, but how the artist believed they would look at their best. Even the "Greek inspired" dresses are an illusion of Greek style. The one-shouldered, asymmetrical gowns often depicted on Greek statues of women are a sign by the artist that the statue is a goddess not a normal Greek woman. Women of Greece wore clothing more in the fashion of what Muslim women wear today, completely covered from head to toe.

While the Greek way of life encouraged humans to strive for their best, Hollywood standards seem meant to create anxiety and inadequacy to the general public. It is such a strange combination that the dresses the stars wear represent the idealism of a perfect Greek society and the women who wear them are the representation of what the perfect woman should supposedly be.

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