New ABC TV show, "True beauty"

Last night Tammy and I watched the 1st episode of the new reality show on ABC, "True beauty."  I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's worthwhile to watch at least one episode.

The irony is, of course, that Hollywood has influenced our culture perhaps more so than any other sources into buying into the lie that real beauty is all/only physical...

The show has a great point to make, that real beauty, "true" beauty, is not only the outward appearance. They are judging "contestants" on the outward looks, but the show's judges are also judging the person on the inside.  The point the producers are making, as amazing as this sounds, is that real beauty is more than skin deep.  

The show is funny, because the people who are the contestants are being told they are competing for a slot in People magazine's 100 most beautiful people...  The contestants have no idea that part of the process is, they are on "spy cam" all of the time, and the judges are watching them.  One example, the contestants were sent to Beverly Hills to an expert in beauty who would rate them on a scientific scale of real beauty.  While each contestant waited in the doctor's office, the medical files of all the other players were in plain view... so the judges secretly watched to see if the competitors would look at the others' files...  Watching them from the spy cam was rather funny.

I think there's a great Biblical principle being raised, even through a Hollywood produced reality TV show.  Who we are on the inside is at least as valuable as our appearances.  We know from Scripture, the inward person is what counts.  I Sam 16:7, "But the Lord said to Samuel,  “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, c but the Lord looks on the heart.”  

And I Pet 3:4, "but let your adorning be  the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."

It is pretty amazing to me that Hollywood can even surface the question of what makes a person truly beautiful, and handle it in a halfway decent manor.   I have no clue how the show will progress, or turn out, but I enjoyed the discussion the show raises for a culture enamored by physical perfection... 

Peace,

Craig