All the pretty faces

Well, I’ll get right to the point and ask my question: Why are the people pictured on the dust jackets of Christian books or in magazine advertisements for Christians products, organizations, or institutes for higher learning always so...good-looking?

Seriously, why picture only the elite of appearance?

What is being sold – a product, or an image? Are the advertisers subtly equating the value of the product with the supposed value of the beautiful appearance of the people pictured in the ad? Are they selling “romance”? “Read this book and dream you are gorgeous, with fab hair and an awesome life!” “Attend _____ college and (never mind our great programs) meet this hunk, or this amazing chick!” “Buy ____ insurance and make your life secure like this perfect-looking family!”

You could say I’m jealous; my looks certainly don’t qualify me for a commercial photo shoot. Not that I actually care to be pictured on a dust jacket or an ad for Christian health insurance (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But by using only really nice-looking people in supposedly Christian ads, these organizations are, in an auxiliary way, courting the flesh and hawking worldly appeal. They are provoking vanity and pride, not to mention all sorts of lusts.

Is this really what the kingdom of God is about?


Addendum: Internet Monk writes a post illustrating the broader context of my complaint in American Idolatry: The Good Life