To Be Fake
“Oh, her? Yeah, she is so fake.”
Take a second to think… what does it mean to be fake?
Is it the woman you saw at the grocery store with the extensions or the woman who is two-faced, who bathes herself in drama?
Is it the man who wears Sperry’s even though he cannot afford a steak dinner or is it the man who smokes cigarettes in the garage when his family is asleep?
Do you use fake to describe someone’s internal self or their external self?
This women with breast implants has a veracious soul. Her friends seek her out for a shoulder to cry on, for she is always prepared with genuine words and a tissue box. She fosters animals and spends her free time trying to find them appropriate homes. But she has breast implants, so she was called “fake”.
Why does someone’s physical appearance result in them being described so adversely? To dye your hair blue because blue is your favorite color… what’s so fake about that?
A man’s crippling depression belies his gleaming Facebook photo with the caption “Living my best life.” Is that fake? Should he had captioned his photo: “Barely was able to get out of bed this morning. Going to ask my psychiatrist to move me from 10 mg to 20 mg.” I mean really, that is the most honest a person could be, but how would you respond? Would you call him an attention-seeker or manipulative freak? Would you rather him be fake instead? Please take a second to think about this.
Is that one family “fake” that attends your church every week, delivers harangues about kindness and selflessness, who speak Proverbs 14:31 to their fellow believers? “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.” However, this family drove past the ailing homeless man on the side of the road, criticizing him for being “lazy” which “must be true because he does not have a job!” First of all, that is a hasty generalization (which we were all taught to avoid in our elementary school language arts class). Who knows his real story? To not practice what one preaches… is that fake?
Is fake ever real? Before you click the red “x” to close this tab, allow me to explain my gibberish. What certain people refer to as “fake news” — is it actually calumny or merely information that will expose the unjust of a society? Are some things better left unsaid or would we reply to these wry details with “the truth hurts”?
Once again, I pose to you the question: is fake internal or external? Is one worse than the other?
Is wearing make-up wounding another person the same way having a dishonest character does? Next time you criticize another human being for their “fake” appearance, remember that people choosing to express themselves through physical traits does not injure the well-being of a community. It is those who speak despicably and have fraudulent actions that are truly fake. Vindicate the harmless people you went to school with back in the day that you continually put down for no apparent reason. You need to watch out for the “fake” who are in power and venerated by the public; be aware of those who represent our country, treat your illnesses, defend you in court, keep hold of your money, etc.
I can guarantee you that a spray tan is not the fake you should be fearful of.
