Seeing yourself on TV is traumatic

OMG...I just saw myself on television (was interviewed for a new initiative at my job..)... Um...AHHHH! I am a fairly decent looking person, but between looking at my lips move weirdly and my eyes darting and my hair looking thin (AND I DON'T HAVE THIN HAIR), I am ready to hang from a noose. Have you ever seen yourself on film and been like, WTF?

• Hell, I am an actor and STILL cringe. I think it is a normal reaction. The only thing that helps is to see yourself ENOUGH on TV that you get used to the hideousness! lol. Most people aren't ON TV regularly, though, so it can be quite traumatic.

• Now you can see why actors don't like to see their own films.

• Is it the same principle with a camera? I look much older in pictures than I do in the mirror. I don't know why.

• I never even look in the mirror. Too vain.

• Someone told me it's because we see ourselves mostly in reflections in a mirror. We only see ourselves as others see us in photos or on TV/film. Since everyone is slightly assymetrical, it's kind of shocking when you view the mirror image of what you are used to seeing as yourself.

• Yes, I've seen myself on TV; three times in the last year. Traumatic is exactly the word to describe it, although I'm slowly getting used to it. Essentially, I tell myself that, even though the mirror has been consistently lying to me my whole life, it can't be all that bad, since I got laid and made friends on a regular basis. It's just about coming to terms with what you really look like. And it's a great motivator to diet and work out. Carb face for days, let me tell you.

• R6 are u an actor?

• No, r7. I'll only say this: 'round-the-clock entertainment and news coverage, plus an avalanche of reality television shows, means a lot more people who would otherwise go un-noticed get the opportunity to make TV appearances.

• OP, Harsh lighting makes people look far worse. That was probably the case when you were interviewed on TV. Professionals in the industry know that proper makeup with shading, even on men, and the correct lighting enhances features. Some of us who have more light put in our face even look decades younger and better. When you're interviewed on TV, as I have been many times, most are listening to WHAT you have to say. Focus on being comfortable and open on camera; your positive energy will come across.

• I had to videotape a presentation for a college class. I cringed while watching it.

• R7 & R8 is Andy Cohen!

• I was wondering who people would decide I was, r11. I wish I had half of Andy's money, but I'm not him. I'm not even what anyone could rightly call famous. Not even semi-famous.

  Which%20means%20I%27m%20not%20Brad%20Goreski%2C%20either.

• Based on your thread title alone, OP, I can factually report that Robert George Kardashian is not your father.

  Maury%20Povich

• I can't stand the sound of my recorded voice. It's so far off from what I hear in my head when I'm talking.

• I used to have to train people to appear on TV for a PR firm. We'd go over the tape afterwards and since we didn't have professional lighting (just a chair and a couch and a camera light) people would be shocked at their appearance. Professional TV appearances usually involve hair, make-up, lighting, and camera filters, but if you're on the thin side and have good bone structure, the camera will probably love you.

• That sounds like interesting work R15

• I had some students film me for the Day of Silence last year, and I thought I looked OK. Maybe some of you just think you look much better than you really do. I know that I'm no 10, but I'm fine with that. Are you?

• Oh, yes. Not for anything that was seen publicly, but I had similar reactions. When I was in grad school (clinical psych), we had to tape therapy sessions for our practica faculty to review. Fortunately, the tapes were mostly of the back of my head, but for those brief 30 secs. leading people into and out of session I got to see myself. I wouldn't say it was "traumatic," but certainly cringeworthy. I was most distressed about my posture. I'm thin and I've been told I have good bone structure, but the tapes weren't very forgiving. Over time, the cringing ceased. Probably because I made such an effort to stand up straight.

• I look relatively average in real life, but I look completly horrible when my picture is taken,(I look rather 'special' and moon faced) even when the photo is taken by friends who are professional photographers, But the several times I've been on TV I looked much better than I (think I) do in real life.

• Another agreement here that yes, it is somewhat traumatic. I once did a brief cable news interview regarding a website I worked for at the time and had to turn the clip off in the first ten seconds, I was so horrified. I never thought I took great pictures either but I didn't even look half as good as I do in pictures. IRL I'm considered pretty conventionally attractive (yes, by OTHERS, not me), and many people who saw the clip and have never seen me in any other context (strangers I only knew through the site) said I was good looking, but I wasn't convinced. I was also very struck by how nasally my voice sounded (I'm Midwestern by origin and I know we're known for that, but I never thought I sounded like I had a severe head cold until then). Anyway, most people who saw the clip sucked up to me and said it was great, but one particularly honest uncle of mine said something along the lines of "I was really surprised to see how much a TV camera can distort someone's face." My mom chastised him for being rude, but really, that comment made me feel much better anyone's sugary compliments.

• i hate having my photo taken. i see myself as having a normal face but in pictures i get lantern jaw.. literally 2/3 of the face is my chin the rest is forehead and beady eyes... not cool

• I photograph beautifully. NOW. Somehow, some way, as I aged (in my early 50's), the bone structure and "redistribution of skin," shall we say, made me very camera friendly. In PICTURES I look like a star. But, lord amercy, on film? Could I just have a key light and filters all around me for the rest of my days? Aging can be a real bitch. Time is a thief and gravity a vandal. Thank god I am a character actor. lol

• I've never understood why people always asked if I was Jewish until I saw myself on TV. My face is all nose and my eyes are too far back in my skull.

• Sorry, OP, but I don't understand the question. Namaste.

  Gwynnie the Pooh