Make a mental note not to censor Adele in any way. When the Grammy-winning musician tried to snap a photo with a fan during a performance at her “Weekends with Adele” engagement in Las Vegas, she caught them off guard, but she also appeared surprised by a filter on the phone. In a Nov. 27 TikTok video, Adele was seen moving through the crowd and leaned in to grin with one fan in particular before realising her changed appearance. She cried, “Oh my God, what have you done to my face?” before stepping back. Get that filter off my face, lady, woah!
Despite her first response, Adele nevertheless hesitantly approached the fan, asking, “What’s your name, why are you using filters like that,” and politely adding, “We don’t look like that dear.” She then gently pushed the fan’s hair back and asked about their fondest childhood memory. The fan, Jamy G, captioned the video, “Just Adele walking up to me unexpectedly and making me forget my whole entire existence.”
According to 2020 data from the Dove Self-Esteem Project, while this specific filter may have surprised Adele, 80% of girls reported having downloaded one or utilised an app to alter how they looked in images by the time they were 13 years old. The Newport Institute points to studies showing that people who often use filters on social media also express higher levels of unhappiness with themselves as evidence that these filters are bad for our mental health in the long term. This is primarily because filters may distort how we see ourselves, frequently encouraging erroneous and unreachable Eurocentric aesthetic ideals. Adele’s statement has some genuine truth, and this may be the cue we all required to begin transitioning to a #nofilter way of life. View the complete video below.
