Man, Madonna looks old here...

These recently released outtake photos from Madonna's Hard Candy album that I first saw on Dlisted (go to Candy-Store.org for more) has me thinking about how photo retouching is pretty much ruining everything. Unaltered, these images show that Madonna is not the superhuman she usually appears to be. Yeah, yeah, we all know this in theory; but it's such an awesome relief to see that as buff as she is, she still has hip flab hanging out when she wears a thong. And there's such a newness and excitement to seeing Madonna actually look like a real person; a real person in ridiculous looking clothes.

While the age-appropriateness of her outfits was suspect for sure, the verdict is in after the unaltered images came out. Yeah, maybe she is getting a little too old for this crap.

While I can appreciate the genius behind retouching as described in this article from the New Yorker, I can't help but be thoroughly annoyed by it. I just don't get its necessity. American Apparel does just fine making girls look way hot and real at the same time. Maybe we can all learn from Australia: they require magazines to label airbrushing, a result of the "National Media and Industry Code of Conduct on Body Image." Or better yet, why don't we just lay off on the airbrushing? What better way to stand out from the pack?

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: how can I make fun of Madonna's old-age pictures while arguing for the end to airbrushing? Well here's the thing, as flawed as this pics are, I think they're a million times more interesting and stunning than airbrushed ones. I just think her wardrobe needs a revamp. I mean, she is Madonna.