As an aesthete, I thoroughly enjoy this yearly extravaganza. The beautiful clothes and faces of the many talented people are always captivating. Perhaps because of increased awareness of skin and aging, the influences of heavy makeup, botox, fillers and plastic surgery were apparent. Angela Bassett is 60 and she had no visible wrinkles or signs of aging. She looked great, and I understand the inclination and work-related necessity to erase time and appear beautiful. At times I couldn’t help but vacillate between images of damaging chemicals being slathered on the skin, injected in the skin and the often robotic visual effects in the midst of the engaging program.

In an exterior-oriented society, maintaining physical beauty is a conundrum.