The Unjust Mirror

Dorian Gray kept his face perfect and hid the cost in a locked room. In each of these four stills he stands beside a modern influencer doing the same thing: selling a flawless look to the world while the truth hangs behind a purple curtain.

“For it was an unjust mirror, this mirror of his soul that he was looking at.” Oscar Wilde, 1891 text, Ch. XX

Split scene in one room. On the left, young Dorian Gray holds an oil lamp in front of his rotting, blood-stained portrait. On the right, an influencer in a pink robe holds up a serum labelled Botox in a Bottle beside a ring light, while a gilt frame behind her shows her having injections.

No. 1

Two Masks

“His beauty had been to him but a mask.”Ch. XX

Sold: Botox in a bottle
Hidden: Botox injections

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On the left, Dorian with perfect lips before his portrait, whose mouth is shrivelled and twisted. On the right, an influencer pouts and holds up a Lip Plump serum, while the frame behind her shows lip filler being injected into her swollen, bruised lips.

No. 2

The Curves of Your Lips

“The curves of your lips rewrite history.”Ch. XX

Sold: Lip plumping serum
Hidden: Lip filler

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On the left, Dorian in shirtsleeves before a portrait of a wasted, stooped body. On the right, a muscular fitness influencer holds a tub of whey and a scoop of creatine, while the frame behind him shows the same man at a bathroom mirror injecting steroids into his shoulder, his back covered in acne.

No. 3

The Burden of His Days

“…prayed that the portrait should bear the burden of his days.”Ch. XX

Sold: Whey and creatine
Hidden: Anabolic steroids

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On the left, Dorian before a skeletal, hollow-cheeked portrait. On the right, a lean dark-haired influencer holds up a tablet showing his Shred diet guide, while the frame behind him shows the same man in a bathroom injecting an Ozempic pen into his stomach.

No. 4

To Act a Part

“…that passion to act a part that sometimes makes us do things finer than we are ourselves.”Ch. XX

Sold: Workout plans and diet guides
Hidden: Ozempic

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