A new documentary film, “America the Beautiful,” asks the question that none of the fashion faithful (yes, I’m talking about me, too) are particularly happy to answer. Are we obsessed with beauty? The answer is yes, but the real question is what are the residual effects of this obsession. As a fashion editor in the mid-West, I do wonder about how often to feature a plus-sized model or how skinny is OK? I fret about diversity of images including ethnicity and size. And to be honest, thin often wins. And pretty always wins, even though model good looks by definition are a small percentage of the population.

So should I be concerned about featuring unattractive models?

And while I ponder that, I’ve got to come to terms with the fact that I’m part of “the media” this film will refer to as examples of who is corrupting our youth.

A teenager featured in the film explains matter-of-factly that, “Plastic surgery is a woman’s best friend.” Great. Now, I’ve got that on my conscious. The documentary goes on to show that photo shop technology in glamor magazines is so advanced that even the models on the covers don’t look as good as their published visage. So it raises the beauty bar by displaying a virtually unattainable level of perfection that many young girls believe is attainable.

The movie casts a glaring eye on a society where high school students receive boob jobs for graduation and reality television shows glorify plastic surgery.

Filmmaker Darryl Roberts has already won awards on the festival circuit with this documentary, which opens in New York City in August and across the country thereafter. Let’s hope the Tivoli is on the route.

To see a preview of the film, visit www.americathebeautifuldoc.com.