I just recently watched an episode of the Twilight zone that I'd not seen in some years. It is one of the more famous episodes, and considers our notions of beauty. Particularly, the episode conveys the notion that physical beauty is in the eye of the beholder - that it is subjective.
But the episode - and I did not pick up on this when I was younger - is not simply a statement about the subjectivity of physical attractiveness.
This episode of the twilight zone powerfully conveys the idea that our concept of beauty is ENTIRELY a social construct. And not merely that, it is a social construct designed to impose conformity on the populace, to drown out divergence, to crush individuality and personal - as opposed to collective - purpose.
I post the episode here (from Yahoo video). Watch carefully and note how the social ideal of beauty is part of a broader effort on part of those in power to mold people into the "normal" state of conformity:
