Unless you’re Paul Rudd or Halle Berry (read: blessed with a good set of genes or perhaps have access to tasteful plastic surgery) you’re bound to see the effects of aging on your face.
The quest to set back the clock, and look youthful is an aptly old tale. But as much as we fight the course of time, either through lotions, potions, or by fruitlessly swapping blood with your 17-year-old son, wrinkles tend to come one way or another. Aging is usually a slow or incremental process, but TikTok's aged filter is giving us an eerie preview.
The now viral filter adds wrinkles and even jowls to create an older version of the user’s face. Some dermatologists, who to be sure have some skin in the game (literally and figuratively), claim the filter to be a largely realistic representation of how our face changes over time.
The filter has taken off, with almost 11 million videos under it currently—even Kylie Jenner has joined in on the fun. As with most TikTok fads, viewers are divided by their reactions, as people share their shock or delight at the A.I. transformation. And unlike some trends (like bottles exploding after being thrown down the stairs), there’s potentially a deeper meaning behind our responses to this filter.
https://www.tiktok.com/@caseydnnlly/video/7253554754284948782
The reactions to the aged filter can be partitioned off into a three categories. One group is simply shocked or jokingly horrified at how “bad” they look, another takes the more whimsical approach smiling with the filter, regarding their wrinkles, usually with a Hallmarkey comment like “aging is a gift” while a gentle guitar strums in the background. Finally, a portion of people take the more proactive or resistent approach, claiming that they won’t let this aging occur either through wearing more sunscreen or getting botox. Naturally, each group thinks the other is wrong.
“Images like these are powerful,” Joanna Grover, a licensed clinical social worker and author of The Choice Point, tells Fortune, these images “move us emotionally and are more likely to lead to a shift in our behavior or our desire for something.”
The image exposes our inner anxieties. Growing old is a common fear (despite being natural part of the life cycle), a Pfizer survey from 2014 found that 87% of Americans report at least one fear regarding aging, with the most worried about the loss of physical ability. But as we get older, we start to feel less upset by the promise of getting older, as a separate survey conducted by Forbes Health found that 53% of respondents weren’t afraid of aging and became less fearful as they got older. It’s worth noting that most of the people reacting to TikTok viral videos present as younger, and the app skews to a younger audience.