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Todd Sampson: “I try not to judge”

From Body Hack to body image and all its unrealistic ideals, Mirror Mirror host tries not to judge his subjects.

“I try not to judge,” insists Todd Sampson.

“I see myself as one of them, so who am I to cast an eye downwards? With Tara, because it is so extreme, it’s often hard to hold back your judgment.”

In his two-part documentary Mirror Mirror, Sampson has filmed some of his most emotional scenes across his filmmaking so far.

Exploring body-image dissatisfaction and how it is used against us in the name of profit, an issue he openly concedes purporting during a 15 year advertising career.

The specials, largely divided into problem / solution narratives, begin in extreme territory with an interview with ‘real-life Barbie’, Tara Jayne, who has spent thousands on cosmetic surgery in pursuit of a distinct aesthetic.

“I know everyone judges straight away”

“I know everyone judges straight away, but she was a beautiful person and struggling on her journey. One of the conclusions of the film is, we all suffer from body image issues. We’re on a spectrum and some are further down that spectrum than others. But no one is immune: male, female, transgender doesn’t matter.

“I tried to treat her with care and objectivity.

“The series is an exploration of the societal crisis of body image dissatisfaction: why, how it happens to us, and what we can do about it. It is seen through the eyes of those living it, often at the extremes. I’d like to think it also has a lot of practical things that we can do. It talks about how we live in this media, television, advertising, social media built matrix, and our kids are deep in. The idea of the show is to shine a light on that, with diverse voices.”

Sampson maintains that the Beauty Ideal is unattainable because it’s a manufactured illusion designed to create discontent. Social media is also a big part of the problem with Australians spending and average of 6 hours 13 minutes per day on the internet.

He acknowledges that giving media coverage to some of the subjects was also a consideration, especially those drawn to the spotlight.

“I had a huge cry”

“Of course it is. A lot of the show is about mental illness. We start with the deep end of the story and then that story unfolds, both male female with body dysmorphia, and someone getting diagnosed on screen. I had a huge cry. It was one of the more emotional moments I’ve ever filmed. A young man, in his early 20s, being diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Dsorder, depression, and anxiety, at a level of which therapists had never really seen before.

“We spend a lot of time I’m in the second episode on what we can do about it. In the first, we spent a long time setting up the situation that we’re all in.”

“We need to show it for what it is”

Cameras are also witness to confront scenes of cosmetic surgery, and Sampson makes no apology for graphic vision -but maintains Botched and Dr. Pimple Popper are more extreme.

“For many people, surgeries are advertised in a very sanitised and often mythologised way. You hear about a facelift, a bbl (Brazilian butt lift), liposuction, but you rarely ever see them.

“We need to show it for what it is, and take away some of that mythology, colour and glam that goes with the idea of a facelift, and show it for what it is.

“Even if you go on one of those medical holidays, you still go through this.

“I know some people will be closing their eyes”

“I know some people will be closing their eyes, because there’s a little bit of blood. And we tried to handle that as gracefully as we could. But we still wanted to show the reality of what these words mean. If someone says they’re getting facelift or thinking about getting liposuction, pause for a moment!

“A lot of people see these things through a lens that has been created by advertising… we just want to pull the mask off for a few minutes.”

He even had an eye-opening, first-hand account of what really goes on with an OnlyFans model.

“I’m watching full on porn!” he explains. “Holy hell, OnlyFans is porn!

“The average age a kid in Australia gets exposed to pornography and sexualised images, is 8 to 10 year olds. They do it by accident. They’re online, they (surf) and bam, right in the middle of a porn scene.

“A lot of parents are not paying attention to Only Fans. But the kids are all over it.”

Mirror Mirror also represents Sampson’s first production under his own company Baltimore Films. Having previously fronted projects for other production companies, he says 10 were supportive of him telling his own stories.

“I’m damn stoked I did it, because it was freeing”

“I think it’s my 12th year of being on television. I have people that I know, people that are willing to help and people that I can take advice from. So I used all my resources. I’m damn stoked I did it, because it was freeing. It’s very different when it’s all down to you and your production company. I got to hire the diversity that I wanted, because the show required diverse minds. That all worked out, because I had no one to blame except for myself,” he continues.

“10 were encouraging me to do it. They’re incredibly supportive. This show is extraordinary that it’s going on at 7:30. It’s extraordinary, firstly, that a commercial network has the courage to make a show which, in many ways is looking at an industry that they’re involved in.

“For me, it’s essential viewing for the generation that we’re in.”

Mirror Mirror airs 7:30pm Wednesday & Thursday on 10.

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