When the Mirror Lies: Fanon’s Guide to Reclaiming the Black Body in Media

In the age of Instagram filters, TikTok trends, and generative AI, what we see as beautiful isn’t just preference—it’s programming. And for the Black body, that programming is still built on rejection.

Fanon warned us: the colonized mind often internalizes the colonizer’s gaze. In 2025, that gaze lives in image recognition tools, beauty algorithms, and digital editing software.

The Algorithmic Assault on Identity

From lightening skin to reshaping features, popular filters have one consistent trait: they whiten. They soften. They blur away history, rage, and rootedness.

It’s not accidental. It’s aesthetic assimilation—and it conditions us to see ourselves as “better” when we’re less ourselves.

Runways, Reels, and Representation Illusions

Even as diversity marketing increases, so do the contradictions: Black models are spotlighted, but only if they match Eurocentric standards. The “strong Black woman” is celebrated, but only if she doesn’t cry. The “cool Black guy” is accepted, but only if he’s silent, sexy, and unpolitical.

This isn’t representation. It’s reduction. And it makes the mirror lie to both the viewer and the viewed.

Try This: The AI Media Audit

• Run a face detection tool on your selfies. How does it label your expression vs. white faces?
• Use generative AI to create “professional” images. Who gets the suits? Who gets the hoodies?
• Ask GPT or image bots to visualize “beauty” or “trustworthiness.” What skin tone dominates?

These aren’t design flaws. They’re algorithmic legacies of colonial categories.

The Fanon Approach: Reprogram the Mirror

Fanon believed that reclaiming the body was a political act. In media, this means producing truth-centered visuals, challenging representation quotas, and designing prompts that don’t repeat oppression.

AI can’t liberate us—but we can train it to stop reinforcing the lie. That starts by decolonizing the mirror, the platform, and the prompt itself.