356: Authentic Beauty

According to Walter Benjamin, authenticity of the aura or time and place cannot be reproduced. The reading also mentions how authentic beauty is considered that even after someone has had plastic surgery. This then goes into the argument that authentic beauty is produced and not give. I found this interesting because when I think of authenticity I think of something in a natural or original form. Such as ancient landmarks or something representing something such as culture. The image of the Authentic American given in the book can't be applied to everyone in America. Who's to say what authentic beauty really is? If we can consider authentic beauty as something that has been changed, say through plastic surgery, would that make them more authentic now? It doesn't really make sense because of what authentic means. If you change something authentic, wouldn't that be a reproduction, which according to Benjamin can't be done?