The show’s literature speaks repeatedly of the resulting photographs’ ability to peel back the facades of our contemporary identities – especially female identities – as they are shaped by pop culture. But as I stood in front of one photo after another, looking at what are actually often clumsy images, I felt entirely unmoved, which a whole encyclopedia of academic exposition wouldn’t be able to remedy. And I suspect viewers were spending less time reflecting on our ugly culture than they were picking apart the ways in which Sherman altered herself to accomplish the look in each photo. Just like they’d pick apart evidence of plastic surgery on celebrities.