Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

What Hollywood would do to me

Forget the Pampered Chef parties; the newest rage is Botox parties, where models, socialites and Hollywood stars have their facial muscles paralyzed with Botulinum Toxin — yes, the very substance weapons inspectors are trying to ferret out in Iraq.

In a long tradition reaching back to Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe, stars have cosmetic procedures and surgeries ranging from the subtle to extreme, denying each procedure.

Even such famously strong role models as Meryl Streep and Candace Bergen undergo the knife for their mandatory facelifts, leaving many of us to wonder, "How did Hollywood get to this level, and how does it affect the rest of us?"

Comedians jumped on Michael Jackson when he would admit to only two plastic surgeries during the interview with Martin Bashir. But perhaps another reason they jumped on the band wagon was that it detracts attention from themselves.

While a few celebrities, such as TV journalist Greta Van Susteren, 48, who revealed her eye-lift on air, come clean about the procedures they've had done, many more do not.

Look at Sophia Loren, who claims to have aged gracefully, naturally. And yet, rumor has it that she's had a facelift, as has Raquel Welch. So much for the myth of the aging foreign screen sirens ("Oh, it must be all that healthy food the Europeans eat!")

But it's not a process reserved to older stars. Just look at these before and after pics of Britney Spears:

Looks like Little Miss Pop Princess had her nose done. But she wouldn't be the first female pop star to do so. Take a look at Madonna, before and after a nose procedure:

Or, how about to the screen icon that Madonna reveres: Marilyn Monroe, who is said to have had her chin and nose done (and possibly even breast implants):

Is it any wonder the rest of us women have such messed up self-images? The role models we aspire to are not, in any sense of the word, real.

All right, so it was a bit of a Sunset Boulevard moment when Michael Jackson would admit to only two cosmetic surgeries on his face, but is it any less dishonest that most of Hollywood changes their faces as frequently as some of us change hairstyles?

With surgery already so prevalent in Hollywood, the Botox trend wasn't much of a surprise. How appealing: to get a few simple shots in your forehead for a few hundred dollars and to erase visible wrinkles.

But the popularity of this procedure has led to an unusual problem. Directors such as Martin Scorsese and Baz Luhrman have complained to the New York Times that so many actors are getting Botox injections they can't get them to look angry.

Not to mention unforeseen future problems, such as muscles atrophying or careless injections leading to drooping eyelids or permanently paralyzed facial muscles.

Just because plastic surgery was good enough for Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, Dean Martin, Kirk Douglas, Courtney Cox, Catherine DeNeuvre, Elizabeth Hurley and countless others, is that any reason to continue to pretend we don't notice? Is our silence a tacit consent, imprisoning not only ordinary Americans but also celebrities to a plastic future?

Maybe it's time for all of us to speak out, to end this tyranny of the knife. I suggest writing letters to the P.R. agencies of stars you believe had surgery, as well as to national magazines such as Vogue, Entertainment Weekly or Movieline.

A sample letter might read:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I was disturbed to open up the recent edition of (magazine name) and see a photo of one of my favorite stars, (celebrity name). Her nose has been stolen, and it looks as if someone has stretched her facial skin. Was she in some sort of a terrible accident? If so, I hope she is recovering well.

If she made these changes deliberately, perhaps she should undergo counseling. She clearly has body dysmorphia and a desire to turn herself into a freak.

Sincerely,

(your name)

Perhaps through such kindness, their tragic body images can be corrected, and we can all live in a freer, if wrinklier, world.

Moral:
The Grateful Dead were talking about Hollywood when they named their album Steal Your Face.

Copyright 2003 by Alyce Wilson

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