Is it just me or does it really seem that more and more people are taking plastic surgery to an extreme?
I suppose it’s not too surprising that some men and women are taking a choice that’s most often made for fine tuning, rejuvenation or reconstruction and running with it. Running far, far away. We humans do seem wired for going overboard with ideas. (Speaking of running, for instance, it doesn’t seem enough for some runners to complete a marathon anymore. There are “ultramarathons” in which you run 100 miles at a time, and extreme marathons like the one in the Kalahari Desert that cover more than 150 miles in seven days. Talk about extreme!)
One of the extremes I can almost understand is plastic surgery “addiction.” I can see how some people, finally having the generous, perky breasts they always dreamed of, now wish they had asked their plastic surgeon to lipo a little off the saddlebags as well. Then they would really be happy with their figure. But wait, maybe they should have a little tummy tuck too. Everything would truly be great after that.
Obviously, someone thinking along these lines should take a giant step back and examine their life and happiness from a different perspective. But it is tempting to think that if one is dissatisfied with their condition, the answer is somewhere “out there” rather than deep inside. Still, I can sympathize. Everyone probably looks in the wrong place for contentment from time to time.
But that doesn’t mean I understand the latest cosmetic surgery-crazed celebrity, Heidi Montag. The reality television star even admitted to People Magazine, “I’m beyond obsessed.” In her most recent round of plastic surgery Heidi had 10 procedures in one day, including breast augmentation and rhinoplasty revision, ears pinned back, liposuction and chin reduction. And she plans more surgery.
Indeed, her looks are ultra-important to her career. And yes, she has the right to do whatever she can convince a cosmetic surgeon to do for her (although electing to have so many procedures in one day is certainly questionable in terms of safety). But many people think Heidi looked better before she started her plastic surgery roller coaster ride—with her all-American fresh face, one that was uniquely her own. Bloggers are already saying she’s borderline unrecognizable already. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? In Heidi’s mind, how is the new Heidi better than the old one? What was wrong before? Is she still not satisfied with her self? Is it an attention getting maneuver?
There’s another plastic surgery extreme I do not understand for a moment: people electing to go under the knife and spend thousands of dollars to look like someone else. Last year I reported on a woman who went on a surgical quest to look like Nefertiti. The latest whacko is a great-grandmother in England who, through a combination of dieting and $16,000 in surgery, now feels she looks like her idol: Jessica Rabbit. As reported on Huffington Post, Fox and other media outlets, Annette Edwards underwent a breast lift, a brow lift and other facial procedures to look like the sexy cartoon wife of Roger Rabbit.
You can imagine the comments flying about. Most bloggers seem to think Annette wasted her money and doesn’t look like Jessica Rabbit at all. In fact, just about anyone with a slim figure can round up a long red wig and the purple gloves, red dress and stilettos and look as much or more like the animated vamp as Annette does.
Watch the You Tube video and you’ll hear Annette say that playing the part of Jessica makes her feel good. It does seem hard to argue with that. It must be all the attention that really drives her, though, as it’s not enough to simply lose weight, have a surgical tune-up and look her best. Annette specifically set out to look like Jessica Rabbit. To this great-grandma, the attention must trump ridicule, because she is getting her share of that.
Annette does allow that her family thinks she’s “a bit crazy.”
What do you think?