‘Oh my God, I look as hot as I feel’

Over the past years a range of different ‘makeover’ shows have become popular on TV. They all seem geared to the optimistic idea that everything can and needs to be ‘remodeled,’ enhanced, or redesigned, be it an old dilapidated house, a neglected garden, or an outdated interior of a restaurant. Arguably the most spectacular versions of these shows directly pertain to our body and its enhancement. Cosmetic surgery, a dental job, strict dieting, special physical training, a mental coach, a good stylist, a hair dresser, a beautician – all may be deployed to turn ugly ducklings into beautiful swans. To underscore the need for, if not urgency of, such intervention, the TV viewers get to see arresting images of the ‘before’ and ‘after’ stages. Most candidates in the ‘before’ stage are weary housewives in drab underwear with non-appreciated bodies. Such plain, lackluster ‘before’ renders the stunning ‘after’ even more titillating, and, true enough, in many cases the outcome is amazing indeed.

These kinds of shows raise all sorts of questions. We may ask, for one, whether it is in fact a good idea to undergo such a radical modification of your body in front of an audience. At times I wonder how these shows find their candidates. Are women who are genuinely dissatisfied with their body also willing to expose their ‘unattractive’ body in such a pathetic way to millions of viewers? I also wonder what happens to these people after the makeover's magic has dissipated and they have to carry on with their daily life. Do such programs unduly impose on us the notion that drastic cosmetic surgery is actually a normal thing to which all of us should be entitled and from which we would all benefit (Brooks, 2004)? Does this ‘domestication of cosmetic surgery’ promote a ‘visual eugenics’ which aims at wiping out all unattractive bodily features (Tait, 2007)? Should everyone be beautiful? Are we not allowed anymore to look less attractive or nonstandard? And is beauty something that becomes manifest only on the outside? Should we not focus on developing an interior sense of beauty, instead of being fully absorbed by external matters?