So another celebrity got plastic surgery. Excuse me, 10 plastic surgeries. A reality TV star who isn’t happy with her life and tries to change it in a superficial way? Huge shocker!
Although I’ll give it to the media for calling out Heidi Montag on the ridiculousness of 10 plastic surgeries in one day, I’m not sure where they’re going with all this hype.
Yes, they are calling attention to a bigger issue American women face by reporting on the Montag’s outlandish addiction to turning herself into a Barbie doll, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s getting what she wanted. There’s no such thing as bad publicity, and if you believe that, Montag is getting great publicity. She’s plastered across countless magazines, papers and newscasts. She’s getting the fame she wanted when she set out on her plastic pursuit.
A New York Times article reported that Montag said she got the surgery to propel her singing career. Pop singers should be beautiful inside and out, Montag said. Obviously, the average person would dismiss this as ridiculous and carry on with life. But young women aren’t your average people.
Girls who see this on TV aren’t going to think, “Wow, that is appalling.” They’re going to realize that this woman took extreme measures to make herself look more beautiful and that she’s getting fame and fortune for it.
According to the New York Time’s article, Montag said her mother looked at her like a circus freak after the surgeries. Montag said her mother said she was sad to see her daughter lose her confidence because of the recording industry.
Mrs. Montag was right. It is sad that this woman felt like she couldn’t be successful by staying true to herself. But it’s not as sad as taking some insecure blonde bimbo’s broken ambitions and presenting it as a newsworthy event. Don’t send the message to struggling girls that this actually works. Leave Barbie in her dream house and let the real girls play in the real world.
Paige McArdle is a junior news-editorial journalism and psychology major from Omaha, Neb.
