To be Plastic? Or not to be?

So. I figured for my last entry for the semester i'd look into writing about plastic surgery. Truth is, when people get plastic surgery they could be doing it for a few different reasons, which doesn't make me completely opposed to it. Now to go along with our whole blog topic is the first reason. People might get plastic surgery to look like or be like something that they weren't necessarily born with. They also, could be forking out the thousands of dollars to improve their appearance from ageing. I'm opposed to this reason of obtaining plastic surgery. You're born the way your born and if your not meant to have perfectly full round boobs that don't appear to fit your body type, well then .....maybe you just shouldn't have them. Many complications can come from this risky procedure, including infections and even death during surgery. Are you willing to take that large of a risk? And have you heard about the mother's that are buying their daughters boobs for graduation? What ever happened to a car or a huge party or a cruise? Nope, guess not. Mom's willing to fork over the dough to make her daughter fake when in reality shouldn't parents be raising their children with good moral values? As for the other reason someone might get plastic surgery, I'm all for. When people get in tragic car accidents or get horrible chemical burns on their faces or situations occur like this and they are disformed or part of their face is missing, I believe it's ok to go through this procedure. In life you know when someone looks a little different from the norm people sit and stare and I'm sure it makes that person feel a whole lot of not wonderful inside. Actually I haven't researched it, but I'm sure there have been suicides committed because of how people treat others differently just because of physical appearance. I think this is horrible! If the victim is injured and is willing to receive this surgery I'm all for having them enjoy their lives not having to worry about what other people are going to say about their looks. On the other hand, as far as the much "not needed" stardom attention of the plastic surgery I think if I had all that money I could put it to better use and help someone that's really in need for it.
-Ashley Kardynalski

True Life: I want to be perfect

In television, there are many shows like talk shows and comedy etc. that focus on the entertainment of viewers and ratings.  However, there are shows out in the mainstream that focus on more serious topics of your average everyday human being.  These topics could range anywhere from dreams and aspirations to life threating topics.  This show, True Life, on MTV focuses normally on teenagers wanting to be something there not or physically harming there bodies for a thrill or because of stress.  Some of the major episodes that caught my attention were the ones dealing with teenagers wanting to be exactly like one of their idols and putting there bodies through anything to achieve this.  One episode dealt with a young teenager girl who wanted to win a pageant so to achieve the pageant girl body she starved herself and ate absolutely nothing but cottage cheese for two weeks.  Its sad to think how everyone in society today has this idea in there heads of what a girl should look like and not how they really are in reality.  For example when you think pageant girl, i'm sure you don't think as your first thought a fat girl or a girl with a large zit on there face.  You think flawless, tall, skinny.   Or how about a male celebrity?  I know I have some preconceived ideas about what a male celebrity should look like.  Tall, ripped abs, gorgeous smile and teeth.  Why can't we just except our bodies for how they are? Why do we have to have those cut muscles and extra white teeth.  I mean c'mon I know I love those Crest Whitestrips too, but look how fast we in society are to drop $40 bucks on a few shades lighter on our teeth.  If you think about, whats going to happen 20 or 30 years down the road when everyone is botox'd out, there teeth are as white as you can get them, they contain no fat on their ripped bodies?  Where is there to go once you've totally altered your appearance and your as perfect as you feel you can possibly get?  I'm sure someone somewhere is going to think of something, but until then I wonder............. 

-Ashley Kardynalski 

MJ blog: Obsession with tv star's bodies

In my previous post I discussed the obsession with body images in magazines and in movies. This blog will be about TV. TV is one of the most popular mediums we have. Many great shows have aired in our living rooms throughout the years that have created many stars such as Jennifer Aniston, George Clooney, Will Smith, Dick Van Dyke, Lucille Ball and many others. TV will continue to produce stars out of the shows, but they might look a little different. In the past stars like Mary Tyler Moore lit up the TV screen. She was beautiful, tall, and successful. All these are great qualities, but TV viewers were obsessed with her long dark hair, petite body, and perfect smile. During the 1970s The Mary Tyler Moore Show was one of the most popular shows on the air. Many women all over the country wanted her body and perfect smile. You could go to the supermarket, work, or go outside to garden without seeing women with her hairstyle. The show was shot in black in white so viewers couldn't see any of her flaws (if she had any). In the 1990s Friends was a mega hit. The most popular character on the show was Rachael played by now famous actress Jennifer Aniston. Aniston was beautiful like Moore. She had the perfect face, a petite body, and the most popular hair TV had seen in years. Millions of people all over the world were obsessed with her hairstyle that it got its own name. "The Rachael" as it was called had women all over the country racing to salons to look like her. Although she was perfect in the viewers eyes Aniston struggled with issues about her nose. It was reported that she hated it and had a nose job. During the 1990s a few young women in New York City went to a plastic surgeon to get her nose. This is just another example of how viewers are obsessed over celebrities bodies and try any any and everything to look like them. Curently TV shows are now being shot in HD and the famous celebrities are afraid of this. Not afraid that they will look fat or anytihng, but afraid of how they will look on camera. With HD cameras the small imperfections are displayed. Pimples that may have been covered up before through the help of make-up on stars like Jennifer Aniston and Mary Tyler Moore might not be so easy to hide on actresses like Eva Longoria or Tina Fey. This has led to many stars such as Patricia Heaton of Everbody Loves Raymond to get botox injections to get rid of the wrinkles in their faces that these new cameras would highlight. Now the whole world is crazy about the botox trend. Women and men as young as late teens are getting the injections to get rid of wrinkles before big events such as prom, school pictures or pageants. This trend is one example of how we are obsessed with looking perfect and being perfect. These stars are not perfect, but are in the eyes of the viewers so they do everything to be like them included shooting poison in their faces. Feel free to respond to this post. -Marcus Jones

Tight Clothes

MM
In todays society, people are trying to break away more and more from the norm, and whats considered acceptable. We are becoming a more liberal country and people are becoming more able to express radical ideas and express themselves artistically and freely. Probably the most common way people express themselves, is through fashion. The trend of extremely tight pants has made a huge comeback, probubly because it was the trend of the 80's punk movement. They were all about defiance, and in a sence thats what people are trying to achieve. Wev'e moved away from the paris hilton bimbo look, and more towards the nichole richie indi look. High waisted tight skirts have also come back, on girls such as katy perry. Katy Perry has the typical pin-up betty page look, in which high waisted clothes were the fashion on her era. Her time period represents the explosion of sex appeal. Again, fashion statements that once had revolutionary meaning are making a comeback in a hip new way. Peoples clothes are constantly getting tighter and tighter, which obviously makes one more body concience. Wer'e brainwashed to feel we need to look flawless even when naked, when in reality clothes are made to cover up our flaws!




Heres a video making fun of hipsters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsEVY-83RXA

Movies and Perfection

In the movies, you will never find an actor such as Brad Pitt extremely overweight or unattractive nor will you find Angelina Jolie sporting red hair.  Ok, what I'm getting at is this.  In the movies, certain actors and actresses are hired based on certain roles they are looking for.  Ana Ferris was hired to play a stereotypical blonde bimbo in the movie House Bunny.  She sports the classic tight little outfits and the bleach blonde hair that give her the look of a Playboy bunny.  Her body in this movie is very petite with very defined abs.  I have no doubt that she wears a water bra in this movie for the extra oomph!  Unlike in the magazines, in the movies editors aren't able to use photoshop to take off a few pounds.  So they are forced to train actors and attresses into there prototype for their perfect role.  Or on the other hand, starve themselves.  With the film industry being so competitive for vital roles to make it big there are males and females out there starving themselves and depriving themselves from basic food that is essential for life.  You would think with the big dollars they make to film even as little as thirty minutes of a film that they could afford a personal trainer that is able to have them eat healthy and workout to achieve their desired look.  For large roles in hit movies, I wonder if females would be willing to get Botox?  Or breast implants?  I hear these days men are getting pectoral implants instead of hitting up the gym for a couple of months.  To me, that's crazy.  If you have enough money to spend on ridiculous things such as boobs, or calf muscles then try to think about someone other than yourself for a minute and try to look at the larger picture.  There are people dying from starvation out there not by choice, not for movies, but from being poor and not being able to afford even the basic necessities for life.  So keeping this in mind, and you look at these people who made it big, how really good-hearted are these men and women?  Sure they look "perfect" physically, but deep down they need to re-evaluate themselves.  

-Ashley Kardynalski

Actors gaining/losing weight for movie roles

MJ Blog #2. Some of our favorite actors have underwent body transformations for movie roles that they wanted. Each year thousands of actors gain or lose weight for films that get us in the theater. For the movie Syriana, a good movie by the way, George Clooney gained about 30 pounds and grew out a thick white beard for the role. It was the first time that women didn't see the skinny handsome Clooney that appeared in the Oceans 11 and Oceans 12 movies. After the movie Clooney went back to his slim looks and lost the weight for Oceans 13 the third installment of the movie franchise. For the movie The Machinist my favorite actor right now Christian Bale made a huge transformation. Bale lost about 70 pounds in three months for the role. Bale isn't a big guy to start with, so when he lost 70 pounds he looked sort of like Paris Hilton. With a strick diet Bale shrunk down to under 125 pounds, which is underweight for a full grown healthy man. Bale is dedicated to his film roles, which is why only a few months later he gained wight for Batman Begins. In a few short months bell went from under 125 pounds to about 200 pounds. This doesn't seem healthy at all. Bale was reportedly falling at during the production of the Batman movie. Bale and Clooney aren't alone in the body transformation for movies. Beautiful women such as Charlize Theron have done the same. For the movie Monster Theron turned into an unrecognizable crazy killer. Theron gained over 25 pounds for the role and transformed herself into the character that ultimately won her an actor for leading female in a motion picture. With all the weight problems that Americans all over the world face these actors that we love continue to take advantage of their weight. If they want to gain weight for a role they eat the best food in the world knowing that they have the best trainers in the world to help them lose it. Average Americans donsn't have access to those same resources so when they gain weight it usually sticks for a while and leaves them depressed or develop eating disorders. What these actors are doing is very dangerous to their health. You cant drop down to 125 pounds in few short months and bulked back up to 200 pounds later. Its not healthy. feel free to respond/comment. -Marcus Jones