Transformation

I refuse, on principle, to watch "reality" television, so I had never seen What Not to Wear before. But David was on it last night (not as the victim, er, subject? guest? but as one of the people doing the introductions). The show was about Megan Slankard, who has toured with him a couple of times. The show originally aired sometime in June or July, I think, and I didn't see it then, but I made a point to watch it last night as part of the "What Not to Wear Marathon." (It's being re-run again on Saturday at 3:00 Eastern, 2:00 Central on TLC.)

I enjoyed the show because of David, of course, and Megan, who I don't know, but who I have heard a lot about. But aside from that, the show was actually pretty interesting, and while I wouldn't enjoy being bullied about my clothing choices at all, it did make me think about some of the choices I make, and whether they're actually the right ones.

Today I wore some lightweight denim capri pants, a white tee, not really a "baby" tee, but a small one, Tommy Hillfiger sage green canvas low-tops, and short blue socks with palm trees on them. Not exactly a "dress for success" kind of look, but not too bad for a late-summer day at a casual workplace. I also wore a Winnie-the-Pooh watch. But I carried a really gorgeous soft leather Anne Klein handbag, surely that counts for something . . .

I don't like watching these kinds of shows, in general, because they make me uncomfortable. I feel so bad for the people being criticized and bullied, they just make me cringe. But it wouldn't be too bad to get $5,000 for a new wardrobe. I bet I could make $5,000 go a LONG way.

The one that really bothers me is Extreme Makeover. That one just makes me shudder. I had heard of it, but had never seen it before a few weeks ago when I was walking on the treadmill at the gym and the woman next to me was watching it. It really bothered me, but I don't think I ever mentioned it here because it was hard to find the words.

It was a show about two women, one of which was pretty unattractive, mostly because of really bad teeth, and another woman who was, I thought, very pretty, although quite heavy. Both of these women really touched me. They both had loving, supportive, long-term relationships, and in the interviews they both said they thought their boyfriend/husband "deserved" someone better looking. The woman who showed up at the first meeting with the doctor with a notepad on which she'd written everything she wanted done to her made me cry.

And then they made her cry by telling her that they'd flown her out under false pretenses--yeah, they'd do the plastic surgery she wanted, but only if she lost a BUNCH of weight. And they told the other woman that, too, and then, of course, gave us close-ups of the tears running down their faces.

It was all I could do not to burst into tears with them. Then they put them in their underwear and gave us close-ups of that. And too-small underwear, of course, so their "defects" showed up more. Those poor women. How badly must you think of yourself to humiliate yourself like that on television? It makes my stomach hurt now just thinking of it. I finished my workout as quickly as possible and got out of there.

But I admit it -- I couldn't resist looking up the results on the web just to see what happened. Both women apparently lost the weight, because they both had had the surgery. Chin implants, new teeth, liposuction, butt lifts, breast lifts, upper arms, eyebrows . . . The lists went on and on. And at the end of it, they looked like entirely new people. Entirely different people. Not the same person, but better, but entirely different Kind of creepy, really.

I suppose the show would, of course, want to make them look as different as possible, make them look like supermodels, and they did.

What would really be interesting, and possibly useful, would be to show people who have been disfigured, or who have birth defects, and show their transformation through plastic surgery. But the public would rather watch normal, semi-attractive women be turned into pneumatic Stepford babes. Don't get me started.