oh jenn, no...

I recently watched parts of the Jennifer Aniston film MARLEY & ME. It was hard to look at. My friend Mike was watching, and called me over to see the aftermath of Jenn's facial surgery. He was having trouble watching, too. And let me profusely apologize to Jennifer beforehand, if her surgery was facial reconstruction after some industrial accident. But the otherwise inescapable conclusion is that Jenn felt she wasn't beautiful enough, or young-looking enough, and had her face carved up.
Is it possible it's still going to get worse, before the human race pukes in self-revulsion, and screams "NO MORE!!!"? I read the other day that there was recently a beauty pageant, strictly for women who'd had cosmetic surgery. Some of them had had their entire bodies reconstructed.
There was no report of protesters at the event.
There is something primal in the human psyche, a feeling of revulsion when one comes face to face with one who has been disfigured. We might wish it weren't so...but it is. We can learn to get over it with someone we love, but confronted with a stranger who's been mutilated, an involuntary feeling of shock or horror arises. In social situations, we choke down this response, and do our best to act like nothing has happened.
The fact that Hollywood is willing to trot out people who have been obviously mutilated, is a fascinating commentary on our society's greed. There can be no question that the studios are aware of the knife edge they're walking, in banking on the surgeon's skill to deflect our innate revulsion.
And oh Jenn, sweet Jenn...i stood up for you over the years. I defended you against the naysayers and Friends-haters. I took joy whenever you did a good movie. And i know that to a certain extent you are a victim in all this, of a society that values a woman only inasmuch as we want to fuck her, and that the woman we want to fuck must resemble an adolescent.
But some excuses only go so far. A lot of people on this planet face unspeakable hardships every day, Jenn. You're a pampered millionaire, and you've been given a platform from which you can literally affect the world. The roles you take and the choices you make affect millions, if not billions. Can you not wrap your mind around how you just fucked up the psyches of untold young minds who look up to you, or want to be like you? How many millions of girls will someday allow themselves to be cut open, because of what you've taught? How many millions of boys will someday shatter a woman's self-worth because she's doesn't look like you did five years ago?
It's uncharacteristic of me to attack like this, particularly when i haven't walked in your shoes, and i know that you probably need a hug right now more than you've needed one in a long time.
I know all that...but unholy god in hell, Jenn, what have you done?