We really have to talk about Renee Zellweger. Here are more pictures from Gawker.
As plastic surgery goes, this wasn’t a terrible job. She doesn’t look like the Joker from Batman, and she doesn’t have fish lips. Still, she lost her signature squinty eyes and doesn’t look like herself.
The best commentary comes from Amanda Hess at Slate. She says that stars are pressured to have these procedures. Hollywood dumps women over 40. Former “it girls” like Zellweger have to get this work done, and then we make fun of them for doing it. “Plastic surgery is fake. So is the Hollywood fantasy where women over 40 just don’t exist.”
We can’t win. We’re mocked for our wrinkles. We’re mocked for removing wrinkles. Should we just disappear? Would that be more convienent for the public?
Apt. 11d 
Yeah, I read that yesterday and it was all very upsetting. The advantages of being an “ugly duckling” growing up (that would be me) is that the older and better styled (clothing, hair) you get, makes you actually prettier. At least that’s what my overly critical younger brother thinks (that I look way better now than I did when I was younger). I suppose the very opposite is true for pretty young actresses who age.
There are some older actresses that are pretty famous and who have been for a long time, e.g. Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, Julianne Moore, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver and, obviously,Helen Mirren, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton. (or have they all had plastic surgery too?)
My question is — were they never considered “young beauties” to begin with and were always just “good actresses” or “character actors” or something? And then, there are some women who are “allowed” to age (because they always looked more “mature”?) such as Catherine Zeta-Jones? (Emma Thompson?) Maybe some of the women above would fit in this category
Is being blonde worse and maybe brunettes have an edge? (No, I guess, Sandra Bullock is brunette & was discussed in the articles as having lots of procedures too).
Just wondering!
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Yes, it seems easier for women who were never young beauties.
I’m finding a lot of the coverage enraging – people have been calling Zellweger “Squinty” for years and now they’re offended that she got her eyes fixed. Fucking deal, people.
I keep reading comments about “OMG she got the shape of her face surgically changed” like idiot people haven’t ever seen what normal aging humans look like.
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I’m a Caucasian woman with that type of eye structure (thanks, mom!) and I’ve always thought of it as one of my charms (such as they are).
It’s pretty sad that Renee Zellweger felt she had to do it, although she may well have been hating her eyes for the last 35 years.
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I’d also add that if you weren’t familiar with the “before” (cute chipmunk-cheeked RW), the “after” doesn’t look that bad.
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I get confused when somebody gets a different hair cut. I could have never recognized her without the caption.
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From Slate:
“In Hollywood, “aging gracefully” is a euphemism for “good plastic surgery…”
“Character actresses like Melissa Leo can grow into great careers later in life, playing hard, complicated broads, but our baby-faced ingénues are specifically prized for their youth; it’s nearly impossible for them to “get better” with age.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/10/21/ren_e_zellweger_plastic_surgery_in_hollywood_women_over_40_get_a_new_face.html
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Hey! You promised us a picture of a pickle! Where’s the pickle?!
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I was confused by the articles. Doesn’t she just look older? What is it that we’re supposed to be looking at as “having changed her face”?
I think actresses, specifically, run into a particular problem based on the type they were when they started acting. My first cite to this is usually the cute girl children, who are chosen for young and babyish (Candace Cameron as DJ Tanner, Tracy Gold as Carol Seaver, Danica McKellar as Winnie Cooper). Some of them had serious eating disorders as they tried to slim down round faces that can’t really be changed (And McKellar and Bialek seem to have avoided that phase by leaving the industry). And, the “cute spunky girl” actresses, Goldie Hawn, Meg Ryan, (Maybe Renee Zelwigger?) don’t have an easy time aging in Hollywood. There are bone structures that age better (Helen MIrren being a good example). The roles the actresses with those bone structures (strong women, . . . ) remain more available as they grow older. And, when those women have plastic surgery, they’re not trying to recreate the soft cuteness of a 15 year old — they can try to return, at 40, to a more mature version of themselves.
i don’t see the pressures changing, though, because there are always women who look like they age more slowly and there will always be pressure to try to keep up with them.
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I think the plastic surgery made her look older.
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But looks older than what? Than she was ten years ago? Well, yeah.
No one is posting a picture of what she looked like last spring.
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We’re mocked when the curtain is pulled back and the amount of work it takes to look like what is expected is revealed. There is so much fantasy around looking gorgeous and youthful and having endless fertility as well. Bouncing back from childbirth within weeks to walk a runway, etc. Having babies well into their forties (with no mention of medical assistance because, of course, it’s because they are so youthful looking!).
No mention of the team of people behind them – trainers, chefs, assistants, stylists, photoshopping, etc. It’s the beauty version of Lance Armstrong insisting that he did it all through training and talent. Even the gorgeous ones have to work hard to keep it up at that level.
I’m sorry that the window of active paid work as an actress is so narrow. And I don’t begrudge them getting some work done – the male actors do it too. If your face/image is your bread & butter, you’ll do it.
Changing your appearance so that you are unrecognizable is none of my business but I do think it’s drastic – but I’m not in that industry so who knows what I’d do if in her shoes. I hope I’d age gracefully but I can’t say that I would.
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As many people have said, she looks terrific, but she does not look like herself, and by that I mean not only that she does not look the way she looked ten years ago, but that when I look closely at the picture, and try see some “Renee Zellweger”-ness, I actually cannot do it. I am usually uninterested in celebrities, but it is fascinating that it’s now possible to do plastic surgery (I assume) on someone and make them look completely different but still great. It is also creepy. So I think the press is not so much about how shallow and judgmental everyone is (though most people are shallow and judgmental) but the remarkable change in this particular person.
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Former “it girls” like Zellweger have to get this work done, and then we make fun of them for doing it.
What about the alternative of gracefully acknowledging that you are no longer “it” and falling back to a lower profile life while living off the pile of money you made and then carefully managed?
Coming to terms with the fact that you aren’t the flavor of the month anymore isn’t just something the Zellweger’s of the world have to deal with. It’s a challenge in life that many of us have to face and, I would argue, one that both affirms and reveals your character. At least Zellweger, having banked millions over her (ephemeral) career is in a position where she isn’t struggling to put food on the table. My sympathies lie with those who suffer starker consequences.
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