Plastic Surgery

If only you could truly erase the past...

Watching the Geffen doc. last night one was constantly struck by the fact that despite having oodles of money and access to the best medical professionals available, David Geffen, Cher and especially Marlo Thomas had tighter skin...but they looked...different.

I'm not sure where this obsession for plastic surgery began. I know some well-known singers who got nipped and tucked before album releases in their forties. Then again, it's a young person's game, or is it?

This veneration of youth has me flummoxed. Young and dumb, isn't that what they say? Get older, become wiser. But we seem to live in a society where what's inside does not count.

All the latest studies say older people are happier. They understand the game. They're not happy their lives are going to end, but they know what to fret over and what not to. And despite all the hedge funders on acquisition sprees, one of the amazing things about aging is you truly realize you can't take it with you. That those items you cherish so much will probably be tossed by your heirs. That all you have is your relationships and your experiences. What's in your head as opposed to what's in your driveway.

As for the beauty industry... Who declared non-moving foreheads were attractive? I'm not saying beautiful people don't have an advantage, but if you've ever been around someone that good-looking you know it comes with a cost. You should be happy that you're just...you. Unique. One of a kind. Remember Leeza Gibbons? She had so much plastic surgery on her face, chasing an elusive standard, that she ended up looking generic and ending her career. Kind of like...what was the name of that woman who played Baby in "Dirty Dancing"... That's right, Jennifer Grey!

Now if you've got a deformity, if you've had cancer, by all means see the plastic surgeon.

But if your only problem is you're getting older, best to own it. Do you really want to be adored by the younger generation? Do you really want to waste time going to clubs having faux fun looking for your significant other? Is life truly about trading up as opposed to growing what you've already got?

It's the depth that counts. And the history. And no matter what you do to the exterior, you're still that age on the inside, with creaky knees and the inability to perform at the same athletic level.

Why is everybody chasing an ideal that was not that good to begin with? Do we really all want to go back to high school? Or is the truth that despite media trying to make us feel inadequate, most of us are not buying it.

Did you catch the beach scene when Geffen came to California? From one of those bikini movies? By today's standards, those women were fat.

And I'm not lobbying for obesity and lack of personal grooming, but we've lost the plot.


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