The new trailer for the Bridget Jones move has been released. And instead of seeing comments about people being excited about the long-awaited film, I was inundated with articles obsessing about Renee Zellwegger’s face. Whether she has had work done or not is up for debate and quite frankly no one’s business but her’s. However, I noticed a certain scrutiny that she’s had to face in the past couple of days that has exploded to being extremely cruel.
In an article published by Variety, there was a sense that Renee had changed so much so that she wasn’t even recognizable. That she had changed so much that she was a completely different person. It went as far to say that the changes she had arguably made to her face has now made her a completely different actress! I highly doubt it, but let me explain.
Plastic surgery and celebrities is always going to be a controversial topic, but suggesting that she has changed as a person shows how vain of a society we live in. We are solely basing actresses’ talent on their looks. The fact of the matter is: yes there needs to be more transparency with celebrities making it so easy to look good, but no, you can’t shame someone for making their own choices about their own body. Renee is not one of those celebrities that has endorsed weight loss teas but regularly gets liposuction, or posts pictures on Instagram with lip plumping lip gloss when she is really getting injections; to me that’s a different issue. The issue with scrutinizing Zellwegger’s face and talent is that it’s downright sexist and is solely based on how appealing she looks to the audience.
The critic ends the piece by saying, “I just hope it turns out to be a movie that stars Renée Zellweger rather than a victim of ‘Invasion of the Face Snatchers.’ I hope it turns out to be a movie about a gloriously ordinary person rather than someone who looks like she no longer wants to be who she is.” And while I don’t agree with everything in this article or discussion as a whole, I think it brings up a lot of issues that women in society need to speak up about.
Demeaning a woman’s talent because of her looks proves how much pressure women are under to look a certain way. There are a ton of articles out there about women celebrities aging gracefully and techniques, but there are very few about male celebrities losing their hair, or getting botox for a reason.
