Over the last couple of years, Filipino pop idol Charice (full name: Charice Pempengco; but she just goes by the one name – like Madonna) has made a splash on American television with appearances on the Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres talk shows. Now she’s been cast in the upcoming second season of ‘Glee’. She’s young and fresh-faced, and apparently has got some great pipes. This seems like a perfect fit. So what’s the scandal here? Apparently, to prep for her role, Charice had some Botox and “anti-aging” procedures performed. The girl is 18-years-old. WTF is wrong with the world?
I try not to be too judgmental over the stupid things that celebrities do to satisfy their own vanity. I often fail, but I try. OK, maybe I don’t try that hard, but I like to pretend that I do. Anyway, this just seems especially ridiculous, even by Hollywood standards. Even if it weren’t for her age, this girl’s face is about as far from needing Botox as any on Earth.
In classic PR damage control, Charice’s publicist claims that the procedure was for muscle pain, not cosmetic reasons. Uh huh. Somebody might want to point out to the publicist that the girl had the procedure performed on camera, while her cosmetic surgeon boasted about what she was doing to give the singer “a cuter face.” Also, Charice has even admitted that she did it to look better for the show.
Were the ‘Glee’ producers aware of this? Did they encourage it? I hope the hell not.
[Thanks to Mrs. Z for the tip.]
JoeRo
I don’t know that it’s celebs vanity that’s being served when they undergo plastic surgery. Or at least not only that. Image is important in virtually every line of work, and when your job is looking good on camera plastic surgery may as well be considered a business expense. Look at any celebrity gossip site, really pick one, and you’ll likely find hundreds, if not thousands, of articles discussing the “imperfections” of various actors appearance.
Now do I agree with the level of superficial scrutiny directed at celebrities? Not by a long-shot, but that is the nature of the industry. I think the case of Charice merely highlights how obsessive the industry has become as whole, and I think the media and public definitely have played a part in exacerbating that obsession. So yeah, this sort of thing is bad (in the most general sense), but I guess it just doesn’t surprise me.
greg
At the end of the day, she is legal. Rock and roll capitalism rulez.