If you haven't heard the latest Internet buzz about Renée Zellweger; and I'm not sure how that would be possible, with the articles flooding our news feeds daily, and the unbelievable reactions it has caused- you are either living a relatively peaceful, Internet-free existence, or you have more important things going on in your life than obsessing over a celebrities' changing facial features. For the rest of us, however, well, we cannot help but talk about it and obsess, as we are fed more and more from the media and each other, trying to figure out this strange phenomena, called Renée Zellweger's face.
From outrage, to concern, to downright disdain, Renée's face has been not only the talk of the town, but she appears to be quickly moving to the most controversial celebrity "before and after" case in Hollywood since, well, the last person who had plastic surgery/ got older/ gained or lost weight/ had a change in appearance of some sort, and failed to look like the person we all know and love from the big screen.
First, I just want to say, and I may be the only person on earth right now who feels this way, but I don't think Renée Zellweger looks like a completely different person at all. I think she looks exactly the same, just a little older. I know, shocking. How on earth could someone age in Hollywood?
I did a little research to see when Renée's most recent screen time was, and some of the biggest movie roles we know her from were movies from the mid '2000s (i.e. Bridget Jones Diary, Chicago, Cinderella Man, and beloved films such as these). So, really, she hasn't been quite as prevalent in blockbuster films for about 10 years now. That right there says a lot. Her role as Bridget Jones, which she is probably best known for, is almost ten years old. And what happens in ten years? People AGE. They go through all kinds of things in ten years. Stress, weight loss, weight gain, health issues, relationships, kids, deaths in the family, hardships, trials, heartbreaks, financial troubles, marital issues, you name it. Celebrities are no different, I assure you, they go through these things too.
So, is this what happened to Renée Zellweger? Has she started to show her age? Has she dealt with stress, possibly even health issues over the years, which may even require medications or therapies? Could these things have changed the way she looks in the past ten years? Of course! Or could it be, she has gone the plastic surgery route, enduring painful procedures, or treatments to enhance her natural beauty, only to make herself feel better about aging, or insecurities she has about her own body? Yes, that is possible too. But I ask you this: Why do we care? And more importantly, why are we so angry about it?
Someone who has never gone under the knife or had an injection of any sort, may not understand why someone would go to such extremes for the sake of beauty and acceptance (from the very society they themselves are part of, pushing women to be desirable). But just because they don't understand it, doesn't make it wrong. We all want to feel beautiful. How we achieve it may be different, but I assure you, most of us are operating from the same insecurities.
I will admit, I have jumped on the celebrity plastic surgery bandwagon from time to time, seeing pictures of young, beautiful women like Megan Fox with mysteriously unrecognizable features, wondering why they would do something like that to themselves. Not understanding it, digging up before and after pictures on the Internet to compare. What did I get from all of that? Nothing.
The truth is, I don't like plenty of things about myself, and as a woman, I feel the pressure. I have never gone under the knife to fix my issues, but I have spent plenty of time and money on diets, skincare, hair care, clothes, anything and everything to dress it up, cover it up, and chalk it up, when I just couldn't fix it. I have changed a lot over the years, some good and some not so good. Does that make my friends angry? No. If I dropped 50 lbs. in ten years, would they look at me and be enraged that my appearance had changed so drastically? Would they be upset and uncomfortable because I don't look like the same woman they all know and love? Of course not.
The point I'm trying to make is this, Renée Zellweger is a person, we all are. God made her beautiful, as He did us ALL. So, whether or not she caved to society's unrealistic views of beauty, or her own insecurities, and decided she needed to change herself in a drastic way to be more beautiful; or whether she just got older, does it really matter? She is alive and well, and has a seemingly healthy attitude about where she in in life right now. She seems happy, and surprisingly unphased by the world freaking out about her appearance. She surely wouldn't judge us for aging, or for getting our ears pierced, wearing makeup, losing weight, gaining weight, cutting/ dyeing our hair, or changing OUR appearance in any way. So why should we judge her? It's not our place.
Who cares if her eyes look different now, or if the shape of her cheeks and chin are off from the woman we remember from movies and pictures in the past. It's not a cry for help, it's just a person, trying her best to be a woman in today's society; a society which is a lot more messed up and wrong than any changes anyone could make to their appearance. I say we move on and focus on accepting ourselves and each other the way we are, and teaching our children just how beautiful they truly are, inside and out.
My hubby and me 10 years ago.
Today.
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