So, Renee Zellweger looks a little different then. After her appearance at Elle’s 21st Annual Women in Hollywood Celebration on Monday night, lots of people have lots of stuff to say about one woman’s face.
Okay, so she doesn’t look like Renee Zellweger as we remember her- gone is the girl-next-door look we all associate with her much-loved role as Bridget Jones. Instead, wait for it…oh, she’s just a middle aged woman who looks pretty darn happy.
The internet has blown up over her new look, with outraged fans describing her as ‘unrecognisable’ and plastic surgeons scouring her face to figure out what she’s had done. It’s another case of the day to day obsession with the female body encountered when we read about celebrity cellulite or stars without make-up. We have be trained to turn our noses up at things that don’t look perfect, youthful, or naturally flawless.
Zellweger arguably just looks different. The actress told People magazine in a statement that “I’m glad folks think I look different! I’m living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I’m thrilled that perhaps it shows.” She added that her friends have told her she looks “peaceful”, attributing her new look to the chaos free lifestyle she has adopted, after admitting her previous one left her feeling “depleted.”
Her new look will affect her career. This woman cannot play Bridget Jones again (a third film has been hinted at.) Instead, she has adapted. We can critique this decision all we wish, after all, she has adhered to Hollywood’s idea of beauty- smooth skin, big eyes, exuberating youth at an age when ‘youthful’ is simply not a realistic adjective to apply.
As readers of celebrity magazines and general slaves to the beast that is Hollywood, we too should check ourselves- who are we to put this woman under a microscope and coin her a skin shedding monster? We expect these women to be perfect, even as they age. Otherwise we cast them away. Remember that Renee Zellweger? What happened to her? Did she actually become Bridget Jones and live on her sofa with wine and ice cream for the rest of her days? (That doesn’t sound too shabby actually.)
Her actions aren’t ideal in a role model sense, but she hasn’t done anything ridiculous. She hasn’t admitted to having any work done. If she did, and promoted the happiness she has found, perhaps the media would calm down a little.
Instead of shaming this woman, we should support her. We shouldn’t support surgery if we don’t feel it’s an appropriate thing to have done, yet instead we should ask ourselves why this woman has felt she has to do this.
She looks gorgeous in my opinion, but she was so before with her trademark smiling eyes that have been lifted beyond recognition. This hugely talented and successful actress clearly felt incredibly unhappy about the way she looked- and that’s a bit sad.
She has made a choice that will affect her career and her fans, and we seem to have forgotten (yet again) that celebrities are not objects. She does not exist solely for us to make jibes at or analyse. We shouldn’t feel so entitled. She’s a human being who is living a life she now likes. Good for her.
Edited by Harriet Dunlea
Sources:
https://tv.yahoo.com/news/renee-zellweger-now-completely-unrecognizable-155900626.html