I watched a couple of episodes of “The Undoing” on the plane on the way over.
(I haven’t finished it so don’t tell me how it ends). It’s a murder mystery miniseries set around an elite New York private school. It’s very good but I just cannot get over the issue of Nicole Kidman’s face. She’s obviously had some work done, either Botox or a face lift. It’s entirely in character for a middle aged upper class American working mom, but I find it incredibly distracting, and I can’t figure out why. I anaesthetise for a plastic surgeon and we do facial ‘refreshment/rejuvenation’ surgery all the time, so how hypocritical is that? Obviously there are a lot of social pressures on women in particular to look good, and youthful, and I think women should have the right to determine how they look. Partly it’s a cultural thing, in that Americans don’t seem to feel the need to hide the fact that they’ve had work done – the wind tunnel look is perfectly acceptable – whereas in NZ people generally go for a more natural look. Is that even more dishonest, though? It’s ok to look good but you have to at least pretend it’s natural and not as a result of your own efforts. And I’m sure Nicole doesn’t give a damn what I think, and is laughing all the way to the bank – she’s currently as busy as she’s ever been, and has taken on producing or similar roles on many of her recent projects.
In summary: I need to get over my old fashioned moralistic judgmental attitude, relax and enjoy the show. The last thing I want is for women my age to disappear from our screens because we make people uncomfortable.