Make Me Beautiful

The idea of beauty is different for everyone, but everyone in their own way tries to achieve it. Our world today has become a materialistic world since it matters what kind of clothes you wear, what car you drive, and body you have. All of these materialistic items are crucial accessory in our society. The media always portrays movie stars having designer clothing and bags from Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, and Versace. They also have advertisements with models that have nice clothes and nice bodies. People wish to look like the models on the advertisements, but unfortunately it’s only the elites that can afford the expensive clothes and pay for costly plastic surgeries to perfect their bodies to look like that. The media has controlled our minds on what beauty is and how to achieve it. There are shows like Sex and the City that shows the main character Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) and quickly become a trend setter for millions of girls. Moreover, girls and guys quickly try to achieve the idea of beauty through plastic surgery and designer clothes. FX’s television show Nip/Tuck, 20th Century Fox motion pictures The Devil Wears Prada, and HBOs television show Sex and the City promote the idea of superficial beauty through consumerism and plastic surgery.
The idea of materialism isn’t something new it is talked about in movies, TV, and music videos like Madonna’s “Material Girl”. In the video Madonna imitates Marilyn Monroe’s song “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”. Madonna is surrounded by guys giving her diamonds. The lyrics of the song say “Only boys that save their pennies make my rainy days because were living in a material world and I’m a material girl”. This song came out in the 80s and we are still living in a material world more than ever before. Consumerism is at a higher level now with whatever stars we see in movies or television and they become trend setters. Before Sarah Jessica Parker, Madonna was the trend setter. Girls were dressing up like Madonna, whatever she wore girls would want to wear as well.
The Devil Wears Prada is about a young girl name Andrea Sacks played by Anne Hathaway who takes a job at a fashion magazine. The magazine is called Runway, the editor and chief is Miranda Priestly played by Meryl Streep. Andrea is an assistant to the demanding New York magazine editor Miranda. Since the interview, Miranda knew that Andrea didn’t have the sense of fashion to work for Runway. Andrea is looked down upon for her clothes and size of clothes she wears by Miranda’s first assistant and co-worker Emily. She isn’t skinny like the rest of the girls that work there. Andrea at first feels that she doesn’t have to change anything about herself just because she has this job. She then learns that in order to survive in the fashion world, you have to keep up with all the trends. In order to impress her boss and stop being the outcast, Andrea starts to wear the designer clothes, shoes, and accessories. In indeed she does impress Miranda with her new look even though she never says anything to Andrea about it. The movie emphasizes on how superficial our society is with clothes and shoes. The fashion industry often seen as the source from where most of the materialism ideas come from since it matters what kind of clothes you put on your back. Usually it’s girl who focus on clothes and become superficial.
According to Raymond Williams, “culture be understood through the representations and practices of day life in context of the material conditions of their production...Within the actual means and conditions of their production” (45). The fashion world is a business industry, they make a production and they want it to sell. In order to do that they have to advertise, make the object as desirable as possible for consumers. There is a scene in the movie in which Miranda gets upset at Andrea because she said that she can’t tell the identical belts apart and states she’s still learning about “This stuff”. Miranda then gives her speech saying that she thinks the fashion world has nothing to do with her, but the sweater Andrea is wearing says that she takes herself too seriously to care about what she puts on her back. The sweater represents the millions of dollars and countless jobs that went on to make it. Miranda finishes by saying “It’s kind of comical that you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when in fact you’re wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff”. No matter how expensive or cheap a clothes item may be it represents the fashion industry.
The characters of Sex and the City are shown with designer clothes and living this fabulous life, especially Carrie. The viewers of the show create a fantasy world in which they imagine on how the women of New York City are. In the Sex and the City movie, Carrie says “year after year twenty something women come to New York City in search of the two L’s… labels and love.” Carries statement states that women do go to certain place in search of labels whether that is New York City or Los Angeles. Those two cities are known for caring label stores. In the episode “A Women’s Right to Shoes” in which Carrie goes to a baby’s birthday party for a friend and her Manolo Blahnik shoes get stolen. She is then devastated because those shoes cost four hundred dollars and they’re designer shoes. Carrie losing her shoes portrays on how material possessions are important to people. Carrie’s friend than criticizes her on how she can’t believe she spends so much money on shoes. In the show all the women seem to have pretty decent amount of money, since they are always wearing expensive brand clothes. People wish to have the life style because they have money, beauty and clothes. However high playing jobs such the ones from actress of the show can actually afford the clothes and cosmetics to make them beautiful.
Chris Barker states “Popular culture is constituted through the production of popular meaning located at the moment of consumption” (54). The Manolo Blahnik shoes are only a few can afford and the Louie Vuitton bag become a consumption of our culture. In our society where we are trained to have and look beautiful by the clothes we wear to impress people, to show off how much money or elegance we have. They are shoes or bags that become an influence in pop culture that is everywhere like movies, TV shows, and magazines. For example, the Louie Vuitton handbags were an accessory that everyone wanted. The handbag couldn’t be found anywhere and only wealthy women had it. It was easy to lose yourself in the trend. Girls wanted the bag because it signified they had money or elegance. There are imitations of the Louie Vuitton bag and other labels, but they’re nothing like the real thing. It is worse to have an imitation than to none at all because it shows that you’re trying too hard. The media focus on how much the bags and shoes are worth, and how it’s all women want to purchase. Women purchase them to show off the money and power they have to others, and so that others can complement them on it. What does someone that has label shoes and clothes what does it say about them? They have class, sophistication, and money. However, even if someone has money to afford labels, they need to have the body for it.
According Susan Bordo “Material Girl: The Effacements of Postmodern Culture” says that “pop culture does not apply any brakes to these fantasies of rearrangement and self-transformation” (1100). The fashion companies don’t care about the hardship people go through to get skinny as long as they buy it. All they care about is their products to get sold. The fashion industry says there is only one idea of beauty and that is to be skinny. If you’re not that then there’s no way for you to ever achieve true beauty. All the models and actress are all beautiful and skinny and none of them are fat, but changes must be made to their bodies to look like they do. For most the alternative is plastic surgery to achieve the ideal of beauty.
Plastic surgery has become a major cultural phenomenon. They make programs about it like Nip/Tuck. Nip/Tuck is about two plastic surgeons called Sean McNamara played by Dylan Walsh and Christian Troy played by Julian McMahon in South Beach, Florida. The show portrays each day people who want something done to themselves to be accepted by society. The character of Kimber Henry played by Kelly Carlson, is a wannabe model turned actress who then turns into a porn star. Kimber is at first the girlfriend of Christian and she goes to him for every surgery. After they break up, she still goes to McNamara/Troy to get any work done to her. Since she is in the porn industry and superficial she is pretty much made of plastic. When she first meets Christian, she tells him she wants to be a ten. With the advertisement of models and their perfect bodies, it’s hard for someone to look at their own body and want to seek perfection. Plastic surgery has become very popular among young people. They get liposuction, breast augmentations, and nose jobs. Most of the girls today have had something done to themselves. Many of the girls get something done to themselves because they want to be models or actress.
For older women, they feel like plastic surgery is the only way to shape their bodies. Older women take BOTOX and have face lifts to make themselves look younger. In season two of Nip/Tuck, Julia McNamara’s Mom, Erica Noughton comes to visit the family, and requests Sean to give her a face lift. She’s a therapist who is coming out with a new book and says she wants to have a new face. She says that respect doesn’t sell, sex does. She then tells Julia “Youth is what mutilates Julia you’ll find that out soon enough” meaning that the youth force the older to look young since in our society the older don’t have lot of respect to be considered important in society. In order to look younger they have to mutilate their bodies.
“Beauty is a curse in the world” is a quote said in Nip/Tuck Season three by the Carver. The Carver is a serial killer that carves the faces of models or beautiful people. Before he does he tells them “Beauty is a curse in the world”. In a way it is because you always to be on top of things to be beautiful. You have to always keep your body in shape, wax, buy what’s in style, and maintain the ideal beauty. The Carver’s intensions are to liberate people, to save people from the trinity of beauty by giving them a reason to fix their face. Although he does it in a horrible way by carving the side of the victim’s face, he does stand for something that people need to be saved from. People have become slaves to beauty. People get plastic surgery to be accepted, they want to fix how ugly they feel in the outside and inside, so they can have the confidence to be beautiful.
Through all the movies and shows that emphasize superficial beauty it’s hard not to become materialistic. The fashion industry and plastic surgery are the major businesses through the media that promote consumerism and superficial beauty. Girls are still trying to achieve the idea of beauty to look like a Barbie by trying to have a flat tummy, nice lips, and well shaped breast. Looks fade in time like trends. Fashion is always in a constant stage of change; it is never the same and something will not stay popular forever. Superficial beauty is all an illusion and we just fooling ourselves.



Word Cited
Barker , Chris . Cultural Studies . 3 . Los Angeles : Sage , 2008.
Bordo, Susan . "Material Girl: The Effacements of Postmodern Culture ." Cultural studies 1099-1115.
"Erica Noughton ." Nip/Tuck . Ryan Murphy. FX, Hollywood, California . 22 June, 2004.
The Devil Wears Prada . Dir. David Frankel . Perf. Meryl Streep . DVD. 20th Century , 2006 .
"A Womens Right to Shoes." Sex and the City . Timothy Van Pattern. HBO, New York, NY. 17 August, 2003.