The Root of the Problem

The Root of the Problem

     The pilot of the critically acclaimed series Nip/Tuck highlights an element of plastic surgery that is often overlooked. They do this by implementing a general lack of morals when shown making questionable decisions for their medical practice. This general lack of morals is part of the same thought process that some plastic surgeons take advantage of when marketing their services. A plastic surgeon would not have been able to manipulate a model if not for the root of the problem of aesthetic surgery, which is, the existence of an ideal beauty that is created by the mainstream media.

     The only reason the consumer is manipulated into getting plastic surgery is because she was already under the psychological distress imposed by the concept of an “ideal beauty”. This “ideal beauty” is the real issue that Nip/Tuck attempts to confront. In the pilot it is clearly brought forth. The brutal way in which the plastic surgeons analyzes and tears apart his patients face, is the same mentality used in creating the ideal image that the consumer is supposed to strive to achieve. A society that holds these strict constructs of gender will always have populations under psychological distress.