{"id":551,"date":"2005-05-20T07:51:00","date_gmt":"2005-05-20T11:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vmalt\/?p=551"},"modified":"2005-12-10T16:29:47","modified_gmt":"2005-12-10T21:29:47","slug":"one-word-plastic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/one-word-plastic","title":{"rendered":"One word: Plastic"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t watch a ton of TV. Outside of sporting events (I’m an NBA geek, I admit), days can go by without my turning on the TV. For the most part, I’ve missed out on the reality TV craze, except for a couple of exceptions that stretch the definition. Penn & Teller’s series on Showtime<\/a>, for example, seems like it should be called a documentary series, not reality TV.<\/p>\n

That said, I’ve found myself utterly compelled to watch a new reality\/documentary series on MTV: I Want a Famous Face<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yup. Normal-ish people go around spending tens of thousands on plastic surgery so that they can resemble their favorite stars. Usually, the celebrities\/targets in question are the trashy, heavily made-up types, like Carmen Electra or Tiffany Amber-Thiessen. But watching these people handing their surgeons covers of People<\/span> magazine and saying, “Make me look like her,” is ridiculously fun to watch. (Okay: accent on the “ridicul” part of “ridiculously”.)<\/p>\n

Fat woman who decides she looks enough like Jennifer Aniston to go the rest of the way via lipo, chin restructuring, boob implants? That’s entetainment!<\/p>\n

Cute but boyish secretary who decides she wants to look like Britney Spears so that she can leave her day job as a secretary (at a plastic surgeon’s office) and get a job as a stripper? That’s even MORE entertainment!<\/p>\n

Pudgy Latino guy who thinks he looks like Ricky Martin? Okay, maybe that’s NOT so entertaining, but still!<\/p>\n

(Meanwhile, fer yer edification, let’s supplement the Awful Plastic Surgery<\/a> link with this one<\/a>, offering realistic advice from a cosmetic surgeon)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don’t watch a ton of TV. Outside of sporting events (I’m an NBA geek, I admit), days can go by without my turning on the TV. For the most part, I’ve missed out on the reality TV craze, except for a couple of exceptions that stretch the definition. Penn & Teller’s series on Showtime, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “One word: Plastic”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-8T","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3796,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/lost-in-the-supermarket-deadliest-catch-edition","url_meta":{"origin":551,"position":0},"title":"Lost in the Supermarket: Deadliest Catch edition","author":"Gil","date":"April 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Lost in the Supermarket is on vacation this week, on account of neurasthenia. But your faithful blogger wouldn't leave you in the lurch! Since tonight marks the premier of the new season of The Deadliest Catch, one of the most awesome \"reality\" TV shows of all time, I offer up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lost in the Supermarket"","block_context":{"text":"Lost in the Supermarket","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/lost-in-the-supermarket"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3569\/3442199160_07d4e26d72_d.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5541,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/movie-review-tuesday-misanthropy-my-nic-cage-problem-and-abusing-the-audience","url_meta":{"origin":551,"position":1},"title":"Movie Review Tuesday: Misanthropy, My Nic Cage Problem, and Abusing the Audience","author":"Gil","date":"August 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Guess who watched some movies last week? Greenberg: I loved Noah Baumbach's first flick, Kicking and Screaming (not the Will Ferrell one; the one with Olivia D'Abo wearing a retainer), but haven't seen any of his subsequent movies. This one reminded me of K&S in parts, esp. in a climactic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Movies"","block_context":{"text":"Movies","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/movies"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14001,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-406-david-shields","url_meta":{"origin":551,"position":2},"title":"Episode 406 – David Shields","author":"Gil","date":"November 3, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 406: David Shields \"So much of American history has been a fairy-tale children's history, and so much of Trump's dealing with COVID was a Norman Vincent Peale 'think positively and it'll all go away.' So much of the connection is an absence of reality hunger, not to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Football"","block_context":{"text":"Football","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/sports\/football"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/shields2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/shields2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/shields2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/shields2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/shields2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10358,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-220-seth","url_meta":{"origin":551,"position":3},"title":"Episode 220 – Seth","author":"Gil","date":"May 29, 2017","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 220: Seth \"The world of the studio is where my interest is now. . . . It's the world of exploring ideas you don't have to show to anybody.\" Seth returns to the show to talk about Palookaville, making a living, his changing relationship to comics and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/seth-reim-e1514392178182.jpg?fit=1200%2C780&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/seth-reim-e1514392178182.jpg?fit=1200%2C780&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/seth-reim-e1514392178182.jpg?fit=1200%2C780&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/seth-reim-e1514392178182.jpg?fit=1200%2C780&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/seth-reim-e1514392178182.jpg?fit=1200%2C780&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1413,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/blood-fire-gravity","url_meta":{"origin":551,"position":4},"title":"Blood, fire, gravity","author":"Gil","date":"March 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I gave blood after work on Monday. Since I do a double red cell donation, it's a longer process than a standard single-unit of whole blood, typically around 35 minutes on the bed. I tried to read, but there was too much activity for me to focus on my book,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Urban issues"","block_context":{"text":"Urban issues","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/urban-issues"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17444,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-631-david-shields","url_meta":{"origin":551,"position":5},"title":"Episode 631 – David Shields","author":"Gil","date":"March 26, 2025","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 631: David Shields \"I'm not a sociologist, I'm not a political scientist, I'm not a historian; I'm just a writer and half a thinker.\" Author David Shields returns to the show for a conversation about his new documentary, HOW WE GOT HERE, and the companion book, HOW\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/shields2025b.jpg?fit=1200%2C597&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/shields2025b.jpg?fit=1200%2C597&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/shields2025b.jpg?fit=1200%2C597&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/shields2025b.jpg?fit=1200%2C597&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/shields2025b.jpg?fit=1200%2C597&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}