“Reality” TV on Plastic Surgery Leaves Out Boring, But Important Stuff
Steve Adubato, Ph.D.
MSNBC Media Analyst

There’s a new study in the academic journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery that examines “reality based” television programs on the topic of plastic surgery and their influence on public attitudes towards going under the knife. Cosmetic surgery is a complex process— medically, psychologically, and emotionally. The reasons why people get plastic surgery are just as complex and the outcomes sometimes don’t produce what the is patient was looking for. There are lots of people who are not good candidates for plastic surgery for a variety of reasons. Further, recovery times vary and the impact plastic surgery can have on someone’s life can be significant.

Amazingly, the new study points out that “79 percent of the 42 patients examined said that television/media influences their decision to persue a cosmetic surgery procedure.” Think about it. Four out of five people surveyed who got plastic surgery used so-called “reality” television programming in part to make their decision. That should scare the hell out of us, mostly because the “reality” shown in many of these programs doesn’t even remotely reflect the reality of plastic surgery. Whether you are watching the recently-canceled “Extreme Makeover” on ABC, or “Dr. 90210” on E!, or MTV’s “I Want A Famous Face”, all these programs are about entertainment and ratings. They are about keeping eyeballs— even the ones with droppy eyelids or dark bags under them— watching. These programs are pure entertainment. They are about diverting us from the sometimes mundane and painful realities of our own lives. I watch them for just that reason, and I’m sure many others do as well.

But here’s the catch. If four out of five people surveyed said they were influenced in some significant way by a purely entertainment-based show about cosmetic surgery, that is scary stuff. When a program is about entertainment, drama and obsessed with ratings, being informative and educational can be a real drag. Think about it. Reality based shows about plastic surgery have to cut out the “boring” stuff, yet it is the “boring” stuff that can be the most informative and educational with a topic like plastic surgery.

According to Dr. John Persing, one of the co-authors of the study and a plastic surgeon at Yale University, “Some of the shows don’t even focus on the surgery or the patients. They focus on the personal aspects of the surgeons’ lives.”

The other “boring” stuff these programs don’t focus on are the psychological profiles of the people who get plastic surgery in them. Who is a candidate, who is not, and why? BORING! (Yes, but isn’t that important for us to know?) What about the cosmetic surgeries done on these programs that don’t turn out that well and distort some of their appearance to the point where a whole range of emotional and psychological issues are raised? (BORING!) I don’t know about you, but I would want to know about that stuff.

Look, not all plastic surgery programs on TV are bad. In fact, there are some that are especially educational and informative, like the Discovery Channel’s “Plastic Surgery: Before and After”. But again, those programs are not designed to be especially entertaining or create a fun diversion to us. It’s the exception, because it’s intended to teach and give us a graphic and much fuller picture of what cosmetic surgery is all about.

Let’s face it; most people don’t get plastic surgery solely because of these reality TV programs. These programs are part of the much larger societal trend, which promotes physical perfection and pushes people to look a lot better than they actually do. But overall, these programs don’t help. They contribute to this unhealthy trend. There’s nothing wrong with cosmetic surgery if it’s done by the right doctor to the right patient for the right reasons. But when you have 15-year-old girls obsessed about getting breast augmentation or a nose job, or wanting to look more like J.Lo or Jennifer Aniston, that should be enough reason for all of us to be concerned. I say, the vast majority of so-called reality shows about plastic surgery only makes it worse for impressionable kids, and not to mention particularly insecure adults. Like I said, sometimes it the “boring” stuff that we need to learn most about, particularly when we’re making such life altering decisions.

For more on MSNBC Media Analyst Steve Adubato’s insight on the role of reality television in plastic surgery, tune in to The Today Show on August 1st at 7:30am on NBC.

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