Guys and Gals, Please take note for your own good!
HBO probes plastic surgery disasters By Randee Dawn
Sun Jun 4, 11:16 PM ET
For years, airbrushed magazine photos and such TV shows as ABC's "Extreme Makeover" and Fox's "The Swan" have turned remaking yourself into an attainable magic brought with the flick of a scalpel or the brush of a suction hose. Reality, however, tends to intrude, as HBO's hour-long documentary "Plastic Disasters" points out in graphic detail.
Intercutting the stories of three unfortunates who wanted relatively minor tweaks (a face-lift, liposuction and a nose job) "Disasters" leads viewers through nightmares of ruinous results beyond anyone's imagination. The tone is blunt and frank but not exploitative: One woman, best thought of as a survivor rather than a beneficiary, volunteers her shark attack-like scars to the camera.
"Disasters" is not dinnertime viewing; surgery scenes are gory and frequent. But they are worth acknowledging even with averted eye, to convey the message that plastic surgery is surgery -- with no promises of results or guarantee of repair of mistakes. As one patient notes toward the end, "Looking back on it, that little bump on my nose wasn't really such a bump at all." "Disasters" is a vividly cautionary tale that should be required viewing for anyone contemplating voluntary plastic surgery today.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
