#Oscars-So-Plastic
At the 2024 Oscars, we were challenged to re-think and re-educate ourselves regarding feminism, bodyism, male stereotypes and misogyny – all under the bright pink banner of Barbie. Yet it felt like - never before has an award ceremony been so plastic and doll-like.
Putting aside (for a moment) other important issues regarding sexual, race and religious diversity, at Breaking The Rules we are saddened and angered by the plethora of plastic surgery, botox, distorted & starving bodies. It is well documented that the average actress (with a few notable exceptions) spends a lot of the year dieting, consuming Ozempic, having surgery and botox etc….. It was also highly notable this year how many men at the ceremony have had plastic surgery and equally treat their bodies like commodities.
The Oscar ceremony room feels like it lacks a deep humanity because the bodies and faces are so distorted.
At Breaking The Rules, we believe that everyone and anyone has the right to play and manage their bodies as they please if it is done through deep wellness, self-care, self-respect and holding others in mind. However, we protest against the blanket expectation and acceptance of denying ageing, reshaping the body so that it looks unwell and eradicating what makes humans human. It seems deeply tragic that the Oscars can celebrate a talent and performance of a women but, in the same breath, deny her the very female essence of having a body and face that looks like it breathes, eats, laughs, bleeds and has emotional feelings.
At Breaking The Rules we worry about this portrayal of humanity because it has a “bleed-out effect” where it has the potential to:
Make viewers (and others in the film industry) find an attraction, allure and normalcy to the plastic ,unwell body
Promote plastic surgery as a solution to simply having a body
Promote diet culture and extreme distortion of food consumption
Promote the idea that medicines are needed to “remedy” a well body to fit an ever changing aesthetic.
Plus, it must be so destructive and boring for the actors who – surely – want to get on with the job of acting and thriving in the film industry without having to manage their bodies to such an extreme extent. On a more political note: surely all the money spent on “rectifying” already perfect bodies could be better spent on charities and environmental causes – surely we would all profit from this!