Ashley Tisdale’s most recent statement is that she is happy with her “new nose.”Tisdale is one of the stars of Disney’s High School Musical movies, with which you are somewhat familiar if you have a teenage daughter or have wandered through a Target or other department store recently, where branded merchandise for the movies fills up the doll and school supplies aisles.
In late November, according to her statements, the actress underwent surgery for a deviated septum to correct breathing problems she was suffering, not to get a rhinoplasty. The result also led to a change in the appearance of her nose. Unfortunately, many of the actress’ fans reacted negatively to the new shape of the nose, which is narrower. At first, she also apparently did not like her nose, and she was also afraid she would be unable to make it as expressive as her old one. Now, though, she has gotten accustomed to it, and the hope is that her fans will, too.
One of the main questions I think it is reasonable to ask here is: why are we so engaged by things like the nose job of a minor celebrity? There are two possible answers to this question, one cynical, one sincere. The cynical answer is that we’re manipulated to be concerned about such things, that the placement of stories like this in the news media is designed to make us gravitate to media figures that are being groomed for (super)stardom. These people will be promoted in many venues for as long as they can be made profitable, then dumped to make room for the next major figure.
The sincere answer is that in the modern age, when people are surrounded by a crush of strangers all around, we need familiar faces to give us a sense of community, and so of course we feel a deep engagement in the state of these faces. For most of our history, human beings lived in small communities, wandering across often-strange landscapes. The things you knew, the things you could rely on, were often embodied in the faces of the prominent members of your group: the wisdom of the matriarch, the strength of the hunter, the spirit of the leader, the beauty of youth. Although not many of us would probably be prepared to attribute archetypal status to Ashley Tisdale, the point is that we often can’t make that choice. Our mind makes it for us, applying the concrete image of a familiar face to concepts for which the mind has only vague notions.
For those whose image of youthful beauty suffered an unexpected nose job, I’m sorry, but you are probably happier than those who lost the spirit of the leader.
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