Article July 19, 2004 Issue

My not-so-extreme spiritual makeover

By Carmen Trammell

AS THE BUSY MOTHER of three children, I rarely watch prime-time television. By the time everyone is fed and in bed, I usually have no interest in turning on the TV at all. Recently, though, I happened to catch ABC's "reality-based" program Extreme Makeover. The premise of the show is that men and women who are unhappy with their physical appearence are given total body makeovers that include extensive cosmetic surgery.

As I heard more about the show, I discovered that it had been a huge hit for ABC and that thousands of people had auditioned at casting calls. The popularity of this program caused me to wonder why so many people would be willing to go to such lengths to change their appearence, and whether their looks were truly the source of their unhappiness.

The Extreme Makeover website states: "These men and women are given a truly Cindrella-like experience: A real-life fairy tale in which their wishes come true, not just to change their looks, but their lives and destines." Those goals sound lofty, but I couldn't help but wonder just how likely these physical changes were to affect the participants over their lifetime. Wouldn't these people get old and gray like the rest of us? Might they one day feel less than perfect again?