Stop Plastic Surgery Shaming!

So Renée Zellweger has made all the headlines today as she was photographed looking slightly different than the Bridget Jones we have come to know and love (I still laugh out loud every time at that point in the film when she is in the hotel foyer after her head scarf flew off in the open top car). Yes, her face did look different, but who cares? Apparently everyone should care, magazine and blogs have had professional plastic surgeons commenting on what she could have had done, before and after pictures flood my Facebook wall and Twitter feed and even some news channels have picked up the story. However, I ask you 'Why do you care?'. I mean who is she hurting, how will this affect anyone's life and what the hell does it have to do with you?

For years and years we have picked apart anyone who has dared to go under the knife to improve their appearance, whether it to fight the signs of ageing or to change the shape and size of certain features. In my own opinion I have always thought that if it's your body then do what the hell you want with it. We all have things that we would change about ourselves, go ahead and ask even the most secure friend on your contact list and I bet my life savings that they would change something. We live in a world where everything still isn't enough. We all want more than what we have, not selfishly - it's human nature.

I for one stand up and applaud anyone that had the balls to go and change something about themselves that they weren't happy with. If I had unlimited funds I would literally have a never ending list of surgeries I require, I am only 26 and that list will multiply with every birthday. Yet we can't understand when someone in the public eye does something about their insecurities. Heidi Montag (of The Hills fame) famously had multiple surgeries in one day to fix everything she wasn't happy with, and all we did was laugh, scoff and insult. You really think she needed to hear that? Some of those surgeries are irreversible, she is stuck with them - but we didn't care, instead we chose to mock. I thought she was beautiful before and beautiful after, she didn't lose any Heidi - she just changed her appearance.

We all do little things everyday to change our appearance before we step out the door, whether it be straighten our hair, add a bit of make-up, tan our skin, whiten our teeth, put on a push-up bra - the list is endless. Yet we scorn people that make permanent fixes. I don't care if people go on to make money from their surgeries, more power to them. Launch a modelling career with your new boobs - I don't care. All that matters is that that person is happy.

Renée Zellweger had the perfect response to anyone chatting shit about her new look (not that she had to say anything at all):

 "Perhaps I look different. Who doesn't as they get older?! But I am different. I'm happy."

My argument for why Olivia Pope is quite possibly the best Leading Lady of all time.

I often unashamedly admit my love for the leading lady too many times. I just have such an affection for women who lead a show, who are the matriarchs of their own world. These women can be lawyers, mothers, teachers, TV executives, deputy directors of Park and Recreation, doctors, nurses; they can be anything they want and still  be the most powerful person, the most dramatic person, the strongest person, the most vulnerable person.

Shows that feature a female lead have multiplied over the last decade, in fact for the first time ever the biggest night on American TV (Thursday) on one of the biggest networks (ABC) there are 3 shows all dedicated to the lives of women. We should take a moment to bow our heads to the Queen that is Shonda Rhimes who wrote all 3 of them (Scandal, Grey's Anatomy and How to Get Away With Murder).

However I am not here to talk about all the leading ladies in my life, I am here to talk about one in particular - Olivia Pope. Played by the beautiful, talented Kerry Washington. I will stand up and say that she is the most well written female characters of all time. Olivia is what is known as a 'Fixer', she takes on people's problems and makes them go away, although these aren't any small problems - we are talking about world wide scale political scandals. She puts her neck on the line every time she takes on a client, she saves lives and reputations. However she isn't one without her own scandal - she did have an affair with the President of the United States for quite some time. We can't be mad at her for this though, at the end of the day she is still human - she has needs just like the rest of us.

What I love the most about Olivia is her humanity, yes she fixes problems for some of the worst people in politics but she doesn't do it without letting them know exactly how she feels. No one gets away scot free. She will show her disgust if she is disgusted, but she will show her sympathy if she feels for the person. She has one of the most level heads in the game, she sees what people see and what people want to see. My favourite moments of hers is when she breaks, when she shows her emotions and she shows just when it gets too much. She maybe be a hero to a lot of people but she isn't super by any means. Her weaknesses are her family, her love affairs and her fellow Gladiators.

She can be forgiven for having weaknesses, for instance she must come from one of the most disturbed, fucked up TV families of all time. Her father is the commander of a secret government division that doesn't exactly follow the law, and her mother? Well, she is cold blooded killer. It's amazing Olivia came out so strong at all. Her Gladiators (co-workers) are a weakness to her because they have become her family now, they are the people she leans on and the ones she wants to help. Her relationship with Huck pulls at my heartstrings everytime. She takes broken people and builds them up again, and the love she develops can only be compared to that of a family. Then there is her other weakness - love. She is in love with the married President of the USA. They had their affair and it ended (or has it?!) They both need each other and they can't walk away.

I made quite a bold statement to say she is one of the most well written female characters of all time, but I will stand by it unless something goes dramatically bad. She breaks all the stereotypes, she creates a new president.

A scene from the last episode - the acting ability and strength of character floored me

Olivia and Huck

And please just for a second can we applaud the amazing costume designers of the show

The Craigy's 2014

It is that time once again ladies and gentleman.  Welcome to the 2014 Craigy's! An award celebrating the shows that may get overlooked or for the simple reason I love them. I feel over the years I have become an opinion on TV as I have put more hours into it then most will in their life time.

I have limited each category to 7 nominees each, this was tough as I feel I may have missed a few, but I am not as flawless - so take your drama outside.

Congratulations to all the winners.

 

All I Have To Do Is Dream

I have a real love/hate relationship with dreams. 

I can have the best dreams, the ones that make you wake up with a smile on your face, the ones that make you think about things. My mind can wander at the best of times, so when it is given full reign of my thoughts it just takes off. I have found myself in zombie attacks, hostage situations, Hollywood parties, TV shows (been a cast member of Keeping up with the Kardashians was a particular favourite) and so many more scenarios. I also have the dreams which show my normal life back to me with some highlights, I like these. I have the worst memory so its nice to see them played back in HD - it's like Emma Willis is showing me my 'best moments' after I left the Big Bro house.

Then there are the horrid ones, and I'm not actually talking about nightmares. I absolutely hate the dreams that show what you can't have. It makes sense you dream about them because at the late point in the night when it's just you and your thoughts left, it is what you think about (unless you are content in life I guess). For example I thought I was over a crush I had, then I had the dream - damn, kick in your crotch, spit on your neck fantastic. Dreams really do affect your day don't they? You can't stop thinking about them. You have those realisation moments where you realise it was just that - a dream. 

Dreams are a magical thing, if I start to think too much about them my face looks as puzzled as it did when I tried watching Game of Thrones for the first time. Like, how does the mind work? How are we able to think in our sleep when technically we are recharging? I am sure there is a medical/scientific reason behind it all but for right now I am going to go with the magic theory I have. I love a good dream, its a movie that only I get to see. I just wish you could pick which type you could get, like the Netflix homepage - pick which genre I fancy that night, because I tell ya I don't want any dreams like I had the other night about the crush - put me in a mood for at least 17 hours. 

'Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you' - Marsha Norman