Entertainment

The Plastics Are Back...And It's Frightening

by Caroline Pate

A man who spent $100,000 on plastic surgery to look like Justin Bieber, a woman who spent $25,000 on plastic surgery to look like Jennifer Lawrence, and a former RuPaul's Drag Race contestant who spent thousands on plastic surgery to look like Madonna walk into a plastic surgeon's office... and make a music video. Toby Sheldon, Kitty Jay, and Venus D'lite have formed a sort of supergroup of people who've gotten plastic surgery to look like celebrities, called themselves "The Plastics," and released a music video of their new song, also called "The Plastics." And boy, is it terrifying.

The song itself is already auto-tuned within an inch of its life. But that's understandable — if there's anything that embraces The Plastic's theme of aesthetics over authenticity, it's auto-tune, the plastic surgery of music. But what's really chilling about the song isn't the quality of the music... it's everything else.

Sheldon, Jay, and D'lite frolic around the office of a real plastic surgeon like it's a day at the beach, giggling between Botox shots. The lyrics offer praise for the wonders of plastic surgery, glossing over the pain — as one of D'lite's verses says, "I got my butt done/each cheek, it was painful/but it was worth it/all this beauty, hey, isn't shameful."

It's easy to poke fun at the video and the song, and certainly a lot of people will. But peel back some of the overproduced silliness, and you'll find something more than a little depressing. Like the Mean Girls they aim to imitate, The Plastics reflect the rampant insecurity many people feel as teenagers. But instead of using Prada backpacks and Fendi sunglasses as status symbols, this crew uses silicone implants and shaped noses. There's nothing wrong with plastic surgery in and of itself — it's an incredibly personal choice people make about their bodies, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse — but treating it as a trendy accessory instead of a weighty and painful procedure is dangerous.

Image: GR Media/Youtubbe