If you haven't heard much about Heidi Montag [1] before, that's probably going to change. MTV's pseudo reality star has become a cautionary tale, and is facing a firestorm of critics after going under the knife for a staggering 10 different cosmetic procedures in a single sitting. The list ranged from a mini brow lift to a chin reduction to pinning her ears back to the predictable breast augmentation (her second).
“For the past three years, I've thought about what to have done,” Montag told People magazine [2] last week. “I'm beyond obsessed.”
And she finally revealed her new look today, appearing on ABC's “Good Morning America.” But she wasn't exactly met by a cheering crowd. Reporter Deborah Roberts, for example, called Montag's surgeries “frightening” and co-anchor George Stephanopoulos [3] felt sorry for her.
“I just think it's sad,” Stephanopoulos said. “I see a confused girl that doesn't know what she wants, what she is. It's just hard to watch.”
During the interview, GMA's Juju Chang [4] criticized Montag for the example she's setting for young girls [5].
“You are very much an idol to young girls,” said Chang. “You are on a cover of a magazine; you are a big name in
“Well, my main message,” Montag replied, “is that beauty is really within.”
But Chang wasn't letting Montag cop-out with that cliché.
“That may be your message,” she countered, “but that's not the message you're sending with all of this.”
“I'm in a limelight,” Montag argued. "I'm in a different industry [than they are], and I have to do things that are going to make me happy at the end of the day."
Chang, however, questioned whether Montag had even improved her appearances. Before the interview, she had randomly asked fans on the street what they thought of Montag's new look, and their responses were, well, as Chang put it: “harsh is an understatement.”
“A lot of these fans of 'The Hills,'” Chang told Montag, “said that … she had more personality in her face [before the surgery] because she had sort of a distinctive look, and now she looks like every other … “
“Barbie?” Montag finished. “I hope I get my own Barbie one day.”
“But you'd rather be Barbie than Heidi?” Chang replied.
“No,” Montag said. “I think I look like myself. I think I just look like a different, improved version of myself."
Montag also told a skeptical Chang that it's simply “God's timing” that she's revealed her new body at the same time that she'll begin promoting her (ironically titled) debut album, “Superficial.”
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