A popular radio network, through a tweet, wanted to know how they should react to the change in Renée Zellweger's appearance. It invited answers by way of tweets (naturally) or calls to the local number. The responses ranged from the usual outrage to the unfunny ‘is that Zellweger or has someone stolen her face?
Now, in my rather unimportant opinion, I have never been fond of how Zellweger looked. In Cinderella Man , where she starred with Russell Crowe (who portrayed the heavyweight boxing champion James Braddock), I always wanted Crowe to punch her in the face — and it wasn’t just because of Zellweger's face, it was also her annoying expressions that her made look so pained even when she was supposed to be happy. (Okay, I’ll admit it was her face but it has been nine years since.)
For a minute let’s forget the real debate here: that people can choose what they want to do with their bodies as long as they’re not setting fire to it or applying cobra poison. The more exciting thing about Zellweger’s altered appearance is that it means more content for some websites and less working for some of us. So now we can take a quiz on ‘Which Renée Zellweger are you?’ and the results will now include a ‘Cosmetic surgery Zellweger — although you might be afraid of ageing, you are definitely not afraid to take risks. You get the world talking and how!’ Or ‘What the shape of your eyes says about you?’ or for the unsure ones, a ‘Which cosmetic surgery procedure would best suit your star sign’ and these things hardly only lie, right?
As women, we’ve grown up hearing “your body must meet these standards” or the less eloquent “you’re fat and ugly”. If people couldn’t recognise Zellweger, it’s because she spent less time in the public eye. Or because it really isn’t anyone’s damn business, not even radio stations that ask how they should react to such a thing.
