In a world dominated by social media, appearance is everything.
At a very young age, men and women are exposed to the romanticization of “perfect” physical features devoid of blemishes or stretch marks and are flawless and taut in every spot.
With this growing trend and normalization of cosmetic surgery, one veteran actress reminds future generations of what truly matters.
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, one of Hollywood’s most iconic stars, took to Instagram to push back against “hiding the reality”.
In her post, she shunned the “industry of hiding things.”
“In the world, there is an industry — a billion-dollar, trillion-dollar industry — about hiding things.” The caption said, “Concealers. Body-shapers. Fillers. Procedures. Clothing. Hair accessories. Hair products. Everything to conceal the reality of who we are.”
“And my instruction to everybody was: I want there to be no concealing of anything.” She continued, “I’ve been sucking my stomach in since I was 11, when you start being conscious of boys and bodies, and the jeans are super tight.”
The actress posted the caption under the photo of her character in her latest movie.
Curtis plays Deidre Beaubeirdra, an IRS auditor and one of the enemies of Michelle Yeoh’s character in the critically acclaimed Everything Everywhere All at Once.
The movie is about a laundromat owner who suddenly found herself in the midst of an interdimensional chase as she was filing her taxes.
“I very specifically decided to relinquish and release every muscle I had that I used to clench to hide the reality. That was my goal. I have never felt more free creatively and physically.” She said regarding her preparation for the role.
This was not the first time Curtis spoke against the cosmetic industry.
“The current trend of fillers and procedures, and this obsession with filtering, and the things that we do to adjust our appearance on Zoom are wiping out generations of beauty,” Curtis said, as quoted by US magazine. “Once you mess with your face, you can’t get it back.”
“We just don’t know the longitudinal effect, mentally, spiritually and physically, on a generation of young people who are in agony because of social media, because of the comparisons to others,” she further added.
When it comes to social media, Curtis shared her thoughts too.
She described it as “cancer”. According to US, she said that she only uses social media to sell things and give voice to her advocacies. She said that she doesn’t even read even one comment.
Her fight against the cosmetic industry stems from her own experience. In one of her movies, she shared that a staff member said, “‘I’m not shooting her today. Her eyes are too puffy.’” Curtis said that she had naturally puffy eyes.
This led her to surgeries. Then, she developed an addiction to Vicodin. She just recently celebrated 20 years of sobriety in 2019.
Now, she wants to break the negative image of aging.
“This word ‘anti-aging’ has to be struck. I am pro-aging,” she said during an event, as quoted by Yahoo! Sports. “I want to age with intelligence and grace and dignity and verve and energy.”
In a world where appearance seems to decide success, Curtis’ voice is a welcome oasis. And hopefully, as this fight transcends generations, we can veer away from the superficial and embrace what’s natural.