I’m going to beat the anti plastic surgery dead horse just one more time. (Well, maybe not the last time.)
Did you guys here about the little Chinese girl who was deemed not cute enough to sing at the opening ceremonies for the Olympics? The seven year old girl had a beautiful voice, but Chinese authorities used a “prettier” little girl to lip sync the song.
This from the Associated Press:
The real voice behind the tiny, pigtailed girl in the red dress who wowed 91,000 spectators at the National Stadium on opening night really belonged to 7-year-old Yang Peiyi. Her looks apparently failed the cuteness test with officials organizing the ceremony, but Chen said her voice was judged the most beautiful.
“The national interest requires that the girl should have good looks and a good grasp of the song and look good on screen,” said Chen Qigang, the ceremony’s chief music director. “Lin Miaoke was the best in this. And Yang Peiyi’s voice was the most outstanding.”
So, what’s more important? Getting the job done, aka, singing? Or looking pretty?
For the sake of China’s standing in the world, beauty won out. Chen isn’t even embarrassed to talk about the dishonest switcheroo.
This story is unnerving, no? Makes us feel a bit sick inside, no?
The U.S. media is up in arms that China would do such a thing, put a little girl’s looks above her talent.
Well, we Americans shouldn’t throw stones.
There’s a bunch of people in this country trying to look like pretty, little 7 year old girls through the wonders of surgery.
The cover of New York magazine this week has a close up of Madonna’s face pointing out all the sections they claim she was sliced and diced to get “The New New Face.”
All these movie stars want to look like fresh, faced little girls — even the Material Girl who made a career on going against the grain and not giving a F what other people thought. (Maybe if she spent as much time in the studio as she reportedly spends on the operating table, she might have a new hit.)
So let’s not be that surprised if the Chinese are putting on a pretty face. They’ve learned from the best, American society.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:45 am
It’s sad, really, that humankind is so caught up in appearances. Can’t we all think of at least one time where we made a judgment based on appearances, only to regret it later.
I feel sorry for the young vocalist. I think she’s adorable. I bet most view her that way, too.
It really is a reflection of our culture (and, increasingly, our culture is not so far out of step with the overarching consumer culture that is blanketing the globe). Just think of all of the catalogs and commercials you’ve ever seen. I rarely see average looking folks in them (though some fleet and farm supply companies do a better job of representing other body types in their print ads, the faces are almost always picture perfect regardless of the body type).
August 14th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I thought the little girl was adorable too. But there definitely was a difference between them. The one they used as the front girl had that cutesy, beauty pageant kid look.