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People, CNN, USA Today

Debate Rages About Renee Zellweger’s New Look: Did Happiness Do It? Should We Care?

Oct 22, 2014  •  Post A Comment

Social media has been on overdrive this week after Academy Award-winning actress Renee Zellweger hit the red carpet at an event in Beverly Hills on Monday and revealed a new look.

The big surprise is that her face didn’t look like the Renee Zellweger that most of us are used to seeing. Many speculated on social media that she had had some plastic surgery. In response, Zellweger, 45, told People magazine earlier today, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014, in an exclusive, that she thought the discussion was “silly,” but she had decided to release a statement to People because “it seems the folks who come digging around for some nefarious truth which doesn’t exist won’t get off my porch until I answer the door.”

A key portion of Zellweger’s statement says: “I’m glad folks think I look different! I’m living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I’m thrilled that perhaps it shows.”

Her statement set off even more discussion.

Writes CNN correspondent Kelly Wallace on CNN’s website, “I happen to agree with Renee Zellweger that all the chatter about her face is ‘silly.’

“But I, and many other women I talked with via email Wednesday, would add some other choice words to the mix to describe the non-stop attention about her appearance following her first red carpet event in years: nasty, cruel, hurtful, invasive and sexist.

“Why do we, the public, feel so free to pick apart the appearance of a woman who is aging in the public eye? What does this say about us and how we treat and value women?”

Later in her piece Wallace writes, “I’ve written story after story about how we want to do everything we can to build up confidence in our girls and remove any notion that their worth is connected to their appearance. So, what kind of message does all this talk about Zellweger’s face and whether she did or did not use plastic surgery send to our daughters and our sons?”

Ann Oldenburg, on the website of USA Today, talks about what she says is this “pop culture” debate about Zellweger and then poses the question: “So could happiness actually account for her new look?”

She quotes people who support both sides of the issue. For example, she quotes a website that says, “With increasing blood flow to the skin, being in a happy relationship gives your skin cells nutrients and oxygen to make you look physically younger.”

Oldenburg adds, “Katherine Woodward Thomas, author of ‘Calling in “The One”’ and founding faculty member of the Evolving Wisdom institute, which is devoted to inspiring and encouraging enlightenment, says yes. ‘Falling in love floods our bodies with hormones. Any of us who have really fallen in love know that people say, “You look great! What happened?”‘”

Oldenburg also quotes plastic surgeons who think Zellweger has had some plastic surgery.

Furthermore, the Oldenburg piece includes this: “[Kathie Lee Gifford, on Wednesday’s ‘Today’ show,] declaring Zellweger ‘beautiful,’ threw down the feminism card. ‘We all say we’re so for feminism, which is a woman’s choice to do what she wants with her own body. What about if she wants to go to spa? Or get her eyes done? I’m not saying she’s had any of these things done. But that’s her prerogative. Let her be! Don’t be so mean-spirited about these things.’ ”

If you are interested in reading more about this debate we urge you to click on the links in this item, which will take you to the original articles.

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Renee Zellweger has a new look, as seen in this TV footage of her walking the red carpet at an event in Beverly Hills earlier this week

7 Comments

  1. hellow my frends

  2. She looks beautiful ,what ever makes her feel better about her self ,is OK in my book ,,P.S. love her first name! From a careing friend Renee Lorince 🙂

  3. its Cosmetic Surgery and doesn’t look anything like the way she looked. Maybe she’s(its?) really a Mexican or Colombian Drug Lord

  4. At the very heart of this, it goes far beyond the exterior. It goes to the very core of how we see ourselves spiritually (or perhaps how we really donot see ourselves at all). Through who’s eyes do we see ourselves? Through our own eyes? Through our partner’s/family’s eyes? Through society’s eyes? Usually it’s a combiation of “all of the above.” However, when we decide to alter our looks to such a degree, as to not even look like ourself, there can be no mistake about it: we donot like who we are, & are attempting to change who we believe & perceive ourselves to be, by changing how we look on the outside. Unaware, of course, that eventually, our “new look” will grow old as well. ….Only to be back at square one. If only Renee could see herself through the eyes of the one who made her: God. She would then realize that she needn’t change a thing. But simply blossom more & more into the beautiful & unique person that she already is -& has been all along. My prayer for Renee is that she finds her way beyond all the illusions, distractions & hype; these things which corrode life & turn

    cor

    of the above.” However, when anyone of us departs rom what nature has

  5. Let’s call a spade a spade for goodness sake. She didn’t “age in the public eye” she aged outside the public eye. She’s been barely visible since she and Bradley Cooper broke up several years ago. And at that time she still looked like Rene Zellweger. She is virtually unrecognizable right now. Meryl Streep still looks like herself – Diane Keaton still looks like herself. Those are two women who started on the big screen many years ago and have not had appreciable work done on their faces and could still be picked out of a line-up as themselves. I do believe that what a woman or man, for that matter, chooses to do with their bodies is their own business. But let’s not take leave of our senses here. Her face has drastically changed. Her cheeks are in a different place, her eyebrows are in a different place, her nose is a different shape, her forehead has so much more “head” and zero wrinkles. Her hairline is higher. It’s not just a matter of her hair being a different shade or that she’s in love. Her skin is a different color, she’s prematurely tan or something. She may be happy and I couldn’t be more happy for her. She deserves happiness. But she has clearly rearranged her face. It’s not surprising we’re agog. Let’s just be honest about what endorphins can do for a girl. She has made herself look years older than she is (or perhaps she previously made herself look years younger with some assistance from injectibles and a good dermatologist.) Whatever she’s done — it isn’t love. It’s either chemical or surgical.

  6. “Did Happiness Do It? Should We Care?” – Who knows … Why should we care..

  7. Renee who had a very distinctive look now looks like anyone else who went under the scalpel and Botox treatment. Its now a face you can easily forget. The big question is will this affect her acting ability.

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