ABC’s show True Beauty poses the question: Can someone who is [supposedly] beautiful on the outside, be beautiful on the inside as well? Normally I wouldn’t watch something as completely silly as this but on a Monday night at 10PM what else are you going to do? The premise of the show is simple, take about a dozen people (who think they’re hot) and put them into ridiculous situations which would anger anyone, and see if they get angry. The idea is, if someone isn’t courteous, polite, patient, or intelligent enough, they aren’t a “True Beauty” but is that true?
Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, just because a woman has a perfectly symmetrical face (or lack thereof, depending on the circumstances) doesn’t mean that they are any more or less beautiful than the next woman. The folks from True Beauty were treated to a day at a SPA (which was basically a plastic surgeon’s office) where he claimed that he could scientifically assign them a beauty score between 1 – 100. The beauty score routine was basically a ploy to make the contestants feel bad about themselves so America could get a kick out of it. You know, bring them down a notch.
Before I go any further I would like to indicate that I personally believe the “doctor” that was on the show is a complete wack-job and that his scientific method is no more than his own opinion. The other problems I have with this show is, are they trying to say people who don’t have perfect bodies always have to be nice? and how exactly are they defining inner beauty? The three judges don’t look like they would know inner beauty if it came up and dropped a Xenical bomb in their laps.
A couple of scenes involving one of the male contestants “C.J.” seemed intent on trying to add a sense of realism to the surreal by having him expose (early on, no less) that he used to be the “fat kid”. “C.J.” also seems to have the biggest problem believing that the quack doctor can “scientifically” measure beauty but the “judges” were quick to silence one of the most interesting parts of the show.
The good news, friends is that 10 PM on a Monday night is just about the most buried time slot on TV, if ABC thought they had a hit on their hands True Beauty would’ve been ran at either 8 or 9 PM in the middle of the week. Also, don’t forget The Biggest Loser: Couples starts tonight on NBC.
-Drew
