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Archive through April 09, 2004

The TVClubHouse: Other Reality Shows: Archives for 2004-1: The Swan: ARCHIVES: Archive through April 09, 2004 users admin

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Whoami
Member

08-03-2001

Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 9:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
So, did anybody watch this?

I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. Seems sad that a woman (or anyone, for that matter) has to base so much of their self-worth on their looks.

Karuuna
Member

08-31-2000

Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 9:06 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I watched, Who. I have mixed feelings too. I was very worried about the mental health of that one gal, Kelly?. But she seemed to fine at the end, and what a tremendous family she has.

I have to admit the outer transformations were absolutely amazing. they really did not look like they were the same women. But geez, what they had to go thru to get there!

Dahli
Member

11-27-2000

Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 9:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Not sure how I feel either, something sad about the whole issue and how beautiful women are supposedly so much more valued - when I've heard that even supermodels feel insecure, seems to be the wrong direction for building these women into something to be proud of.... perhaps helping them learn to be accomplished and continue in that line would be less commercially viable but infinitely more valuable in creating true self esteem

Tabbyking
Member

03-11-2002

Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 10:38 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
not sure how i feel, either. right now, i am looking at this as more like the 'extreme makeover' show. the 'swan' name is, of course, to make us think of 'ugly duckling' and no one is truly ugly if they have a beautiful heart. so that part bothers me.
another thing--only one woman is 40 years old and most are in their mid-20's. it hardly seems they gave life a chance before they felt they had to be physically attractive to be 'worthwhile'.

and as for the one who never could reach her husband and then when she did, he had nothing to say (in 3 weeks?! it would be so easy and 'normal' for him to ask how she was feeling and to say he missed her).... i would be tempted to tell him i was leaving him. i had this 'gut' feeling her being away was just time for him to play. i hope he finds her drop-dead gorgeous and she tells him to just drop dead :-)
okay, i do not mean to badmouth men in general. i certainly don't mean all men are awful, but this man just didn't seem to care for his wife at all.

on the other hand, these women didn't seem to much care for themselves before, either.
i must have missed something. did one gal actually say her dad told her teachers 'not to expect much out of' her?! how horrid!


Sunshinemiss
Member

08-11-2001

Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 11:11 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I had to put my son to bed and missed the end of the show- who won? (if you can use that term, as I am also conflicted about the moral issues this show presents).. but, I did start watching, and now am REALLY curious.

Is this episode going to be repeated? I know there's been a lot of that recently, especially with first episodes of reality shows (to get you hooked I'm sure...and how well it works!)

Jhezzie
Member

07-05-2001

Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 11:13 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Kind of a creepy-ass show, you know? Not a whole lot of ethics spread amongst those doctors. While the transformations were really amazing, these women don't seem to have realistic expectations on what their lives will be like after. I also kind of raised an eyebrow when this doctor talked about the point was getting into the pageant. Great reason for major surgery.

Scorpiomoon
Member

06-06-2002

Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 11:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I only caught about two minutes of this show and immediately turned the channel. The part I saw was a woman standing in front of a mirror with the host. The host said something like, "YOu said you had been having problems with your husband for the last few months. What do you think he'll say when he sees you now?"

I found that truly disturbing. What does that say? Plastic surgery is the answer to all marital problems? Without having a more healthy self-esteem, these women are going to be really psychologically confused. Not only do they have their past baggage, but then they have to deal with the stress of being on TV and then have to deal with the aftermath of surgery--like the reactions of other people.

Good God. And we're supposed to gain pleasure from watching this?

Seamonkey
Member

09-07-2000

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 1:48 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I think this is even worse than extreme makeover and frankly just one long long commercial for cosmetic surgery.. I bet the cosmetic dentistry, personal training, plastic surgery, etc industry is gaining tons of publicity and money over this type of show and unfortunately many people will end up with quacks instead of the very good people ..

And the whole idea of then competing in a pageant is nauseating to me.

I taped it and it is running and I cannot really.. it just isn't holding my attention.



Seamonkey
Member

09-07-2000

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 1:51 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I just heard one doctor talk about giving someone an "alluring" face.. not balanced, or appropriate but "alluring" and then one talking about one being at great risk for depression.. HELLO?? Dude, that is the one that ethically you should have declined to work on.. bleh..

Seamonkey
Member

09-07-2000

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 1:54 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
oh and Kelly is "whining and deprressed.. we have to go see her.. and the doctor is mocking her, and the host is saying kelly has to "pull herself together" and Rachel can't get her husband on the phone. This is seriously worse than Extreme makeover where people seem to have great and supportive families..

Seamonkey
Member

09-07-2000

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 1:59 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
OK, I get the idea that the doctors and the host don't really LIKE these women, and I'm not finding either of them very appealing .. personality wise..

Kady
Member

07-30-2000

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 4:54 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I was gonna watch but real life interupted so I only caught the reveals. The women looked pretty but egads at the makeup. It was like a dozen people standing there that worked on her...I hate to think it would take that many people to make me look beautiful.

This show will be put on my "I got better things to do than watch this crap" list.


Luvmykitties
Member

01-02-2004

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 5:53 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I had mixed feelings as well.

I watch a lot of plastic surgery shows that are on the Discovery Channels. I find it interesting. I haven't seen Extreme Makeover, but I did catch the MTV one a couple of times. (which MTV doesn't pay for. the people shown pay their own surgeries and MTV follows them through "the journey") I don't really like the MTV one since it's young people trying to make themselves over to look like a celebrity.

Something about The Swan kind of disturbs me. THe fact that there's a beauty pagent afterwards bothers me. And what happens to the women after they lose in the pagent? I wonder how their self-esteem will be then?
If the show was just about making over people and raising their confidence and self-esteem (through VARIOUS ways - not just plastic surgery) I think it wouldn't bother me as much.

that being said; I thought the first woman revealed looked fantastic. it sounds like she really worked herself and I was hoping that she "won".

The other one with the blond hair - has emotional problems and I wish they would have worked on that more than her hair! Also, I didn't find her "transformation" that spectacular. Maybe it was the way they did her makeup and hair. Her eyes looked droopy.
I think the biggest difference was her self tan evening out her complexion!

And I was wondering why they did the plastic surgery BEFORE the women starting working out and losing weight. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

I don't think I'll be following this show.

Enbwife
Member

08-14-2000

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 8:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I liked this show. I'll watch it. I always find the reveals truly amazing. I hope the one that won dumps her hubby in a second!!

March
Member

10-02-2003

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 8:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I am with the rest of you on this one.
They do all this work on them and then at the end of the show it's like they are telling one of them that "we did you all over but you are still not pretty enough for our pagent".


Vsmart
Member

02-10-2003

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 9:36 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Diet, exercise, makeup, hair color, dress & shrink would have made these women "shine" without plastic surgery. Look at the before & after of those on "What Not to Wear" and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". This was a half hour show that was stretched out too long. Boring.

Fabnsab
Member

08-07-2000

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 12:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I liked it. I don't see anything wrong with what they do with these women. The women signed up for the show because of the way they feel. The show didn't recruit them.

I compare it to stripping. Some women find it demeaning for the women but they are grown adults who choose their own paths and I have no problem with it, just like I don't have a problem with these women wanting to take a chance to feel better about themselves.

The show gives them therapy to help work through their issues. I can't put myself in their place- waking up everyday and thinking you are so ugly that people stare or make fun of you or judge you. I hope they get what they're seeking through this change. Lots more therapy will be needed but I think the show is the first step for them.

I think Kelly didn't work as hard because she knows deep down that her family loves her no matter what so they'll still accept little flaws whereas Rachel feels she NEEDED to work so hard to prove to her husband and father that she is worth something. Like an act of desperation. Just the sheer motivation and will power she exhibited will do wonders to her self worth.

Not1worry
Member

07-30-2002

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 6:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I watched it and found it to be on the same level with Extreme Makeover. At least they have emotional therapy for these women. I don't quite get the whole beauty pageant thing. That makes it seem like a contest between the surgeons on who can turn out the best product. Whoever did Kelly's hair should be fired. It was awful and made her look much worse. A softer color and a less fake style would have helped immensely.

Fabs, I think you are right about Kelly's motivations.

Seamonkey
Member

09-07-2000

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 6:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
But many people who go to doctors asking to be altered are turned away by the ethical doctors because they really cannot handle and cannot really safely consent.. so saying "they signed up for this".. ethically, some should not be included.. this is body altering.

Luvmykitties
Member

01-02-2004

Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 9:14 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Here's an article from the TV Guide (Watercooler section) I found that pretty much sums up the way I feel:

The Swan
Fox's latest reality abomination plays like Frankenstein meets Extreme Makeover. Weepy, homely women agree to undergo complete surgical and psychological reconstruction for a spot in a season-ending beauty pageant and nobody is protesting? This is the Poor Self-Image Olympics here, folks! The opener's first two victims, er... patients... er, contestants are a sad-sack with an inattentive husband and a basket case who needs more work upstairs than out front. The big reveal, as these shows are so fond of touting, delivers the ladies looking like a pair of low-end porn stars with puffy wax lips and, as my blessed-with-natural-beauty roomie gasped, "plastic freak faces!" It will be interesting to see what lasts longer: the show, or the nerve-paralyzing Botox that kept winner Rachel from actually expressing her excitement.


-----------------------
I sincerely hope that the women that go through this come out feeling better - for the long run.

Carrie92
Member

09-15-2003

Friday, April 09, 2004 - 12:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
But how are they going to feel better after reading what TV Guide thinks of them?

I'm not sure how I feel about this show, either.
I am impressed that there is a therapist they have to visit regularly. On a FOX show? That's saying something.

I'm happy if these women are happy. Sure they could have found happiness in their own lives, but if the world around them is calling them ugly how else are they supposed to feel?
I do hope that Rachel ditches her <el> husband. <el> I've never had a phone convo like that with my husband. We talk on the phone everyday while he's at work, just to say Hi, how's your day type stuff, but there's never nothing to say. And my husband would never call me average either (not that I'm not!).

Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Friday, April 09, 2004 - 12:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I actually enjoyed the show. Not the beauty pagent aspect of it but the makeover part. And I like the fact that it seems like these women are getting counseling so they are getting help for their inside as well as their outside. It's truly amazing what surgery can do.

Karuuna
Member

08-31-2000

Friday, April 09, 2004 - 12:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Kelly was on ET last night, and while I didn't see very much of it, she seemed much more stable than she did on the show. She has also continued to lose weight and seems to have a good attitude. I think it's fair to say the show did some positive things for her.

Luvmykitties
Member

01-02-2004

Friday, April 09, 2004 - 1:19 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Kelly did look and seem a lot better last night.

See - now if that was what the show was all about, I would like it.
I'm not into the Beauty Pagent aspect of it.

Additionally, I'd love to see a show that does all of the other things first - weight loss, diet, exercise, make over, therapy.
THEN do the plastic surgery. (if necessary at that point)

I think the makeup, tan/bronzer (which evens out the "flaws" on the skin), and weight loss made a big difference alone.
Of course they made the women look as frumpy as possible for the "before"


I haven't watched Extreme Makeover yet. What is the premise for that? Maybe that is what I'm describing?


Mizinvanccouver
Member

02-22-2003

Friday, April 09, 2004 - 1:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I too have mixed feelings about this show. By the end of the show I was in tears for these women! I'm not sure if I was happy, sad, mad, overwhelmed...it was a whole combination that's for sure!

I noticed Kelly's personality didn't match her exterior upon the reveal but I think now that she's seen herself she will grow into it and make it her own with her own 'style'.

Was it just me or did any of you feel as I did at the end of the show? I was thinking I need to get this done, that done... Then suddenly during a commercial I was thought to myself what the hell am I thinking??!! I should be fortunate of what I do have and not let my insecurities get the best of me!

I was amazed & ashamed how easily sucked into this show I. The way the panel talks to them is appalling; yet I sit and watch!

I really hope the winner...now I can't remember her name...the redhead... leaves her <> husband!! <> She deserves better than that!!