You saw it, I saw it. It's the picture that rocked a billion monitors today. A TMZ "reporter" is probably asking someone irrelevant about it right now.
Seems like everyone and their hairstylist has an opinion on Renee's new face and we've been plastering them on Twitter and Facebook all day. Everyone has forgotten one very important detail, though: Set delightfully in that "new" face are two pairs of eyes... Eyes that belong to a person who reads.
"But she should have known that part of celebrity life is being scrutinized," they say.
If you talked about Renee Zellweger on social media today, if you commented about her appearance or took a jab at her for getting a bad surgeon you're basically the equivalent of that girl who told the whole class you got your period in 7th grade. Renee will probably never see your comment, but the people who know and love you for being a caring, compassionate person sure did. Your mom saw it. Your cousin in Quebec saw it. Maybe your daughter saw it, too.
For a split second people in your life saw you talk about another person in a way that de-humanized them. Why do we feel like we have the right to discuss other people's choices anyway? I've certainly done it myself in the past. For the record, I'm very sorry, Heidi Montag!
My point to all of this is if we have any expectations of the internet being a better place someday, instead of the troll-infested death pit that it feels like at times, then we need to have higher expectations of ourselves. Before you write something nasty about a celebrity, a business or your mother-in-law, think about Renee Zellweger's face.
Think about the fact that every day Renee Zellweger has to get up and look in the mirror and think about the time the whole world wouldn't stop talking about her face. A face that she chose to alter after one-too-many people had one thing or another to say about. A person who works in an industry that, for some reason, the general public is encouraged to poke and prod like cattle for their own enjoyment. Renee Zellweger might be a good, compassionate, caring person just like you, but it doesn't matter because you'd rather talk about her face.
The internet isn't the problem, we're the problem with the internet.
(mic drop.)
Printer-friendly version