October 22, 2014

Does it bother you that Renee Zellweger doesn't look like Renee Zellweger anymore?

She's done something that has caused the most radical change in personal appearance since Jennifer Grey's nose job, and Jennifer Grey's nose job was clearly a nose job, so the puzzle was only about how much the nose affects the overall look of the face, not — as with Zellweger — about what was changed that caused such a radical overall change. But my question is in the post title. Possible answers:

1. No. You don't care. You don't care because you don't know this actress much or at all, and women in the business of making money through their faces are always doing one thing or another to their faces, and it really doesn't matter in the great scheme of things. What about Benghazi? What about ebola?

2. No. You don't care because Renee Zellweger made her mark as a young woman, edging out older women for the parts she got, and now the time has come for her to pay the price, to be edged out by someone younger. She's entering an entirely predictable phase, doing the various things that women do as they dig in their heels — their high heels — as time drags them over the finish line.

3. Yes. The woman always had a weird face, and I could always recognize her, which is not the way most actresses are in the movies these days. I can't enjoy movies too much when I can't tell the characters apart. Is that the same person that was in that other scene? I barely know. It's all so meaningless and generic. But Renee! Renee was somebody specific. Unmistakable. Now, she looks like every woman or maybe like that actress who used to be in a lot of things, maybe mostly as the main character's best friend, I can almost think of the name... damn... it's driving me crazy....

4. Yes. It's just terrible that women don't believe in the beauty of women as they age through the decades. Embrace the changes that come with age. Show us how that's done, if you have any character at all. Zellweger joins the chorus of celebrities who blare the message that only the young part of life has value and only unlined, unlived-in faces are worth our attention. And it doesn't even work, this plastic surgery and what-all. "There's nothing tragic about being fifty. Not unless you're trying to be twenty-five."

89 comments:

Mark said...

I will take Door #3

She was around my age, I found her desirable in a girl next door sort of way, she looked like a normal person not some model-bot.

Now I am not not sure which of the Scandinavian looking clone she is, as her nose and eyes look like someone else.

She can do whatever makes her happy, but while in the past she seemed desirable and possibly sexy now she looks like another actress torturing herself to look 20 forever. She can play all cold heartless botch roles now as the main lead got plastic surgeried away.

Barry Dauphin said...

She was the girl next door. Now her next door neighbors reside in Hollywood, so maybe she's still the girl next door.

Anonymous said...

2. No. You don't care because Renee Zellweger made her mark as a young woman, edging out older women for the parts she got, and now the time has come for her to pay the price, to be edged out by someone older.

to be edged out by someone YOUNGER?

Renee said...

Reminds of soap opera, when a character was played by several actors over a course of a decade or two. This though, in reverse.

pm317 said...

I think she has done something to her eyes..

Bob Boyd said...

This is all part of a super secret DARPA program called Big Eye.
Interestingly, Big Eye was on a brain-storming list of cutting edge type projects Ron Klain considered using in his big push to change the tone of Ebola news.
His plan was to push a story in some semi-techie news outlet, spin it as a new way we're making progress against Ebola, then tie it to the White House to make us all feel like they're on top of this in the smartest ways.
Big Eye, they were going to say, would allow Ebola patients to see their caretakers eyes better when they were wearing those creepy goggles and therefore feel comforted.
Kind of a stretch, right?
Anyway, they ended up going with the robot nurse instead.

Kelly said...

Hollywood is a terrible place for woman unless your name is Meryl Streep.

Brando said...

Don't care either way, but found the new photo jarring because I can't see any resemblence between it and her original face. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if this was a prank she pulled, getting another woman to pose as her.

If someone wants to have their face transformed, it's their business--whatever makes you happy. In her line of work, looks are incredibly important, so maybe this is intended to help her career. I can't fault anyone for doing that.

Ann Althouse said...

"to be edged out by someone YOUNGER?"

Thanks. Fixed.

Gary Kirk said...

Should I feel sorry for her, having to change all of her personal ID photos? All I have to do is type some numbers in a box to prove that I'm not a robot, not prove who I am.

Ann Althouse said...

"Hollywood is a terrible place for woman unless your name is Meryl Streep."

Why isn't it great for young women? New slots keep opening up.

We could feel sorry for the young guys, who have fewer openings as the same aging male stars get all the roles.

MayBee said...

She had a distinctive look, and I can see how maybe it was one that didn't age well or that she had insecurities about. But now she doesn't look like her, which will reset her career. Now, if she still wants to work, she'll need to get parts looking like *this* Renee Zellweger.

Which is maybe what she wanted, as her career hasn't really been on an upswing lately (that George Clooney football movie hurt her and Jim Krasinsky, but George still gets to be George)

tim in vermont said...

Maybe she had cheek implants before and lost them. Maybe she had a mandibular advancement. IDK.

What I do know is that somebody who got rich prancing around in front of cameras and pretending to be other people doesn't have a lot to complain about when people discuss how she looks.

Anymore than a professional basketball player who has lost a step can complain about criticism with any justice.

Ann Althouse said...

As in life, a few men get much, and most men are on the outs. Women get lots of opportunities, but mostly while young, and they don't get to amass great power as they go along.

There is good and bad for both sexes in the traditional structure.

B said...

Why do people put so much identity on the bag of skin they live in? If I woke up tomorrow as a totally different looking person, it wouldn't change who I am. So if changing the bag of skin you live in makes you a little happier, go for it.

PS Yes I've had plastic surgery

B said...

I just read on Reddit after being sheared, sheep don't recognize each other and fight to reestablish their identities. First thought was "what a dumb animal." Then I come here and people are tearing down Zellweger's identity because she changed her appearance. Now humans don't seem so superior.

Rumpletweezer said...

It just makes me sad. She was quirky attractive and now she just looks weird. Jennifer Grey's nose job made me sad as well. I suppose what really matters is if they're happy with their new look. I hear that Grey thinks it was a mistake.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Benghazi? Why mention Benghazi? Still smarting over your readers' near unanimous rejection of Hillary Rotten Clinton? Gee whiz, let it go already Althouse. So you love Hillary and we hate her- What difference does it make?

Will Cate said...

#1. Clearly she's had some work done around the eyes, but who cares? She looks just fine.

MathMom said...

A combination of 1 and 4. Squirrel!!! for #1, don't think about ISIS, Ebola, Enterovirus D68, TB being brought in by illegals - just think about Renee Z and wonder WTF??? and talk about it obsessively right through the election?

#4 because geez. Are there any American actresses that look interesting? I couldn't decide if she was Sarah Jessica Parker having put on a few pounds, or Robin Wright, or...a badly done wax reproduction for a museum in Las Vegas.

I watched a movie recently, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, in which Frances McDormand plays a frumpy nanny, with lines on her face, but oh, what an expressive face! She doesn't look like an 21-year-old. She looks interesting, and desperate, and lost, and hungry, and wise, and because she can move her face, you believe every little emotion that flits across it!

Can you imagine any American actress being able to play Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series? Maggie Smith, years ago, was Miss Jean Brodie, porcelain skin and enviable cheekbones. But now she has a nice, soft, lined face that moves any way she wants it to.

Renee Z will probably never work again.

sane_voter said...

It is jarring, seeing that change. And I wonder if she did it for new acting opportunities or if she is just has issues.

I googled her image to see what she looked like recently, before the big change, and she still looked good to my eyes. But what do I know.

Also, she is 45.

Rob said...

This is another reason why requiring photo ID"s for voting must be unconstitutional. It will have disparate impact on actresses who change their looks but are too addled to get a new ID.

Henry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bob said...

#2. She changed her eyes, which were her identifying feature. Now producers and directors will be thinking, this would have been a good role for Rene Zellweger, I always liked her look. Is it worth even having her test for the role now? She's probably so Botoxed that her face is a Kabuki mask now.

Bob Ellison said...

Meryl Streep, as Kelly said.

We'll all wonder how she did it when she's gone, which I trust is a long, long time from now. She's the best actor of the past few decades, by a long shot.

These youngsters don't act much. They tend to be like James Franco, who I assume is handsome. Or Brad Pitt. Or Jennifer Lawrence. Not hired for acting ability, but because the audiences eyes are naturally drawn to their faces.

Big Mike said...

The woman makes her living from her face, body, and acting skills. She is entitled to do whatever she wishes to improve any of those three. (But I think her former face was distinctive, and her new one not so much.)

Saint Croix said...

It's just terrible that women don't believe in the beauty of women as they age through the decades.

Beauty skews young because sex is about reproduction. Young people have babies. Old people do not. That's why men like younger women. It's why we like breasts. MIlk for babies. And this process is sexual, which means it's not very rational. For instance men who don't want children still like younger women with breasts. And when I say breasts I am thinking of C cups, not A cups.

We live in a culture where women have surgery to turn their A cups into C cups so men will have sex with them and impregnate them and abandon them and now we have another surgery to get rid of the baby. And repeat. And doctors make money on both ends of this madness.

Now I'm starting to think that Dr. Seuss is criticizing the medical profession. He's definitely attacking some kinda money-making asshole.

RecChief said...

4

Shanna said...

None of the above. It's creepy when people get surgery and no longer look like themselves. It's also creepy when people get too much plastic surgery in general, because then they kind of stop looking like people anymore.

Renee looks like a different person, completely, in a way you can't figure out, and she still has crows feet. I don't understand what she even did and am still waiting to hear that this is actually all a hoax. When that one lady got a nose job, she looked different but she still looked like herself.

Freeman Hunt said...

These youngsters don't act much. They tend to be like James Franco, who I assume is handsome. Or Brad Pitt. Or Jennifer Lawrence. Not hired for acting ability, but because the audiences eyes are naturally drawn to their faces.

But those are all excellent actors.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I will take Door #3 and it applies to today's actors too.

And Renee will always be a hottie IMO.

Shanna said...

Hollywood is a terrible place for woman unless your name is Meryl Streep

The only thing I remember from The First Wives club is Goldie Hawn saying there are three ages in hollywood, 1. Babe, 2. District Attorney, and I think 3 was grandmother, since that is what she is being asked to play. The the idea of 'district attorney' being an age is funny.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I don't understand at all what happened there. How can a person's entire face look different? She does look literally unrecognizable.

And she can do whatever it is that she did to her face but can't get her eyebrows properly shaped?

MayBee said...

Why do people put so much identity on the bag of skin they live in? If I woke up tomorrow as a totally different looking person, it wouldn't change who I am. So if changing the bag of skin you live in makes you a little happier, go for it.

PS Yes I've had plastic surgery


I'm not at all against plastic surgery.
I just think it is an odd move for someone who makes her living based on a certain look.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

And, agreed with Freeman at 8:06.

Swifty Quick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shanna said...

And, agreed with Freeman at 8:06.

Same.

MayBee said...

RZ is the same age as Jennifer Aniston and younger than Sandra Bullock.
They haven't made themselves unrecognizable in search of roles.
This isn't about aging, as so many are trying to make it. This is about surgery that changes the look of someone who trades on their looks.

There are issues with older women being replaced with younger women in movie roles. But I hate people trying to hang that hobby horse on Renee's looks. It reminds me of Ashley Judd whining about the patriarchy when she showed up looking puffy at a red carpet event.

MayBee said...

This is very speculative, but a friend who suffered with bulimia for a long time told me RZ's jaws looked like someone with bulimia. The lower jaw muscles become very strong from working to make yourself gag and vomit.
I will say her new face has a leaner jaw line, so perhaps part of her new look is a sign of better health.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Ann Althouse said...

As in life, a few men get much, and most men are on the outs.

If your goals are fame, power, or vast quantities of wealth, then yeah.

If your goals are a wife, some kids, a home, and enough career to support the above then most men can do pretty damn well.

Bob Boyd said...

@ Bob Ellison

Have you seen Jennifer Lawrence in 'Winter's Bone'?

Watch it. You may change your mind.

Ann Althouse said...

"Benghazi? Why mention Benghazi? Still smarting over your readers' near unanimous rejection of Hillary Rotten Clinton? Gee whiz, let it go already Althouse. So you love Hillary and we hate her- What difference does it make?"

Where do you get that I "love Hillary"? Have you read this blog much? I'm usually accused of hating Hillary.

Ann Althouse said...

"We live in a culture where women have surgery to turn their A cups into C cups so men will have sex with them and impregnate them and abandon them and now we have another surgery to get rid of the baby. And repeat. And doctors make money on both ends of this madness. "

I don't see how huge breasts make a woman look young. Breasts get larger when a woman gets older. Smaller breasts are characteristic of youth.

And who gets implants and stops at C? It's all DD and more.

That's another way that the actresses end up looking alike. In the old days, huge breasts were a lucky break that very few beautiful woman got. Everyone knew who these women were: Sophia Loren and Raquel Welch.

Today, those 2 wouldn't stand out because of the size of their breasts. (They would stand out, though, especially if they didn't mess with their faces.)

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Don't care but also think it was a mistake. It was the shape of her eyes that gave her that distinctive 1940's babe-next-door look. Now she's as interchangeable as a Barbie doll.

Ann Althouse said...

"The only thing I remember from The First Wives club is Goldie Hawn saying there are three ages in hollywood, 1. Babe, 2. District Attorney, and I think 3 was grandmother, since that is what she is being asked to play. The the idea of 'district attorney' being an age is funny."

That movie — which I have seen — is hilariously described in 1 sentence by David Rakoff:

"A gynocentric comedy predicated on the scenario where men are cheating bastards and middle-aged women the goddesses who best them while cementing their sisterhood with Motown-scored makeover montages, vengeful shopping sprees, warmed-over Lucy-and-Ethel hijinks, and random humiliations visited upon women who are younger and therefore by definition stupid whores."

Rakoff, David (2010-09-21). Half Empty (pp. 64-65). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

MadisonMan said...

Does it bother me? No. Do I think it will help her career? Also no. She had traded away her look.

David said...

Yeah it bothers me, though it's not going to ruin my day. Zellweger had a unique beauty, very appealing.

Women can remain very beautiful as they age, but only Hollywood women have to show their beauty on screens that are 30 feet tall with perfect image reproduction.

Truly beautiful women have great advantages, and it must be hard to surrender them as time goes by. Some handle the difficulty well, some don't.

Compare Brad Pitt now with the young Brad Pitt, who was irresistibly beautiful. Now he's just another handsome man, who (like most of us) looks quite different than his youthful (and in his case perfect) self.

dbp said...

As weird looking as Ms. Zellweger was, I would still get her mixed-up with Joey Lauren Adams. Possibly due to having a similar voice as well.

She looks less weird now and less distinctive but more attractive in my opinion. Given Hollywood and stardom, I'm just happy when celebs don't go the way of Michael Jackson: A perfectly handsome young man who got weirder looking with each surgery.

Jane the Actuary said...

In her defense, on another site, someone claimed that the squinty-eyed look is a condition that, as one ages, becomes not just a distinctive "look" but more of an impairment, so this wasn't the usual case of Hollywood youth-preservation surgery but something with a therapeutic benefit.

And the giant forehead looks to me like a receding hairline -- attributed by another commenter to overuse of styling products or regimens.

tim in vermont said...

When I see a woman with a boob job, I think they are trying to get men to look at them again they way men did when they were younger.

Boob Job = Older.

Whirred Whacks said...

Ann said: "I'm usually accused of hating Hillary."

And that's one of the reasons we like you!

RE: Zelwegger's face. I never saw much beauty in the old face. I always wondered what others saw in her old face.

Rene should get a tattoo of Janus the two-faced god on her arm!

Known Unknown said...

She was cute, not gorgeous. And now? Neither, really.

Lydia said...

I think she just looks older and much, much thinner. She's also changed her makeup -- very light lipstick and natural eyebrows.

Saint Croix said...

I don't see how huge breasts make a woman look young.

My point is that it's sexual, and our sexual urge is a reproductive urge. So you might have surgery to appear younger (i.e. reproductive age) or you might have surgery to appear more sexually appealing. In both cases it's the ability to have children that is what makes you more desirable. Our lizard brain thinks C cups are better for reproduction than A cups.

I'm not saying our lizard brain is smart. Our lizard brain is an idiot.

Anonymous said...

For most non-celebrities the younger self is not on constant display.
Part of the problem is her younger self is always around on film with which to compare, TNT here, Netflix there: a battle you'll never win if looking young is the definition of winning.

This is also why all actresses should do nude scenes when they are young: it is how people will remember you - rewind - remember you -rewind -pause.

traditionalguy said...

She made a big mistake. Celebrity IS mass reaction to a certain familiar face that brings back unconscious past emotions. It is not acting skill.

Now she starts over again. Maybe she never liked herself and wants to start over. At least she kept the voice that the Celebrity woman had.

Michael K said...

The nose job ruined Grey's career. This woman looks like every other actress now. Not that I go to movies anymore. I haven't run out of classics to watch yet.

Michael K said...

"Women get lots of opportunities, but mostly while young,"

What about the era of great women actresses like Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck ? Those were great movie years. Now ?

Michael K said...

"When I see a woman with a boob job, I think they are trying to get men to look at them again they way men did when they were younger."

Lesbians are also into boob jobs or were when I was still doing surgery. I think a lot of women have them for other women. Not feel but to show and know they are not falsies.

MayBee said...

Joan Crawford was 41 when Mildred Pierce was released. Younger than Zellweger is now (45).
Barbara Stanwyck was also in her late 30's and early 40's when her big movies were made.

The styles just made those actresses look older.

LuAnn Zieman said...

I thought when I first saw the two pictures side by side, that the only change was the eyes. Then I read what the doctor said, and his conclusion was an eye-lift. Eye-lifts are not always done for cosmetic purposes. My husband had one because he couldn't see well. She had the same type of lid droop above the eye so that may well be the reason.

Mark said...

The thought just occurred to me that if she is pretty much done acting, this is a great way to live the rest of her life without getting constantly recognized from movies.

Not sure how much she made and saved, but if she wants to live quietly from now on would help.

Anonymous said...

The shape around the eye might even be more important to recognition than the eye itself.

If there were one-hundred eyeballs loose and displayed on a table would you be able to pick out the two that were your spouse's?

grackle said...

My advice:

Unless you are really, really ugly or disfigured in some way stay away from the plastic surgeons. Sure, you have a right to do anything you want with your face but be advised that it almost NEVER results in improvement for a normal face. In fact, to me it usually looks macabre and basically un-human, depending on how drastic the carving and stitching. Also, don't get the injections for the big lips that are all the rage now. On a normal face it makes it look like a blow-fish mouth was grafted on a human face.

Beauty skews young because sex is about reproduction. Young people have babies. Old people do not. That's why men like younger women.

Well, THIS man doesn't. I prefer women who are nearer my own age(71 years). I always have. Female attractiveness for me seems to have a ceiling of 5 to 10 years and a lower limit of … any woman younger than 40-something brings out the parent in me, not the lover. Helen Mirren is my idea of a sexy and attractive woman.

… Jennifer Lawrence … Not hired for acting ability …

Just saw "Silver Linings Playbook." I don't usually like chick flicks but the acting, especially by Jennifer Lawrence, was excellent. And the script – not your usual romantic comedy. She's a fine actress and I'm looking forward to seeing her in other movies. Let's hope the surgeons don't get to mess around with her very nice natural face.

Contemporary conversation:

Sally sounded like she was drunk last night.

Relax, she hasn't fallen off the wagon. She's just having trouble talking because of her botoxed lips.

Bruce Hayden said...

Somehow, I can't get too upset either way here.

We play a game when we are watching TV. She asks me who that actor or actress is/was, and what parts they played. I am, as usual, stumped. I tell her that. She tells me to try harder. I do, and still don't have a clue. Finally, I start running through the soap operas: the Young and the Useless; Bold and Lustful; Lays of our Lives; etc. Plenty of characters, and often who is playing of them switching as time goes on,, helped by a convenient coma or year in Paris to cushion the switch.

So, last night, I got that the villainess on NCIS NO was a lead on Bones, but we spent the evening arguing about the villain on NCIS. I am not good at this. I have no interest at getting good at it. I would rather talk about why this advertiser is advertising in this time slot, since the demographics seem wrong for the product. She tells me that sort of thing is silly (or worse). Which is what I think of when it comes to identifying actors and actresses.

Still, the usual topic on Tues evenings is that Mark Harmon finally got some work done on his face for his lead on NCIS. Guys our age (Ann's and mine, which he is) just don't go around beating up guys half their age (as he did last night). Instead they are pushed into retirement. Taking maybe 10 years off of his face makes him more credible in that part.

That said, and with Aniston mentioned earlier, it is still sometimes useful with actresses like her to gauge her age throughout her career by how much work had been done at that point. Chin chopped off means this, and bigger boobs there means that. Still, you can always recognize her through her series of surgical permutations, which is probably why it is apparently acceptable, and this girl's changes are not.

Shanna said...

On the bulimia question, maybe? This was her comment in regards to her new face:

“My friends say that I look peaceful” Zellweger continued. “I am healthy. For a long time I wasn’t doing such a good job with that. I took on a schedule that is not realistically sustainable and didn’t allow for taking care of myself. Rather than stopping to recalibrate, I kept running until I was depleted and made bad choices about how to conceal the exhaustion. I was aware of the chaos and finally chose different things.”

My problem is just that I can't figure out what changed and why it changed so much. It's like a jigsaw puzzle you are trying to put together.

fivewheels said...

Having just had this issue put in front of me, I find I'm unsure what to think (or why to be concerned).

What are the feminist blogs saying? I know for sure they'll be exactly wrong. Constant as the Northern Star.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

betamax3000 said...

If there were one-hundred eyeballs loose and displayed on a table would you be able to pick out the two that were your spouse's?

That's why I keep them in carefully labeled jars.

fivewheels said...

Eh, I was going to google Zellweger and Jezebel, or Double X, or Feministing to look, but I know I don't really have to. "She's a victim of the pressure society puts on her appearance, which is of course driven by men, who are all evil bastards who just can't abide a woman with an opinion."

So: I think if she's had work done, she did it for her own reasons, as it should be. It's her right, and she alone bears the responsibility for it. So I hope she likes the way it turned out, which, as a gentleman, I will comment on only by saying she looks very nice.

tim in vermont said...

Evolutionary Psychology, for whatever that is worth, offers the theory that the generalized men's preference for larger breasts comes from the fact that they are a dead accurate indicator of prime breeding age. Quickly indicating when that age is past.

traditionalguy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
traditionalguy said...

What if we could talk Bob Dylan into a complete facial makeover using a 1965 album cover photo, but voice stays the same.

Oops! It's the voice that needs the makeover.

Ann Althouse said...

"If there were one-hundred eyeballs loose and displayed on a table would you be able to pick out the two that were your spouse's?"

That's a very funny question.

Assuming I could see without my eyes, I could find my own eyes. I could never find Meade's, though. Brown eyes. How do you tell them apart? Blue, though, comes in many different shades and designs. Mine are somewhat turquoise and have a dark outline around the iris, and it's not an equally wide outline all the way around.

CStanley said...

I just find it sad, because one of my core beliefs is that we are only really happy when we are being who we were born to be. That means accentuating our own gifts and assets, while softening out the negatives- but not radically altering either.

Everyone is free to reject that philosophy, of course, and maybe they find their own happiness that way. It doesn't seem so to me, though.

Joe said...

The before photo in the article is from 1998.

I think this is more a combination of age, losing a lot of weight, a less bubbly pose and the choice of photograph.

William said...

Renee was extremely appealing and lovable in many of her roles. Her face was several clicks off beautiful, but in a way that made her seem more accessible and human. All this surgery has subverted her brand. She always looked vulnerable to the indignities of living while at the same time appearing to be good natured and tolerant of life's banana peels. Renee looked like the kind of girl who didn't need her good looks to find the fun in living......She generates a lot of good will, and I wish her well. She's still very good looking, perhaps even prettier that before the surgery, but she's lost that star quality. She'll have to make it through the rest of her life as a good looking woman with lots of money but no starring roles. It's a sad story.

Unknown said...

It's not just the one photograph -- there are multiple photographs and she looks unlike "herself" in all of them.

What is amazing to me is how difficult it is to tell exactly what has changed. It seems to have something to do with her eyes. It just goes to show how subtle the different elements are that combine to create our perception of a human face.

traditionalguy said...

Today a woman must either be innocent child like that needs to seem young, or a masculine and warrior type that can be middle age. So poor Renee has no roles left to for her without this makeover.

Now maybe she can get a masculine and warrior type role which the old Zellweger could not get in the door to read for.

Unknown said...

She had a face like a chipmunk but it was not bad on her.

CatherineM said...

She had an eye lift. Made Kenny Rogers unrecognizable too. I always thought she was attractive. Plus she let her eyebrows go bushy. That can also change your look.

Maybe it was medical, but I doubt it. It would be like Asian people needing to get their eyes fixed because the shape caused problems and I have never heard of that.

Christy said...

I've always been a big fan of RZ, at the same time vaguely bothered by her squinty eyes. I always assumed she was a chain smoker (that small figure is frequently maintained thus) with the permanent habit of squinting to protect her eyes from smoke.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Hello Althouse. I get that you love Hillary because you write things like "Hillary is more than likable enough. Adorable really..." The general consensus among the commenters is that Althouse loves HRC, and cannot be dissuaded from supporting her presidential candidacy, and has effectively already cast her vote for Hillary and is only waiting for November 2016 to do the deed. Later I will examine your Hillary Clinton tags and posts to see if my assumption is on the mark, but I certainly have never been under the impression that you dislike HRC, much less hate her. Perhaps that would be an enlightening poll exercise: Do you think Althouse loves Hillary, or hates her? Then later reveal the results of an independent investigation into your blogging history of Hillary Clinton.

Shanna said...

losing a lot of weight

Aside from right after the bridget jones diary movies (when she gained specifically for the role), she had approximately zero weight to lose. So I don't think that has anything to do with it, as far as comparisons to her earlier look.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Have I read this blog much? Only every day for about 6 years.

George M. Spencer said...

Think of how she was cast in her big hits....Bridget Jones and Chicago....

Both confused, sad women. Even pitiful.

eddie willers said...

If I had to go into witness protection, I'd ask for her surgeon.

Ann Althouse said...

Well, thanks for reading, but you missed a lot. I voted against her in the primary in 2008, and I've said many times that I don't think a termed-out President belongs back in the White Housr, and I've just dumped on her a hundredc times in ten years.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

You're welcome, and thank you for writing, you've made a great blog. About Hillary though, I suspect that like many liberals you have an ideological blind spot, and when it is brought to your attention you respond with vehement denial. For example, did you really "vote against her in 2008", or did you vote for Obama? Using the"Hillary" tag, I went back over some of your posts just in the past year, and I think I can point out several times where your sympathies for HRC are evident. 1. From July 5, "Behind that, 'Hillary Clinton Says She' s Donated All University Speaking Fees' headline"- Here it's revealed that HRC has made all those donations to a single entity, her own foundation. Your reaction to this self-serving deception is "irritation" at Hillary and "outrage" at the media for the deceptive headline in the story breaking this news. So Hillary who actually is guilty of this indecent behavior rates only irritation, while your outrage is reserved for a media outlets misleading headline. 2. From May 7, referring to Hillary answering questions about Bengazi, you say first that she is not likeable enough (mocking Obama), then you re-watch the interview and amend your opinion to call it "a successful expression of steely distanced attitude" and praise her statement as subtle and cool, as well as wily. 3. From April 6, in a post referencing an article in which Andrew Sullivan attempts to hold HRC accountable for her history of opposition to same sex marriage, you conclude that others should be held accountable, but Hillary had to take that position because it was safe and practical for her as a politician. Her politically expedient reversal was simply taking advantage of an "amnesty", and you further assert that she never really opposed SSM, only that her interest in saying so had "evolved".4. February 10- "She's likable enough! "... This is incomplete and circumstantial evidence I know, and it is possible that in the interim form 2008 to 2014 Hillary has grown on you in a way that you are unaware, but I don't think that you can discount how frequently you express support and admiration for her, and seek to deflect criticism and culpability from her. After all, there is a reason why almost all of your readers believe that you support Hillary for president in 2016.

Anonymous said...

#3. She had a great, ethnic-white face.

I think she got the Asian eyelid surgery on her eyes which messed up her eyebrows along the way. The are mangled as effect of the eye surgery.