Bridalplasty TV Show Combines The Worst Of Two Worlds

What happens when you pair two gross, emotionally exploitative themes in TV for women: Plastic surgery shows and wedding shows? Bridalplasty. The apocalypse is nigh.

E! has ordered up the new series, which “crosses a wedding competition with extreme plastic surgery.”

According to the Hollywood Reporter:

Each week, a group of women competes head-to-head in such challenges as writing wedding vows and planning honeymoons.

The winner receives the chance to choose a plastic surgery procedure from her “wish list.” She’s given the procedure immediately, and results are shown at the start of the following week’s episode.

And, of course, the groom doesn’t see his bride’s new face until she walks down the aisle:

Viewers will witness his emotional and possibly shocked reaction as they stand at the altar and he lifts her veil to see her for the first time following her extreme plastic surgery

It’s shameful that someone created a show in which women compete for surgery. And it’s really disturbing that a woman who has found a man she wants to spend the rest of her life with would somehow think it’s a good idea to start their life together with a new face. And! It’s disgusting that when the women vote off their competitors, they face “possibly walking away with nothing and losing [their] chance to be the perfect bride.” In the words of the producers. Because a woman is “nothing” without a surgically enhanced symmetrical face.

The fetishization of all things bridal — that having a floofy dress and a man on her arm is the best a woman can aspire to — is sick enough. But teaming this garbage up with the false idea that beauty equals happiness is really unhealthy. Why isn’t there a show in which female engineers compete to design eco-friendly power plants? Oh yeah, because no one would watch ladies with heads on their shoulders. It’s the shrieking harpies that get ratings. Which is sadder: That there’s an audience for this show? Or that there are women willing to participate?

New E! Show Combines Weddings, Plastic Surgery [NY Times via Hollywood Reporter]
Bridalplasty: The Final TV Show Ever Made Before Mankind Slips Quietly Into The Dust [Videogum]