They Had Stars Then: Jean Harlow

(Note: This is the first in a new series comparing stars and celebs of yesteryear with the folks who end up famous today.)

Many celebrities today are famous simply for being grossly rich, or for allowing every single second of their "real" life be filmed for television.  Those who are famous for appearing in film or television shows seemto suffer less from talent than from excessive attractiveness (yes, there is a limit), scandals, or an arrest record.  They Had Stars Then is intended to take you back to the days when celebrities were famous for doing something that was worth something and stars at least attempted to display some iota of talent or ability.

This Vain World...

So I read something on Facebook that upset me.  (I'm sure those of you who know me are shocked.  I'm cheesed off over some random internet thing!)

Shirley Manson asked her fans if it's possible that she's insane because she, unlike some of her friends and a large chunk of people in the entertainment industry, refuses to do the whole plastic surgery/Botox/"oh just go and pave your face already" thing.  Prior to this, Shirley has always come out strongly against that sort of physical tampering, at least for herself.  I suspect this sudden insecurity could be the result of a recent birthday, but it brings up a few important points for me.

I'm not against the idea of people changing themselves physically in any way that they find personally fulfilling.  Piercings, tattoos, nose jobs, body modification...whatever you're okay with, whatever you want, that's great.  However, I am against the way that the media continues to push a ridiculous and often impossible ideal of beauty, even with all of the backlash and outcry against such portrayals.

Once upon a time, it was all right for entertainers to look fairly like the selves they had been born as.  Oh, sure, someone like Fanny Brice might have a nose job, but a lot of the time, make-up and good lighting hid a multitude of "imperfections".  Then came Hollywood, and starlets had to be thinner, and thinner, and thinner...because the camera ads weight...and they've continued to get thinner and thinner until they look like a crop of starved urchins.  Now, I'll grant you that some people are naturally thin; but when you have to be so thin that you begin to look ill, that's too far.

After the jump: some photos of the way women in the entertainment industry were once allowed to look, along with commentary on how they might end up now.