Cosmetic surgery seems to have become more extreme. Today, it is not just about fixing the nose and tucking the tummy. As the popularity of social media soars, it is easy to gain instant fame by looking like a collectible doll or a computer game character.
The definition of beauty is often associated with celebrities and popular culture.
According to local aesthetic centres in the Klang Valley, the top 10 looks that patients ask for include Kylie Jenner’s bee-stung lips and the double eyelids (blepharoplasty) of K-pop starlets, believed to be the most popular procedure worldwide.
However, fixing the nose and tucking the tummy are no longer the reasons why people are willing to go under the knife.
Reports of people pursuing unrealistic looks like collectible dolls, superheroes and computer game characters are creepy, yet fascinating.
While reports of women undergoing surgeries to obtain eye-popping curves like Barbie and Jessica Rabbit (from the popular animation Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) have been making juicy headlines worldwide, men, too, are not spared from the desire to share the limelight.
Rodrigo Alves from Brazil has undergone 51 plastic surgeries and 103 cosmetic procedures to get the “perfect” sculptured look of a doll.
The 33-year-old man, dubbed “the human Ken doll”, has had hair transplants, liposuctions in his jaw, a chin implant, a butt lift and abs replacement.
“They can’t control their negative thoughts and wont believe it when people tell them that they look fine.”
In the Philippines, Herbert Chavez, 39, has had 23 surgeries over the last 20 years to make him look like his comic-book hero Superman.
He has spent close to RM30,000 to transform himself to look like the Man of Steel, undergoing nose jobs, skin-whitening treatments, liposuction, jaw realignment and filler implants.
Recently, in Malaysia, Amirul Rizwan Musa, 21, made headlines for his unusually porcelain look, which he said is inspired by the Final Fantasy video game character Squall Leonhart.
“I was obsessed with anime characters and I felt ashamed that I looked the way I did back then. So, I decided to undergo plastic surgery to boost my confidence,” says Amirul, who goes by the name Miyyo Rizone.
Amirul says he began developing a negative self-image after having chicken pox at 16, which affected his skin. He is reported to have spent nearly RM180,000 on cosmetic surgery.
Registered counsellor Azah Yasmin says people with constant irrational thoughts about their physical flaws may be suffering from body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a psychological disorder where a person becomes obsessed with imaginary physical defects.
