The internet let out a collective WTF?!!? today when the Associated Press reported that 18 year-old Filipino singer, Charice Pempengco underwent anti-aging treatments, including Botox reportedly in order to make her “naturally round face” more narrow and “to look fresh on camera” for her upcoming stint as a foreign exchange student on the FOX TV show, Glee.
Most are asking: Why the hell does an 18 year-old who looks to be about 15 need to look any “fresher” than she already does? And, and more importantly, is narrowing her jawline a way to Westernize her look? And if so, isn’t that kinda sad? Afterall, Glee is all about celebrating diversity, right?
Well, it didn’t take long for Charice’s peeps to weigh in with a little damage control. Charice’s reps tell US Magazine that the point of the procedure was to “relieve a jaw problem similar to TMJ.”
“It did not hurt; it relieved the pain, ” Charice’s rep tells Us. “You’ve seen her face – she doesn’t have a wrinkle in it so she wouldn’t need it for cosmetic purposes. The Glee people are thrilled with the way she looks which is why she got the part.”
Dr. Vicky Belo, the doctor who administered Charice’s procedures tells the Philippine Star, that she had to “fix the teenage singing sensation’s rather prominent jaw lines that became even more pronounced because she chews gum that gets all the muscles in the area all worked up.” Hm. That doesn’t sound like a medical condition to me… And has anybody every heard of gum chewing affecting the jaw line?
I hope she’s really is fixing a medical condition. If not–that a lovely young girl feels the need to alter her appearance is really depressing. And very un-Glee like!
