Everyone loves to feel like they're in on a secret.
Like they know things other don't. They know things others don't want them to know. They're clever enough to figure out whatever they've been presented was not the whole story.
It's this feeling that is referenced in the bio of Celeb Face, an anonymous Instagram account which proclaims "WELCOME TO REALITY".
"If you don't want to see the truth ➡ leave this page," it says from the outset.
In this case, 'the truth' references thousands of collages, carousels and videos that point out photoshop fails, alleged lip fillers and plastic surgery. Here, the celebrities are not airbrushed. There are pores, lines and texture. Circles and arrows point out where photoshopped waists have warped backgrounds, and side-by-side comparisons show how a celebrity's face has changed.
Accounts like Celeb Face show us that the images we see most often on social media are not real, and the extreme lengths some will go to to present themselves as what they society tells us is the 'ideal' beauty standard.
Celebrities have access to all the personal trainers, technology, surgery and facials they could possibly want, but they still have pores, lines and pimples. No magazine shoot, photoshop, or picture-perfect social media feed can change that reality.
Seeing these images is a reminder of this, and it's clear people want the reminder. Celeb Face has 1.4 million followers. A similar account - @celebbeforeafter - has more than 260,000. Celebrity Dentistry, which focuses just on celebrity teeth transformations, has 140k. The same discussions happen on Reddit, and YouTubers have made entire online careers out of dissecting the faces and bodies of famous people.
YouTuber Lorry Hill has built a channel with 375k subscribers by doing just this. She is not a doctor, but says she has "an extremely well-informed opinion garnered from my own plastic surgeries coupled with a talent for discerning what facial feature combinations are objectively beautiful".
Her videos regularly speculate on possible celebrity cosmetic procedures. Video titles include: 'Adele's NEW LOOK: When Plastic Surgery Is Disguised As Weight Loss', 'The Plastification of Megan Fox: a Plastic Surgery Update' and 'Top 5 Celebrity Nose Jobs'.
Image: YouTube.
These garner hundreds of thousands of views, or more. One video, titled 'What "HAPPENED" to Ariana Grande's eyes?' has had 1.4m.
In February 2022, Hill published a video speculating about the cosmetic surgery she believed singer Doja Cat had done, comparing pictures from 2014 and 2020.
Soon after, Doja responded in an angry Instagram Live, calling the video "lies".
"I built my career off of my body and the way that my body looks and making my fans feel confident in the way that their body looks. And the moment I start losing weight, b***hes like you... wanna talk about the way that I look."
Hill then deleted her Doja video, writing "it's never my intention to hurt celebrities by my videos".
The person behind the Celeb Face account, known only as a woman in her 20s named Anna, has similarly said it exists not as a hate or ridicule, but "for people who use Instagram every day and they think celebrities are perfect".
"Nobody is perfect. Celebrities are ordinary people."
In every other circumstance, there has been a shift away from talking about other's bodies. We are more aware of how these conversations can cause harm, and so it is no longer acceptable to speculate about weight or pregnancy, for example.
Doja Cat in December 2021. Image: Getty.
Celebrity plastic surgery accounts curb that, and a glimpse into their comment sections show that they do become a place where negativity thrives, even if they themselves are not driving it. For every comment asking to 'normalise skin texture', or thanking the account owner for helping them overcome insecurities, there are others claiming someone 'ruined their face' or 'has gone too far'.
Everything that is presented is based on speculation, because none of these people are privy to details from the celebs or their surgeons.
The people behind the accounts justify this with a couple of points: their content is to educate others on various procedures, debunk misinformation and show that the 'reality' we are shown about celebrity appearances is not always 'reality' at all.
In that sense, there is also some nobility here. It is important to know - and especially teach young people - that their bodies are normal.
Celebrities pay people to make them look their best, whether that is through fashion, make-up, skincare or yes, cosmetic procedures. After that, it is still commonplace for them to be airbrushed, photoshopped and filtered. And then they go off and make buckets of money based on an altered reality. The rest of us do not have the same means or opportunities, and it is helpful to remember the manufactured nature of it all.
There are also ethical questions around celebrities and influencers who are not forthcoming about work they may have had done. No one owes anyone else an explanation for their face, but when those who have had work done attribute their appearance to regular exercise or clean eating, it is deceptive and can have disastrous consequences for the people - often young women - who consume their content.
For years, Kylie Jenner rebuffed lip filler rumours. Tyra Banks spent decades denying plastic surgery until admitting to a nose job in her 2018 memoir. Last year, there was an internet meltdown when an unedited image of Khloe Kardashian went viral.
There are no doubt many body image, insecurities and disorders tied into this conversation too. We demand perfection, and then ridicule those who feel pressured to try to give it to us.
These 'truth-seeking' accounts thrive because cosmetic work and plastic surgery are still stigmatised, to the point that many will remain silent about (or worse - deny) getting anything done. And though we've made some progress, skin texture, pimples, wrinkles, cellulite and the like are still considered 'flaws' rather than just normal parts of a human's body.
It feels radical to see a closeup of the celebrity face where you can see how the makeup has settled a little in the cracks of their nose, or where they have overlined their lips. And it feels like you're in on the secret when you see a side-by-side of one of the world's most famous people showing their (probably) expertly crafted nose, because it's still not a conversation most are actively having.
Cosmetic work or plastic surgery isn't the problem. People can and should be able to make decisions about their own bodies without judgement. Filters and photoshop aren't necessarily the problem either. It's all in how we use them to cloak reality, rather than have a bit of fun away from it.
There is still darkness around what these real-life human beings look like.
And until that is fixed, it seems photos of Megan Fox with visible pores will continue to fascinate us all.
Chelsea McLaughlin is Mamamia's Senior Entertainment Writer. For more pop culture takes, sarcasm and... cat content, you can follow her on Instagram.
Feature image: Getty/Instagram @celebface/YouTube Lorry Hill/Mamamia.
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