A Note On Renee Zellweger

I don't usually follow this tripe, but it is broadly interesting.

I hear and understand the arguments that Ms. Zellweger was judged by impossible standards.  I know I personally found her unattractive, though I thought she gave good performances in Bridget Jones, Cold Mountain, Cinderella Man and Chicago.  I thought she was good, therefore, when she was kind of annoying.  And maybe her look played into that.

So I get that she is a victim of the way we look at women and judge them by impossible standards.

But...at what point does her personal responsibility enter into it?  She decided to have her eyes changed.  She changed the "window into the soul."  And dramatically so.  She looks like Robin Wright but less.  She made that choice.

I'm constantly torn between the degree to which we acknowledge the broad forces that warp our society and the ability of individuals to transcend those forces.

And to some degree this represents a political bias, too.  I don't think conservatives give enough weight to how society is shaped by broad forces, some of which - racism, sexism, the stigma of poverty - have a very negative effect.

But I also don't think liberals give enough credence to the ability of individuals to transcend social morays.  Of course, it's helpful to remember that it often takes extraordinary people or circumstances to transcend these larger forces.  But it can happen.

Really don't know if that sheds any light on anything, but there you go.  Renee Zellweger is an unfortunate victim of societal sexism and also a freak.