To Botox or not to Botox

Three weeks ago, I was shooting at Charice’s Tagaytay home. We were waiting for the technical guys to set up. Waiting in the living room, Charice was on the floor playing beyblade with a young cousin. Her mom was chatting with me and the issue of ‘makeover’ came up. Her mom began to be upset. Very upset. Then she said “Look at me, Cha! You see, my baby does not need a makeover, she is not ugly”.

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I got a text from a friend and co-reporter, Sandra Aguinaldo, yesterday morning telling me that my report was posted in Perez Hilton’s blogsite. Immediate reaction – Whoa! When I reached the office I found that there are others that posted 24 oras’s report – E! News, Boston Herald and a lot of other big international websites and news organizations.

The issue was about Charice getting Botox procedure and… she was crucified for it.

Thousands commented. Highlighted were the really nasty ones.

But my best picks were:

‘she was too young to get such treatment’

’Its her mom’s fault’

‘if she’s proud to be a Filipino, she wouldn’t change the shape of her face’. (This one is a big duh! I mean, hello! Face shape and race are connected?)

And please, for the love of Prince Charming, give her mom a break! She was able to raise two beautiful children on her own and one of them gave so much for her country to be proud of.

If you’re past the teen age, let me ask you --

Is it really easy being 18, when you are starting to notice that some parts of your body were not like the body parts of some who are hailed as “the pretty ones”?

Maybe, just maybe, Charice is starting to feel that way.

Some of us grew up with bucktooth and we had braces on even if it’s not TMJ. I did! Big deal!

Back then, it made me feel secured, beautiful… accepted.

Charice had Botox injected to her jaw muscles (hers not yours, by the way) because it might make them smaller. All she wants was to get her face “ready” to face stars of “Glee” who seem to look “perfect”.

Tiny steps to making herself fit in an industry where being tagged as looking different is synonymous to the word outcast, ugly is tantamount to a life sentence.

We can tell her otherwise, but will an eighteen year old listen?

She’s going to know sooner or later that she is indeed beautiful but shouldn’t we accord her the freedom to know at her own pace?

ITS JUST BOTOX, anyway! Not a face-changing lift!

Funny how “learned people” from the “new world” notices the “unfit” body parts of its denizens – most times, these fanatic high priests recommend a knife or a needle to prove their knowledge of “real” beauty. And sadly, it’s a heinous crime to think ahead of these lords.

Question: How can people think this way, especially if they are from a land where liberty of choice is deemed sacred?

To Charice: IF YOU WRITE A NOTE TO GOD, you might want to include there – please make them leave my Botox alone!