A New Face For Macho?

In the last week I have watched two of the 70’s and 80’s most macho men appear on TV. Kenny Rogers was on the Jeff Foxworthy show the other day and Burt Reynolds guest starred on My Name Is Earl last night. Though the voices sounded the same, the faces were decidedly different. What the heck happened? If there were ever two men who should have been comfortable with who they were and their image, it was Kenny Rogers and Burt Reynolds.

Burt was Gator, he dated Dinah Shore and he was Stroker Ace. OK, forget Stroker Ace, that wasn’t so cool. Seriously, he married Lonnie Anderson who in her day was about as attractive a woman as there was in Hollywood. Of course, she had just as much work done as he did. My guess is that they scheduled their appointments at the same time, which is too bad. Can celebrities no longer age gracefully? Burt was as cool as it gets in Smokey and the Bandit. He’s had so much work done since that he’s barely recognizable and his face looks off kilter. It almost looks as if it’s painful for him to smile, or blink or even breath. What would Jerry Reed and Fred the dog think? The whole facelift thing is a bad idea, 10-4? I have so much to say about people who are aging trying all types of surgery to look younger, but unfortunately, I’ve got a lot to say and a short time to get there.

Then there’s Kenny Rogers. I think it’s no gamble to say that he’s pulled his face too far also. He was a pretty cool looking guy in his time. The men wanted to be him and the ladies all thought he was singing Islands in the Stream just for them, not Dolly. Now granted, half the older men in this country look like him, so maybe he wanted to change it up a bit. I always thought imitation was the sincerest form of flattery. I read something a few months back that said Kenny was unhappy with the way his face work turned out. It’s a little too late for that now. He should’ve known when to hold them and known when to fold them. Oh well.

Are the celebrities that have tried to literally turn back the face of time happy with the way they look? Do they really think they look youthful? What do they see when they look in the mirror? Maybe doctors should have to sign the Anti-Hippocratic oath to state that there are times when they won’t help their patients.

What would Elvis have done if he were still alive (I mean if we can find out where he’s living)? Would Elvis have felt the pressure as he got older and subjected himself to multiple facelifts? As the men elected President of this country leave office to begin post Presidential life younger than their predecessors, will they grow old gracefully? In the end, I guess it’s not for anyone to say what someone else chooses to do to their face.

It’s too bad that such cool macho men felt they had to undergo surgery to look younger. I really don’t think the majority of their fans (like me) would have been bothered by watching them get wrinkles. Having only seen pictures of Smokey and the Gambler, I can’t imagine what they look like in person. I just hope it doesn’t scare small children.