Plastic Surgery Blog

The other night I saw the new Brad Pitt movie, The Curious of Benjamin Button. The film is based upon a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald (author of The Great Gatsby), where the protagonist is born 80 years old and instead of aging, he grows younger. This plot line is a fascinating vehicle for examining age related issues, both physical and emotional. These issues are not mutually exclusive, in fact they are closely linked. Positive changes and impacts on our physical appearance certainly affect our emotional state of well being. The opposite being just as true. I see this every day, and it makes what I do extremely rewarding.

In the movie, Benjamin Button struggles with his own identity. Quite the daunting task considering that he has a difficult time identifying with peer groups of the same physical age as himself. Certainly the age in which he is most comfortable is that of his 30’s and 40’s. This is the mid-point of his life, where his chronological age and physical age best match those of his peers. I frequently ask my patients at what age do they think they looked their best. The answer to this question is usually in their early 30’s. I have invested a great deal of thought into that answer, and could easily fill up an entirely different blog with the reasoning. However, I think I should start asking them at what age were they most content emotionally…

Besides the thought provoking nature of the plot line, the move is very well done, as I had expected. I especially enjoyed the makeup and costume design. Other then several minor inaccuracies (IMHO), the artist’s did a fantastic job of portraying Pitt’s physical appearance in the different chronological stages of life. As a face specialist who is attuned to this, I enjoyed their depiction of aging from the reverse direction. In essence, their task in doing so is conceptually similar to that of my profession.