Heidi Reveals New Face to Family..And It's Just Sad

If you watch the clip above from the season premiere of The Hills, you can take a look at Heidi Montag having dinner in her hometown of Crested Butte, CO with her family. In this episode, Heidi comes home to reveal what she looks like after her 10-procedure surgery. With a swollen face and a sore jaw leaving her with a quiet voice and the inability to chew food properly, it is no surprise that her mother, along with the rest of her family is shocked, disappointed, and sad. The short clip reveals much of what I suspected of Heidi-that she is a clear example of the negative effects the Hollywood scene can have on a young woman. Heidi's mother and sister said it best, reminding her that before the fame, she was confident, secure, and most of all herself.

It was sad watching the episode, not only for the Montag family, but because Heidi, along with all other women do suffer to varying degrees from the pressures of Hollywood. Although Heidi's actions shock and horrify me, and I mock her for being who she is, I think a big reason why I and the rest of America continue to feed her desire for fame is because we all see a little bit of ourselves there. Maybe Heidi is the extreme version of us, and as much as we claim to dislike her, we continue to tune in to see what we could be if we followed her path.

The South Carolina Department of Mental Health estimates that 1 in 200 women suffer from Anorexia, and that of the 8 million Americans who suffer from a reported eating disorder, 7 million are women. Those are scary statistics that reveal just how much the media really embeds itself in our personal lives. We all know that the media and the content produced and presented to the public all helps to perpetuate stereotypes, drives the consumption of more and more unnecessary goods, and in the case of women; helps give rise to insecurity and image issues. Heidi is simply the result of the extreme effects Hollywood has on women.

However, I can say that in my years of watching The Hills, this conversation between the Montag family members seemed genuine. Maybe her mother felt the need to clear the air with the public in an effort to say, "I don't support this!" Maybe besides trying to comfort her daughter, she was sending a message to all young women watching the show. Whatever the case may be, clips from the show featuring Heidi definitely sent a message out there, one totally unexpected on a show like The Hills.