Ask me how I might least wish to spend my weekend, and up there with “having the bone cartilage in my face sawn off” is “watching other people have the bone cartilage of their face sawn off”. But apparently not everyone feels the identical. 

A recent show on BBC Three, Plastic Surgery Undressed, asks people who find themselves planning to have cosmetic surgery to look at live video footage of a surgeon performing the identical surgery on another person, to see if that deters them. Each episode focuses on a special procedure; in the primary season, the show checked out nose jobs, breast augmentation, and easy abs. The second season, which aired over the previous couple of weeks, checked out tummy tucks, hair transplants, and breast reductions. As someone who’s incredibly squeamish, five minutes of the show turned my stomach and I had to change it off. A few of the people featured on the show exhibited similar reactions – a part of the entertainment, undoubtedly, is supposed to be watching them squirm. 

The show justifies all its gruesomeness by supposedly posing the query: would people need to go “under the knife” in the event that they knew what it really entailed? “By listening to the negative stories they rarely see on social media, in addition to hearing from people whose surgery was a hit, the people contemplating the procedure will have the option to weigh up the advantages, risks and significant financial cost,’ say the BBC. It’s meant to be about getting behind the psychology of why now we have cosmetic surgery, specifically in a time when research suggests that half of Brits aged 18-34 would consider it. 

“After I found that it was a BBC programme I used to be interested since it gives each the professionals and cons of cosmetic surgery,” says Amir Nakhdjevani, the surgeon who appears on the show. “The incontrovertible fact that it had the academic value for the viewers and patients was something that interested me.” Nakhdjevani says that he hopes it manages viewers’ expectations of surgery: “Some people think that you would be able to just have a glass of champagne after which fly over to Turkey or Belgium to have a procedure, without meeting the surgeon beforehand, or without fascinated with the outcomes. They don’t know what to anticipate. They don’t know the danger. And much too often we see patients that say, ‘I never knew it was going to be like that!’ So this programme was very much about educating people, ensuring that they’re prepared for the recovery and what might go fallacious, and that they usually are not being taken advantage of.” 

Plastic Surgery Undressed shouldn’t be the primary TV show to take cosmetic surgery as its focus. Most notably, there’s Nip/Tuck, the famous American medical drama series that ran from 2003 to 2010. Growing up I remember shows like “worst cosmetic surgery” countdowns on late-night TV (mostly in America). It’s hard to assume those making it onto the airwaves today, in a time after we’re more aware around people’s bodily autonomy to have surgery in the event that they need to, and as such, to face the implications, although E! still make videos that might suggest otherwise. There’s also Botched, following two American surgeons who concentrate on fixing people’s cosmetic surgery gone fallacious, it aired in 2014 and has had five seasons, still running, and Dr 90210, a reality TV series a couple of surgeon in Beverly Hills. 

Recently, a show called The Surjury – ‘surgery’ meets ‘jury’ – was as a consequence of air on Channel 4 but was delayed, and can probably now never air as a consequence of the incontrovertible fact that it was hosted by presenter Caroline Flack, who recently and tragically took her own life. Based on an obscure US show of the identical name, the concept asked contestants to come back on the programme, make a case for why they need surgery and let a panel of judges (strangers who’re members of the general public) determine whether or not they can have it free of charge. The show was called “a latest low for television” by some critics, and “tawdry and exploitative” by MPs. 

Channel 4 said in an announcement: “There isn’t a update on the show currently and it stays unscheduled.” It also told Metro: “Cosmetic surgery has turn into an increasingly mainstream alternative in Britain. The Surjury seeks to explore why so many individuals feel the necessity to change their bodies, and whether surgery actually makes them happier. All contributors featured within the series have actively been in search of surgery of their very own accord. Contributors (…) can be independently assessed by the clinic who will perform their procedure.”

While Plastic Surgery Undressed gives the people having the surgery the alternative over whether to get it, The Surjury would have put the alternative into others’ hands, which ultimately feels judgemental. Dr Esho, a 10-year practising surgeon who was asked to participate within the show, explains why he said no. “I said no purely on the premise. My predominant concern was that, every time cosmetic surgery is being done, whether it’s surgical or non-surgical, it must be the choice of the person – all the time.” Dr Esho agrees with Nakhdjevani that Plastic Surgery Undressed is a greater representation because “it shows you the total risks of what cosmetic surgery entails,” he says. “In lots of clinics now you’ll see that patients have to look at videos prior to the procedures in order that they usually are not only seeing the before and after images, but what happens in between, in theatre. I feel that may really make you more informed.”

Dr Esho has taken part in several shows, becoming something of a “media doctor”; he was a part of a show called Bodyshockers, in addition to Body Fixers with E4, and has been a part of dramas where producers hired experts in the sphere like himself to grasp what actually happens in a clinic, and learn how to bring that out in a visually arresting but in addition accurate way. As for a problematic representation, he mentions Nip/Tuck: “It was hugely popular but more for drama and entertainment. Many scenes weren’t representative of what really happens now, and that miseducates people.” 

“We’ve all seen programmes like Botched, and the extents people go to with a purpose to have ridiculous sorts of surgery. Last week I saw a programme where the girl had six of her ribs removed so she could have a tiny waist but that has serious medical implications, it’s dangerous” – Amir Nakhdjevani, surgeon

Nakhdjevani says that balanced representations of cosmetic surgery are necessary because additionally they help debunk the stigma around individuals who have surgery. “On a few of these shows, all you see is people who find themselves hooked on cosmetic surgery, and so having things that usually are not ethical. Very often, most people’s perception of cosmetic surgery is extreme vanity and addiction to cosmetic surgery and the concept people need to look strange or alien-looking. Those sorts of things aren’t what we see day-after-day in our practice. Perhaps every five years you would possibly see one patient who could also be that way. They need guidance, not surgery. But for entertainment value, some TV shows definitely highlight cosmetic surgery to be like that.” 

Perhaps all of this controversy and exaggeration goes some technique to explain why we’re so fascinated about shows that lift the lid on surgery; in accordance with Nakhdjevani, it’s often to do with either voyeurism – particularly our obsession with botched surgery – or aspiration. He points to the enduring popularity of shows where surgery has gone fallacious. “We’ve all seen programmes like Botched, and the extents people go to with a purpose to have ridiculous sorts of surgery. Last week I saw a programme where the girl had six of her ribs removed so she could have a tiny waist but that has serious medical implications, it’s dangerous. So I suppose the people watching, they’re just curious to see what’s going to be done next.” On the opposite end of the spectrum to disgust, is looking as much as individuals with surgical enhancements on TV in the identical way we do in magazines or on social media: “We see pouty lips, fake curvy figures, individuals with toned bodies, and various other things. When there’s an appetite for that in society, wherever you’re looking, it’s going to be an interest for people to look at it.” 

Nakhdjevani claims that being on Plastic Surgery Undressed has not increased the number of individuals coming in for procedures, it has just made those that do “ask more of the fitting questions”. Nevertheless, shows like Love Island and the adverts they’ve shown for cosmetic surgery within the ad breaks have been found to increase the demand of people having surgery. 

Still, Dr Esho says that, in his experience, social media provided more of a shift than TV. When he began practising, people used to usher in images of famous people like Angelina Jolie, which was tremendous as a reference point in that some people can’t articulate what they need verbally so using a picture can assist as a guide – ”so long as they comprehend it’s a reference point that’s okay,” says Dr Esho. “But with the evolution of filters people began using them to regulate a picture and produce that image in. The issue was quite a lot of these people bringing in images weren’t just wanting it as a reference point they’d say they desired to look exactly like that, a picture that might contain an unrealistic expectation and was, subsequently, a priority,” he says, “so snapchat dysmorphia is a real psychological condition.” 

“I all the time say being a great doctor shouldn’t be nearly what you’re capable of do, it’s with the ability to realise when to say no. If someone just wants what they’ve seen on social media or TV they usually are not going to be joyful because that landscape is all the time going to vary” – Dr Esho

On this climate, he concludes, we really want responsible TV shows about cosmetic surgery greater than ever before – with a purpose to debunk myths. Nevertheless, because the cosmetic industry is getting bigger year on year, with more people going overseas for surgeries, each doctors indicate that responsibility lies with surgeons in addition to TV shows. Cosmetic surgery must be for people who need to improve their quality of life, not follow trends or meet lofty ideals, says Nakhdjevani: “It’s a physical change to make people feel higher, make them more confident.” 

Dr Esho agrees: “We’d like to do not forget that the gatekeepers are the doctors and we’re those that must be autonomous, act ethically and forestall people from having treatments which might be solely based on those pressures or trends from TV or social media,” he says.“I all the time say being a great doctor shouldn’t be nearly what you’re capable of do, it’s with the ability to realise when to say no. If someone just wants what they’ve seen on social media or TV they usually are not going to be joyful because that landscape is all the time going to vary.”