Episode 14 - Aging Beauty Cybill Shepherd, Dynasty's Linda Evans & Desperate Housewives' Teri Hatcher

Teri Hatcher

Recap

We start with Teri Hatcher, who made waves a few months ago when she posted pictures of herself on Facebook, fresh from bathing with no botox, no make-up, no nothing. Teri says she never meant to start the big deal that she did, but now she is glad she posted the pictures because there is a conversation that needs to be had. 

Her point is that everything out there is all about anti-aging, but we are aging. Culture is obsessed with beauty, and making everyone look so, so young. Teri takes a home video of herself, allowing us to see what she looks like upon waking at 5:23 am and then the transformation as she sits in the make-up chair on the Desperate Housewives set. For the record, she's an incredibly beautiful woman, regardless of age, even before the make-up and hair business transpires. Teri says that she loves looking pretty and glamorous, but she wants women to know the truth behind the glamour. She feels that if people can accept the truth, and real women can feel good about themselves and know what women like her really look like then we can enjoy the glamour without putting this unrealistic pressure on ourselves. 

Cybill Shepherd

Recap 

Cybill Shepherd became famous in the late 60s for her incredible beauty. Throughout her career she was iconic, lauded throughout Hollywood for being one of the most beautiful (and sought after) women in the world. She was, as Oprah calls her, the "it" girl. However, as she got older she began to have to deal with the fact that the very thing that made her so successful was fading and slipping away. She describes, however, feeling so old and wishing she could look like the girl on the cover of the magazine--as she walked by the Seventeen magazine pictures of herself on the cover. The images were retouched and she didn't feel that she looked like that same woman. She lived in a fantasy that she was this incredibly beautiful woman, but deep inside she never felt beautiful and so she projected the lie that she believed herself to be incredibly beautiful and powerful.

As she got older, in her early 50's she literally stopped looking in the mirror. As a beautiful woman, she couldn't escape the fact that her beauty was fading. She felt like a wrinkled old shoe that no one wanted to wear anymore, that she was disposable. Seeing a picture of herself as 17-year-old Miss Memphis pageant winner she says she wishes she could tell that girl that, first of all, she won't get far in the Miss America pageant, and that grandma was right about staying in the middle of the road, never veering too far to the left or the right.

Linda Evans

Recap

Best known for her portrayal of the beautiful and powerful Krystle Carrington on the 80s prime time soap Dynasty, Linda Evans thinks that many women would be shocked to know that she didn't know how to live up to the hype. She says that she never even though she was pretty, and that the outer shell had nothing to do with the truth of herself, something she didn't know then but knows now.Linda discusses feeling like she was nothing and life was over when her husband left her at 28 for a 15-year-old; then she and Oprah also talk about the obsession in America with blondes; Linda says that when MGM turned her from a brunette into a platinum blonde her career completely changed and she got attention. Oprah jokes that one of her dogs is blonde, and that dog gets way more attention than her other dogs. 

Oprah and Linda discuss Linda's time on Dynasty. She says that she didn't know how to live up to the hype, and when Dynasty was over she moved to a little one bedroom house she built on 70 acres in Rainier, WA, a rural town about an hour and a half south and slightly west of Seattle. Much of her family lives near her, and she says she's much happier. She talks about replacing husbands with her career, but then she was only as good as her ratings. She says that she had plastic surgery because she was dating a man 12 years younger and that's what she felt she had to do to feel better about herself. She says later that you can't erase time, but there is an idea that you can relieve the things you're critical about. What you really need to do, she says, is get rid of the criticism.

Discussion with All Three Women and End Cap w/ Beverly Johnson

Recap

Oprah has all three women come and discuss the fact that society pressures women to be beautiful yet it's all about only outer beauty. Teri says she feels that there is some level of obligation for the people marketing to women to tell women about there being more to beauty than just what we look like. The women say that no one can live up to the hype, not even the Hollywood beauties themselves. 

Beverly Johnson, the first African-American woman on the cover of Vogue, discusses what it's like to be 58 and on the cusp of 60. She felt defined by her beauty and had her mid-life crisis at 25 because she was terrified that her career was about to be over. She talks about being super-skinny and, from behind, being mistaken for a teenager and realizing that she isn't a teenager, so she shouldn't be trying to have the body of one.

Oprah thanks everyone, reminds everyone to watch Desperate Housewives, and we're out!

Gospel Filter Review

It's interesting to me that the Bible was right on when Solomon wrote that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Though these verses were penned thousands of years ago, they are absolutely applicable today. These verses are commonly known, and even those who aren't Christians may have heard them. 

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

              Proverbs 31:30

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

              I Peter 3:3-4

First of all, God creates beauty. Throughout the Bible we see women who are beautiful and men who adore them. Sarah and Rebekah, in Genesis, immediately jump to mind. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being beautiful. It's not that women can't do their hair and make-up or wear jewelry and cute clothes. The point is, as always, the heart. What is in woman's heart--does she love and worship God, and keep her beauty in the proper place? Why does she "get all dolled up"? Is she doing it to compete with other women? Does she dress immodestly, and conduct herself in a flirtatious manner, to attract sexual attention from men? Is she insecure about how God created her so she can't be seen without make-up, hair, clothes, etc, lest she feel ugly and thus bitter against God?

This is all absolutely relevant to today's Oprah, as each of these women described the insane pressure from Hollywood to focus on their outer beauty but little to no relevance was ever placed on their character. God is all about character--a woman who fears the Lord, thus conducting herself in manner that is kind, gentle, humble, loving, is to be praised and looked up to. The fact that each of the women on today's show struggled with the battle between how they looked and who they are is, I think, God's grace, because He never wants us to believe the lie that our worth is directly correlated to our looks.

Finally, since this episode was about  both beauty and age, there's something I want to address. Each of the women spoke of what they know now, what they've learned. There is a very common myth about age that the Bible absolutely debunks. First, let's see what scripture says.

Listen to your father who gave you life,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.

              Proverbs 23:22-25

There is this idea that older people automatically deserve respect simply for their age. To be fair, we should honor people and not assume that youth makes us any wiser or less capable of being used by God. That said, age does not inherently bring wisdom. The above verses come in the context of parents, and the Bible commands us to honor our mother and father. This doesn't always mean we do what they say, because if they don't love Jesus and what they want us to do doesn't align with God's Word, or if they cannot accept that we are grown and under other authority (husband, pastor, etc) and try to tell us what to do without being led by God then we can respectfully explain why we will not do what they ask us to do. But, all of that said, the point is that wisdom is something to be sought and purchased. Wisdom is purchased when we pursue God, seek the counsel of His Word, ask the Holy Spirit to show us what God's opinion is, and then to help us believe Him and change our hearts and minds to agree with Him. This means that young people can be wise, and many older people can still be fools. Again, I must reiterate that this doesn't give license to be anything other than humble, gentle, and God-fearing. However, no one--including ourselves--should ever assume that age automatically gives us wisdom nor superiority that is inaccessible to those younger than ourselves. 

Those are leading principles that I see in God's Word regarding age and beauty; feel free to share your thoughts. Anything I missed? Agree or disagree? 

Up Tomorrow

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling (that's exciting!)