Why People Are Infatuated by Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong

In today's celebrity-laden popular culture, stories of plastic surgery gone wrong seem to be all the rage. A bevy of the biggest names in Hollywood join internet celebrities and reality television stars as well as people who aren't celebrities at all in a long list of stories about disasters under the scalpel. There are many reasons why such stories remain popular.

The world schadenfreude is a German loanword that describes the emotion of taking joy in someone else's misfortune. While this is not something many people would say about themselves with pride, it is an emotion that has had a long history. Simply put, people, in general, do experience pleasure at seeing someone else fail.

There are key features that make plastic surgery gone wrong stories different from any other kind of disaster. This type of cosmetic surgery is attempted by individuals who want to look different than they already look; usually, to make themselves look younger, thinner, or more fit than they really are. As such, they are attempting to rise above that which was given to them by nature.

Such inherent pride is the first ingredient of why plastic surgery gone wrong stories are popular. There is nothing that is more classically appealing than a story of a prideful person being taken down a few notches. This is compounded by the fact that the action these people take, which is surgery, is inherently dangerous. A person with pride in their looks can wear clean and neatly pressed clothing and work out without being made fun of.

But the same person doing something physically dangerous for the sake of looks will get derision, such as in the case of plastic surgery gone wrong stories. They seem to be oblivious to the dangers that people who need surgery have to face, such as issues of infection, medical error, or complications that can arise even when the surgical procedure is medically necessary.

Along with this, another key ingredient is that all people who choose to have cosmetic surgery are at least financially well off. Most are very rich. Their money is what makes them special and as such, many people may feel that they could have put that money to better use. All that seems to indicate that by spending money on such a vain pursuit, these people are inviting a karmic retribution.

For this reason, many people will quite gleefully enjoy the stories of tummy tucks and facelifts gone wrong. It is not to make light of the pain and suffering that the people in question went through. The joy, the schadenfreude, is felt due to the fact that those that seem to have all the luck have finally fell on their collective faces.

In many ways, the damage is self-inflicted. Many of these people, especially celebrities, are already famous for being good-looking and do not need cosmetic surgery at all. Such stories may feel like more than a little bit of divine punishment for the overly proud.

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