Makeover TV

by Brenda R. Weber

In 2004, roughly 25 makeover-themed reality shows aired on U.S. television. By 2009, there were more than 250, from "What Not to Wear" and "The Biggest Loser" to "Dog Whisperer" and "Pimp My Ride". In "Makeover TV", Brenda R. Weber argues that whether depicting transformations of bodies, trucks, finances, relationships, kids, or homes, makeovers depict a self achievable only in the transition from the 'Before-body' to the 'After-body' filled with confidence, coded with celebrity, and imbued with a renewed faith in the powers of meritocracy. The rationales and tactics invoked to achieve the After-body vary widely, from the patriotic to the market-based, and from talk therapy to feminist empowerment. The genre is unified by its contradictions: to uncover your 'true self, ' you must be reinvented; to be empowered, you must surrender to experts; to be special, you must look and act like everyone else. Based on her analysis of more than 2,000 episodes of makeover TV, Weber argues that the m