PUTTING UNDER THE KNIFEWatching a film can only tell us a lot about how reality has been incorporated into fiction. After watching American Mary, a Canadian horror film by the Soska Sisters, I became curious as to why people actually choose to have cosmetic surgery, or in this case, body modification surgery. The film revolves around Mary, a medical school dropout who becomes a body modification surgeon. Some examples of people in the film include a woman who looks like Betty Boop, a woman who wants to be doll-like, and two twins who want to switch arms and implant horns on their foreheads. Cosmetic surgery is the procedure performed to restore or improve one's physical appearance. Using surgery to fulfill a wish tends to be unnecessary as it is not in line with the goal of restoring what has been lost or damaged. Although cosmetic surgery is intended for restoration purposes, many people have abused it for vanity reasons. Cosmetic surgery also has positive and negative effects on the person in many different aspects. The first function of cosmetic surgery is to correct and reverse damage done to the face or body. Cosmetic surgery restores disfigurement resulting from an accident such as a car accident where the face may sustain an injury. Cosmetic surgery can also be used to make an appearance from a disfigured phase more normal. Facial surgery has been performed on children with Down syndrome to make them appear “normal” (Davis, 2003). In this context, it is still a medical condition where cosmetic surgery has become an option for the patient to appear more “normal”. Charlie Cardillo, a 15-year-old boy with Down syndrome, has been bullied for much of his......middle of paper......cosmetic surgery was created to restore his features to original condition there are still those who make use of it to recreate themselves. Cosmetic surgery aims to restore and achieve a normal appearance for those who have the misfortune of being born disfigured. There are good benefits such as increased beauty, self-esteem, confidence and monetary benefits. In addition to this there are negative consequences such as the possibility of a failure of the operation, scarring and the risk of complications occurring. Furthermore, a drug-addicted person may choose to undergo cosmetic surgery even if it is not necessary and even if the risk is high. Perhaps something can be done to regulate the accessibility of cosmetic surgery to reduce complications. Explanations may be different, but going under the knife should not be a tool to recreate yourself.