There’s a quiet revolution happening in self-improvement: rather than addressing our lives from the inside-out, we’re now addressing them from the outside-in.

Are Plastic Surgeons America’s Top Therapists
By Meta Wagner 

Are extreme makeovers the psychotherapy of the new millennium? If movies and TV are reliable cultural indicators (and they usually are), one would certainly think so. Last year, 10.2 million cosmetic surgeries were performed, up 11 percent from the previous year. Talk therapy, in the meantime, is suffering some setbacks, with insurance companies limiting their coverage to fewer sessions and more and more people turning to antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications to help them cope with their problems. Television and film are naturally reflecting this changing reality.

The ’90s brought us therapists in Good Will Hunting, Prince of Tides, Frasier, What About Bob, Analyze This, and, perhaps most importantly, The Sopranos. The trend became so noticed and talked about at the time that the American Psychological Association even held a symposium titled “Analyze This: Hollywood’s Portrayal of Psychiatrists and Psychologists.”

While therapists (real and fictional) continue to appear on TV and in the movies (most notably in Running with Scissors), therapy no longer seems to have the cache it did in the ’90s. Even in the initial episodes of season six of The Sopranos, Tony spent little time squirming in his seat at Dr. Melfi’s office, as compared with prior seasons. True, he was in a coma and then recovering in the hospital for the first few episodes. But, in past seasons the therapy sessions were so integral to the series, the writers would never have scripted a storyline that kept Tony out of therapy for so long.

Those in search of self-esteem in today’s TV shows bypass the therapist’s office and head straight for the plastic surgeon’s. Extreme Makeover, Dr. 90210, and Nip/Tuck are among the popular programs featuring cosmetic surgery, while other shows like Queer Eye emphasize less invasive but no less cosmetic techniques for self-improvement, such as men having their backs waxed or foregoing white dress shirts for purple ones. Makeover mania has even extended to the home on shows like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Trading Spaces and, again, Queer Eye, where decorating guru Thom, armed with paintbrush, blue tape, and chenille fabric completely transforms drab, dingy, dirty rooms into boutique chic living environments.

Even Oprah, who made self-analysis and personal revelation not only acceptable but admirable, and brought therapy to the studio couch with the introduction of Dr. Phil on her show in the late ’90s, seems to have shifted her focus to improving one’s life by getting in shape, dressing in fabulous clothes, and living in a beautifully decorated home. As she remarked on one of her many home decorating segments, “Surrounding yourself in beautiful spaces changes the way you feel about yourself. It does.”

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Today’s video of the day comes from UCLA, where the campus police brutalized Mostafa Tabatabainejad, an Iranian-American student, after he refused to show his library ID card. Police said they shocked him with the stun gun after he refused to leave and urged others to join his resistance.

“The Joneses can’t keep up / Well, maybe my nigga Nas, but I got stronger after Ether”

- Jay-Z “Brooklyn High”

Now explain why….

Recently, Jim Jones penned “Kingdome Done,” a diss track directed toward Jay-Z. Hov responded with a couple songs of his own. Here’s a taste of the battle:
To hear Jim Jones’ song click here.

To hear Jay-Z’s response, click here.