Jessica Simpson discovers the 'Price of Beauty' in Thailand
Far from Thailand's Karen villages, Jessica Simpson walks the red carpet at this month's Vanity Fair Oscar Party.American celebrity Jessica Simpson’s new show, "The Price of Beauty," debuted in the United States on VH1 Monday night. The show follows the admittedly self-conscious star as she travels the world to find out what women consider attractive and the different means they use to achieve those ideals. The first episode brings her right here to beauty-conscious Thailand. Save yourself 30 minutes of time you'll never get back and read our three paragraph summary instead.
Jessica, her hairstylist and best friend arrive in Bangkok. Jessica gets a Thai massage at a Mandara Spa, says it hurts, asks where her happy ending is. Next they cross the river to meet local celebrity Sonia Couling, their “beauty ambassador.” Sonia takes them to the Wang Lang market and they go to a fortune teller, who tells Jessica she is lucky in love. Cue bemused look from Jessica. (Viewers should note this was filmed before John Mayer's Playboy interview, in which he called her 'sexual napalm'. We're thinking she probably doesn't have trouble getting a date now.)
Jessica and friends are then taken to a cart of bugs, which they're told have beauty benefits. They eat some and gag dramatically while the seller giggles. Taking a more serious tone, they're then exposed to the lengths Thai women will go to for white skin, meeting a woman who disfigured herself by using bleaching agents. Jessica is visibly shocked, cries, gives the woman a hug.
After the commercial break, Jessica and crew ride a tuk tuk -- “It was scary” -- to a temple to meditate, which is said to radiate your inner beauty. Forty minutes in she giggles, offending the monk. ”It ended up being a longer process than I expected.” Next they head north to ride an elephant. “Its head looks like a giant scrotum. ” And check out a Karen long neck tribe. (What the show failed to note is that most of these controversial long necks now continue the practice of wearing neck coils solely for tourist dollars.)
So there you have it. According to "The Price of Beauty", Thai women get beautiful with massages, whitening creams, bugs and meditation, while in the north they all wear neck coils. Guess Sonia didn't bother to take them to Paragon.
