Udovich, M. (3 August, 2003) “The Cutting Edge of Television: A Bloody Scalpel,” The New York Times
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Overview

In this interview Udovich talks with Ryan Murphy, executive producer of the popular FX drama, “Nip/Tuck.” The show follows the turbulent lives and work of two cosmetic surgeons in the SouthBeach section of Miami. Viewers know it for its rather gruesome displays of surgery, together with the moral conflicts abiding in marriages and friendships.

Murphy states that one motivation behind the show was to display the graphic realities of this body-reimaging obsession. Pair this with explicit sexual content and you have two levels of humans living through the angst and passion of their bodies. Says Murphy, “This show is about skin on every level. So I think you have to do it justice in the operating room and in the bedroom. It’s about ways that people expose themselves.”

In developing his show idea, Murphy’s concern was even more pointed: “it’s a brutal hour look at the reasons people hate themselves.” Reality shows of a cosmetic bent, such as ABC’s “Extreme Makeover,” are nevertheless appalling to Murphy. He doesn’t feel such surgeries should be applauded, but instead wants to focus on the pointed and perhaps disturbing reality of people reshaping themselves, intentionally. His mood seems to be one of shock, and a desire to help viewers face the sobering realities of these consumer options.

Says Murphy: “I’m so moved by how many people feel like they don’t fit in, and how that’s epidemic in our culture.”

He himself has not had any ‘work’ done, but doesn’t rule it out.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

1.      Have you seen “Nip/Tuck”?

2.      Do teenagers you know watch this show, or reality shows depicting cosmetic surgery?

3.      Does a show such as this cause viewers to reflect on this side of our culture, or does it normalize the prevalence of these surgeries?

Implications

In recent years the demands of self-identity and body-image in American culture have found in cosmetic surgery technologies the means to achieve desired ends. Though it is perhaps fair to say television displays this in its extreme form, the success of “Nip/Tuck” underscores the fact that these self-induced life changes have a grip on our popular imagination. Murphy’s outlook on the matter is interesting: he is clearly bothered by this ‘epidemic’ of self-doubt, but it is unclear whether he means to take a moral position on it.

Christopher S. Yates cCYS