A TikToker’s question about why faces in movies look so different now has reignited a broader conversation about beauty standards and plastic surgery in Hollywood.
In a recent video, Faith (@trainingforamazing) reflected on watching older films and noticing how expressive and distinctive actresses once appeared—contrasting that with what she described as a growing sameness in modern films.
While watching Scrooged, she fixated on actress Karen Allen’s “real face” and started questioning what audiences had lost along the way.
Why “real faces” stand out more in old movies
In the video, Faith asked, “What happened to all the faces?” She pointed to Karen Allen as an example. “This is her real face. This is a very real, like, smile lines around the eyes, a gummy smile. And I’m not saying that is a bad thing. I think she has a beautiful smile.”
Faith noted that Allen played ingenues across major franchises, comparing the beauty standards of that era of cinema with those of today. She then shared a series of images of women she called ingenues, saying, “This group of women has some of the most prolific acting credits of all time. And all of them look like real people.”
She argued that plastic surgery had become normalized and that because of that shift, audiences no longer noticed how widespread it was.
“Until you start to look at groups of women that are taking up major space in pop culture, in society, and realizing that all of them […] are having work done to themselves,” she said.
Faith then cited Megan Fahey and Lindsay Lohan. She described Fahey’s earlier appearances as looking like “a real person.” Meanwhile, she noted Lohan had already had work done in a past photo where she looked more like herself. She tied the trend to modeling culture, stating, “We expect our actresses nowadays to look like supermodels.”
“The more we reward a certain type of beauty that often has undertones of white supremacy, we steal from the craft,” Faith said in a broader critique of society.
She ended the video saying, “Our faces are our stories. They are what’s passed down to us through generations. And if your face can’t move and you look like everyone else, what story are you telling?”
Responses to the TikTok video
Commenters quickly jumped in. However, some urged caution. One wrote, “Yes but also Jenna and Hailee just look like that. Let’s be careful on how we describe these features because a lot of them are natural to woc and mixed women.”
Others expanded the argument beyond film. “Same with music!” another user wrote. They added that you now had to be “a very special type of hot.” Additionally, someone noted, “Not just the women. Look at bradley cooper.”
The video made its way to Reddit, where people debated class, pressure, and social media. One wrote that visible plastic surgery functioned like “the powdered wigs of the elite today.” As a result, it signaled wealth rather than taste.
Another commenter cited peer pressure, describing a British actress who left the U.S. because surgery felt unavoidable. Meanwhile, others blamed social platforms. One said, “Social media caused people’s insecurities to absolutely skyrocket.”
@trainingforamazing I miss real faces on screen #beautystandards #plasticsurgery #feminist ♬ original sound – Faith
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