Is Hollywood Responsible for Unrealistic Beauty Standards?

American actor Ashton Kutcher—starring in The Beauty—recently said that Hollywood is not pushing unreasonably high beauty standards.¹ Is he right? Well, yes and no. He is right that entertainment is a reflection of society and its values. To explore just how far we’ll go for a perfect face and body, The Beauty, like The Substance and Uglies, examines society’s preoccupation with beauty. As we move into a more visual and virtual culture, beauty is becoming more valuable. For many, beauty is what we want most, and we'll do almost anything for it. The value we place on our looks is everywhere; it is what we spend our time, money, and effort on. We have a better day when the number on the scale goes down, we feel good when we think we look good, and we all know what a "bad hair day" is.

Our valuation of beauty is not just evident in our daily practices, but in the way we treat our bodies as ourselves. Self-improvement is reduced to physical improvement. The top New Year's Resolutions for 2026 are, yet again, about improving the body.² Twenty-three percent of us resolve to "exercise more," 17 percent to "lose weight," 11 percent to "eat more healthily," and 10 percent to "have better health." That totals 61 percent who focused on the body. Maybe a few people think "health" means improving "functioning and longevity," but most use the term "health" as code for getting a slimmer, firmer, smoother, younger body. If it really was about health, then more of us would aim to "drink less alcohol" (3 percent) and to "improve mental health" (2 percent). But we don’t. We care about how we look, not what we are like, and we think that how we feel depends on how we look.

So yes, society is obsessed with beauty, and shows like The Beauty reflect this. The series is about a beautifying drug that turns the taker into the best version of themselves, with the unfortunate side effect of self-combustion. To make matters worse, the condition becomes sexually transmitted.

While beautifying doesn't lead to self-combustion in the real world, the risks are real. Risky beauty practices are increasingly normalised, injectables are largely unregulated and treated like trips to the hair salon, cosmetic surgery is given as a birthday treat, and many of us are injecting black and grey market weight loss drugs. But is Hollywood a mere observer reflecting our values back at us?

Women in Hollywood have largely been valued for their looks. Would-be starlets have been required to lose weight, change their hair colour, and have cosmetic surgery (Marilyn Monroe was transformed by a chin graft as well as by turning blonde). As the technology improves, what Hollywood requires extends. There is virtually no Hollywood actress over 30 who hasn’t had visible "work" done. Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett are barely recognisable, and their expressionless features become the new normal—what middle-aged women are supposed to look like. Granted, there are dissenters. Pamela Anderson has become as famous for her new "natural look" as she was previously for her highly curated look. Carrie Coon, in an interview for Glamour, explained that her choice to refuse Botox means that she often plays older and is no longer a leading lady, but a character actor.³ But these are exceptions.

Hollywood can’t claim it bears no responsibility for creating, popularising, and normalising what is now a global beauty ideal. True, few young women felt they should look like Marilyn, but they did eagerly consume magazine articles about her beauty routine and diet. As Hollywood stars seek to be "authentic" just like us, the distance between the starlet, the influencer, and the girl next door blurs. Is it any wonder that a girl on social media compares herself to the star and thinks she should look like her?

Kutcher’s co-star, Rebecca Hall, stated, “There is a notion that there is a standard we should all go out and buy. It’s madness because then we’ll all end up looking exactly the same, and then we will immediately pivot to finding something else beautiful."¹

If only. If she were right, the unrealistic ideals wouldn’t matter, as a new ideal would replace the old. But beauty standards are not fashion; they don’t change with the seasons. They are fixed and narrowing, and Hollywood is not blameless in creating, promoting, and maintaining the ideal. Shows like The Beauty do explore and draw attention to the value and power of beauty. They get us talking. But they do not, any more than The Substance did, challenge the ideal. Images speak louder than words, and Hollywood’s images only tell one story, even when they think they are telling another.

Co-written by Heather Widdows and Jessica Sutherland