Any civilization can carry a fair proportion of freaks and weirdos, but the West is clearly overdosing on them. With a culture that leaches out the conventional components of identity – race, nationality, age, religion, personal achievements, etc. – people are increasingly left with an "identity vacuum," providing a strong growth medium for particularly outlandish forms of "identity construction," such as the growing trend towards celebomorphic plastic surgery.
The latest example to emerge is a 20-year-old Brazilian man, Celso Santebaness, who has spent over $50,000 to transform himself into a simulacrum of the popular plastic Ken doll, which started life as an accessory to the even more popular Barbie doll, which has already inspired similar celebomorphic efforts. The human Ken doll is of course not the first. Justin Jedlica from New York has already enjoyed a long career as a plastic plaything and "pioneer of the modifiable male aesthetic."
According to a recent report, Santebanessin has had four operations, with surgery on his nose, chin, and jaw, as well as silicone implants in his chest, to get that authentic plastic-moulded look.
If being reborn as a famous plastic doll can't quite fill the gap, the contemporary identity zombie can instead choose to become a facsimile of pop-stars like Justin Beiber. vacuous reality-TV stars like Kim Kardashian, a different race, or even a cat.
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