We were supposed to watch a DVD of On The Waterfront last night, but Andy fell asleep, so I was surfing the web and found a documentary called Dr. 90210 ?? Or something like that, on one of the cable stations I never remember, maybe health tv? Is there such a thing?
Anyhow, it was about a plastic surgeon, Dr. Rey, who works with the stars, but this segment was about some pro bono work for a Mexican American woman who lives in a small trailer behind a car wash with husband and little son. She has a condition of extra breasts that embarrasses her and hurts her, and there is lots of explicit photography of her breasts and others– although always with the nipples smeared out! Is there a word for Fear-of-Nipples?
Dr. Rey is warm (Como esta? he cries, gives lots of big hugs to his patients) and explains to the camera that his mother cleaned houses to put him through school– and he likes to give back. At the end gets tearful over “his people.” There is also an interesting moment when he shows off a beautiful Rolex watch, and then there’s his blonde Anglo wife who is appalled by the neighborhood where he used to live. Lots of stuff that could make a good, big, thick melodrama pop novel.
But afterwards, I’m thinking to myself: he was extremely kind for a surgeon, and did this extra-breast removal for free, but what about Maria the pro bono patient. Did she think the only way to get the free surgery was to allow the cameras to run? I’m sure it was never said overtly, but people can usually smell a quid pro quo a mile away, and are usually willing to trade
So maybe it's a fair trade, but it adds another layer to things that the chubby lady with the big dimples around her smile and the nipple-smeared breasts is not some wealthy starlet but the car wash lady....
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