By Christiénne Miller

Did anyone else catch Jessica Simpson’s new series on VH1: The Price of Beauty? I did, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it yet.

On one hand, I think a show like this illustrates just how out-of-touch some of us are with the reality of the rest of the world. Case in point: During the premiere episode, Jessica and her buddies visit a Buddhist Monk and commence a long meditation session in which Ms. Simpson gets a case of the giggles.

Part of me cringed, but another part of me thought that perhaps the show producers missed the mark in throwing someone undisciplined in the practice of meditation into that situation. What was that meant to show us, really? To me, it came off as another “rude American” moment. Even Jessica admitted that she probably had a long way to go to find inner beauty.

Another part of the episode included a meeting with a woman who, in a quest to lighten her skin to become more attractive, ended up burning and scaring herself so badly that her husband left and she no longer goes out in public. Though Jessica attempted to awkwardly console this woman, the moment didn’t ring true for me. In fact the whole show seemed to teeter between interesting moments regarding beauty practices, and strange admonishments about how women the world over are forced to endanger their health to achieve elusive beauty.

I’m going to keep watching, because I really want to encourage this trend to go further. Having lived in the plastic surgery capital of the U.S. for almost a decade, I’m all for finding our way back to authentic beauty in this country — especially as I age.

To make my TV night even more interesting, VH1 followed The Price of Beauty with TRANSform Me — a show centered around three beauty experts (who happen to be trans-gender males to females) that travel the country in a “glambulance”, helping everyday women realize their inner goddesses through outer hotness. This show seemed to be more honest and straightforward with it’s intentions, making the the total viewing hour worth my time overall.

I’d be interested to know what others though of either or both shows.

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