A new show on MTV, “I Want a Famous Face,” documentspeople who want to look like their favorite stars. It’s kindof like “Extreme Makeover” meets “The BodySnatchers”; I caught the one with the girl who wanted to bemore like Pamela Anderson.

Another new show, “The Swan,” combines two”ugly ducklings,” a half-dozen surgeries and extensiveweight loss to produce two “swans,” who then competefor a spot in the final beauty pageant to be judged with the otherswans. Sounds like a psychological disaster.

Makeover is taking on a whole new meaning. It used to besomething that maybe changed your hairstyle or the clothes on yourbody. Today, makeover means actually changing your body. It kind ofleaves you asking, “Where did America go wrong?”

In a country where the perfect body is thin, dressed in designercouture and stunningly beautiful, it’s sometimes hard to feellike you are adequate. Pick up any beauty magazine &-you’ll spend half the time wishing you looked like the modelsand the other half wishing you had their clothes on. Beautyproducts, tips on toning your stomach and ideas on how to improveyour technique in the bedroom leave you feeling like your lackingsomething.

It’s safe to say that vanity is morphing into something alittle unhealthy. I have friends who will charge up their creditcard debt just to own the new Coach bag or buy a new shade oflipstick at Mac. And I’d be lying if I said I never readCosmopolitan. But why don’t we spend just as much energy onimproving our inner spirit as we do on our outer appearance?

Maybe it’s because vanity makes us happy &- afterall, don’t you feel good after you try on a new outfit? ButWebster’s Dictionary defines vanity as empty or useless, anddo you think the people on “I Want a Famous Face” or”The Swan” really end up feeling fulfilled? Probablynot, at least not in the long run.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Nothing about my hair color isnatural, I use Crest teeth-whitening strips and I have purchased apair or two of shoes just because they made my feet look small.Plastic surgery isn’t bad and caring about your appearancedoesn’t make you evil, but it is important to remember whoyou really are.

It’s important to do things that make you feel good aboutyourself, but this can be accomplished in ways other thansuperficial means. Reading a classic book, volunteering or pickingup a new hobby can be just as important to feeling good as what ison the outside. Instead of thinking how we look will make us abetter person, we should consider how we live our lives as a moreappropriate measure. Maybe too much emphasis on appearance isexactly where America made a wrong turn.