Heidi Montag's Plastic Surgery: A "Normal" Desire to Look Slim and Pretty or More?

Most actresses in Hollywood seek to perfect their appearance. Diets, exercise, an occasional visit for "Botox magic": it's all in the name of the celebrity game. Beverly Hills seems to contain more plastic surgeons than family doctors.

But for "The Hills" star Heidi Montag, that quest to look her best just may have gone too far. Describing herself as "absolutely beyond obsessed" in a recent interview with a People magazine reporter, Heidi subjected her body to ten hours of cosmetic surgery -- at age 23.

Heidi has said that she wants to become a popular singer like Britney Spears, and she believes that changing her looks is required as part of the act. She writes it off as a normal part of developing herself for her career.

The question many are asking: does it really take a brow lift, Botox in your face, nose job, fat injections in your cheeks and lips, chin reduction, neck liposuction, ears pinned back, breast surgery, liposuction on your waist, hips, and thighs, and derriere surgery? Heidi also told the reporter that she loves the results - and is already planning her next surgery. She insists that she feels as of what she didn't want to be - including portions of her body -- "got chiseled away."

Ironically, Heidi's surgery and follow-up analysis by various experts come at approximately the same time as the scrutiny over the cause of actress Brittany Murphy's death. Although it is not the official diagnosis, many who knew her question whether Brittany's quest to be slim and extremely thin figure that resulted from that desire all contributed to her death.

Both Heidi Montag's surgery obsession and desire to change her body and Brittany Murphy's death reflect the way in which the entertainment industry tends to reward those who are slim. Just take a look at recent films and TV shows for an example: thin is always in, and overweight performers, in particular with regard to female stars, are few.

The fashion industry gradually is experiencing a shift: after numerous deaths among dangerously thin models, some designers and fashion mavens are seeking to avoid those "minus zero" sizes. Not all, however, follow that desire to portray more "real" women on the runway.

Dieting and exercising for your health is great; dieting and exercising to the point where it becomes an obsession, regardless of whether you are a celebrity, may be dangerous to your health - and even deadly.