Botox Betty? Changing the face of aging. Forever.
Could cosmetic surgery be a gateway to eternal life?
Someone, somewhere, at some point discovered that the girl bosses of Sex and The City had reached an unfathomable milestone: they were the same age as The Golden Girls. That someone then shared that gem with the internet and it proliferated.
If you were to sync timelines, Betty White’s iconic Minnesotan airhead, Rose Nylund, would be the same age as Carrie Bradshaw in the SATC revival, And Just Like That… The apparently shocking side-by-side photos on my FYP highlighted the obvious: the hair, the attitude, the shoulder pads (or lack thereof). How could both of these women be 55 years old? People were shook.
Yes, the contrast is stark, but it isn’t actually all that surprising when you zoom out a bit. Carrie and Rose are two very different characters existing in two very different worlds. They are also both clear products of their environments, manufactured to reflect (cis, het, white) women of their time. The disparate ways these characters aged can tell us a lot about what we value and where we might be headed as a species.
Women today are working more and retiring later. They’re having fewer children and opting for single life in growing numbers. They’re also spending a whole lot more money fighting the effects of aging. Our expectations of middle aged women, and what they should look like, have changed drastically over the past four decades, due in part to celebrity culture, social media, and the democratization of cosmetic procedures.
Humans now spend a reported $62 billion a year on anti-aging treatments. The proliferation of peels, and topicals, and injectables, means that you no longer have to be filthy rich to look forever young. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, reports that use of Botox and other neuromodulators rose by 65% in the US between 2019 and 2022.
Botox gained FDA approval for cosmetic purposes in 2002, ten years after The Golden Girls season finale aired. Everyone’s favorite face freezer is just one of many alterations Rose and her girlfriends never even had a chance to consider. Can you imagine Sophia with Kylie Jenner’s lips? Or Blanche with a BBL? What about Dorothy sans buccal fat?
We’ve become immune to the uncanny appearance of plastic surgery at its most extreme.
In a short period of time, we’ve become immune to the uncanny appearance of plastic surgery at its most extreme. That could be to our benefit if we want to transcend mere mortality. Some futurists believe that our acceptance of body modification – by way of fillers, or facelifts, or cochlear implants – is a necessary step in our collective march toward machine-assisted eternal life. If we’re going to live forever, they posit, we’ll have to meld with machines, and if we’re going to do that, we’ll have to get comfy with artifice.
While consumers are busy filling their faces with botulism, venture capitalists are injecting major money into biotech companies focused on life extension. Silicon Valley’s most recognizable executives and investors are on an often personal (always capitalistic) quest to make humans live for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and beyond. In 2022, Altos Labs launched with a mission to “restore cell health and resilience through cell rejuvenation.” It boasted $3 billion in initial investments – a clear record for a biotech startup. Altos is reportedly backed in part by Amazon Founder and reverse-aging poster daddy, Jeff Bezos.
Open AI’s Sam Altman, Google’s Larry Page, and billionaire investor Peter Thiel have also funded startups that promise to end and even reverse aging. Ray Kurzweil, a prominent transhumanist, creator of the flat-bed scanner, and AI pioneer, believes that with the help of nanobots and superhuman artificial intelligence, humans could achieve immortality as early as 2034.
The eternal quest for youth is very much in the air and it doesn’t seem likely to fade anytime soon. Giants of biotech and beauty will continue to pump out anti-aging cures and we will continue to ingest, inject, and slather our corporeal beings in them. If the strength of these industries is any indication, we are more determined than ever to outrace the eternal clock, but we have no idea what will actually happen if we succeed.
As I gaze into my computer contemplating the future of humanity and the youth deficit between Betty White and Sarah Jessica Parker, I can’t help but wonder: What if Carrie Bradshaw lived forever?
More on the Death of Aging
The Search for a Pill That Can Help Dogs—and Humans—Live Longer
By Tom Simonite
Late last year, Loyal, a San Francisco biotech company, announced that its drug, which could grant large-breed dogs longer lives, was making headway with the FDA. If it gains approval, it would become the first medicine targeted explicitly at life extension.
In this 2022 profile for Wired, Tom Simonite, introduces the company’s founder and CEO, Celine Halioua, a woman in her late 20s determined to change the way we age — starting with our pets. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the world of life-extension technology, where billionaires are funding a scientifically backed search for the fountain of youth. It’s also a reminder of the often hostile and sexist environment created by men in the industry. Hlioua is candid about her experiences of sexual harassment by advisors like Aubrey de Grey, a prominent longtermist and transhumanist.
How Long Can We Live?
By Ferris Jabr
Jeane Calment, the oldest person to ever live, died alone in a nursing home in 1997. By the time she died, “All her close relatives had been dead for more than three decades,” writes Ferris Jabr in this 2021 feature from The New York Times magazine. Jabr delves into the debate over whether or not humans have reached an age threshold, and the potential hazards of living longer than nature intended.
Silicon Valley’s Quest to Live Forever
By Tad Friend
God molecules, zombie toxins, and smuggler DNA are just a few of the potential keys to a longer, healthier existence, but none has cracked the code to aging … yet. Silicon Valley’s fascination with the fountain of youth is nothing new. In this eye-opening story for The New Yorker, Tad Friend introduces us to a who's-who of venture capitalists, scientists, and A-list celebrities, who have made chasing eternity their life’s mission. With an unironic special guest appearance from Goldie Hawn, star of Death Becomes Her.