Le Meridian Park Atlantic Hotel Lisbon
Saturday 18th September 2004
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WILL YOU COME TO DINNER...
Imagine a sunny saturday afternoon - the opening of my one person show in Lisbon. An impeccably dressed woman in shades, strides up and asks if i would like to accompany her, her daughter and hairdresser to a meal at one of Lisbon's top hotels. Of course! - the fact that it was a plastic surgeons congress just added to the mystique - it wasn't going to be dull...
I was picked up at 8.30 by Dina - one of Portugals leading TV personalities, a journalist, artist and former revolutionary as i discovered on our way to the Park Atlantic Hotel, 5 stars of marble and crystal, gaudily perched high above Lisbon. We met up with her daughter, Ana, who was exhibiting her paintings with Dina in the hotel lobby, and George, Dina's hairdresser, and not just any hairdresser, but Lisbons finest.
The reception was filling up with impeccably groomed men, some excessively tanned, a little too tight around the nose and chin, and lavishly dressed women, most with very ample breasts. This was the gala dinner of the 49th meeting and congress of the international academy of plastic surgeons; wives, partners, a hairdresser, two painters and yours truly - all present and correct.
The dinner was delightful, mostly; maigret of duck, a delicate crab veloute, but the main course of veal, pallid and rare was a little unnerving, surrounded by people who make their living rumaging around 'under the skin'. Equally disconcerting was the fact that some of the surgeons had not only reconstructed their wives, but were displaying them like prize poodles - a new height, or low, in objectification.
The entertainment for the evening started with a stunning display of Flamenco dancing - spirited, elegant and passionate - a flourish of colour, movement and sound - truly mesmerising.
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In contrast, the subsequent speeches, awards and back slapping were decidely underwhelming as the congress heads, from europe, asia and the americas welcomed new members to their group - but Dina, Ana and George were fantastic company.
Even dull things come to an end and with the pomp and speeches over, Dr Angelo (Dina's buddy and president of the congress) announced with glee that we were about to witness 'examples of our work'. The lights dimmed, smoke machines pumped as club tunes and lights erupted, transforming the white linen clad ball room into a strip joint...
It was at this point that 5 star international glitz and pomp slid effortlessly into a twilight world not unlike a David Lynch movie...all that was missing was a dwarf walking backwards talking in reverse!
...an hour of Lisbons finest female and male strippers, pumped with breast and muscle implants, botox, lip implants, nose jobs and liposuction performing for an audience of the worlds leading cosmetic surgeons.
The word incredulous goes some way to describe my reaction - I am deeply suspicious of cosmetic surgery, reject the act of watching strippers as one of crass objectification - yet here I was immersed in it - way over my head, a little drunk and utterly bemused.
At times like this, there really is only one solution, capture it and leave it to others to work it out...
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and...
I still don't really know what to make of it - but I'm pretty sure it happened.
Copyright
Copyright © John Paul Bichard 2004 - All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, nor stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author with the exception of the case in which brief quotations embodied in information, articles, etc, and which are given appropriate credit. All content on this site is protected under copyright law.
e-mail john[at sign]hydropia[dot]org