Channelling Hannibal Lecter, Anthony Hopkins roasts Kim Kardashian's latest promotion

Straits Times

2 hours ago

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You know your product is 'sick' when Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter himself gives it his seal of approval.
US celebrity and influencer Kim Kardashian's multibillion-dollar company Skims recently rolled out a US$48 (S$62) piece of headgear that it claims will sculpt the face – scoop up the cheeks, neck and chin and hold them in place - as you sleep .
It bears a close resemblance to a post-surgery compression garment with its chin wrap and Velcro closures.
Reactions to this 'shapewear' for the face have been swift, sharp and sweeping, so much so that Anthony Hopkins – the award-winning actor who played the prolific serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the movie Silence Of The Lambs – joined in the fun.
Many have compared the face wrap to the muzzle-like, brownish tan mask strapped around the head of Dr Lecter in a scene from the movie where a senator is questioning him about her missing daughter.
Channelling that scene, Hopkins posted his 'review' of Kardashian's latest promotion .
'Hello Kim. I'm already feeling 10 years younger,' Hopkins, speaking with Dr Lecter's indecipherable stare and metallic voice, said in the video, which has been viewed over 37 million times.
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He then made the same menacing slurping sound Dr Lecter used to taunt the senator with, and then closed it with a flat 'goodbye'.
In the video's caption, Hopkins wrote, in a call back to one of his memorable double entendres in the movie: 'Thank you, Kim. Don't be afraid to come over for dinner.'
Kardashian's tongue-in-cheek response to Hopkins' video was: 'I'm screaming!!!!'
Beyond this comedic tit-for-tat, the Kardashian head gear has set off a fierce debate about advertising and women's insecurities.
Some have hailed it as the future of non-invasive facial sculpting, but others have accused Kardashian and her US$4 billion (S$5 billion) company of making claims not grounded in science and making women more insecure about their looks.
Skims is trying to rebrand the face wrap typically used after intensive cosmetic surgery as a 'must-have' that can be used 'every day' to 'shape and sculpt' the face.
But medical professionals have questioned the claims.
Dr Anna Andrienko, an aesthetic doctor specialising in cosmetic procedures, told the BBC that while these garments 'may offer some temporary sculpting or de-puffing effects due to pressure and heat retention', the results are far from permanent.
'These face wraps do not deliver lasting contouring or skin-tightening results,' she said. 'At best, they can reduce fluid retention short term. At worst, overuse may lead to skin irritation, breakouts, or circulation issues if worn too tightly or for prolonged periods.'
Casual observers say the product is contributing to 'bad self-esteem among young people'.
It just adds to the many questionable beauty trends that have had people scraping, pulling and pinching at their face, or taping over their lips at night just so they can feel good when they wake up in the morning, they say.
'What that says to me is that this pressure to look beautiful has become so consuming that there is not even a moment of our day - while we are sleeping - that has not been commodified for the project of becoming more beautiful,' Ms Jessica DeFino, a beauty critic and writer of the Review of Beauty newsletter, said.