From “Toddlers and Tiaras” (the child beauty pageant show that spawned “Here comes Honey Boo-Boo”) to “My Strange Addiction” (a show that focuses on anything from a man who is in love with his prosthetic girlfriend to a woman who is addicted to makeup), this channel has got you covered in crazy.

To broaden your horizons, you might want to check out other TLC gems such as: “I Didn’t Know I was Pregnant” and “Strange Sex,” or the non-TLC documentary: “Married to the Eiffel Tower.” Good times. Steel love.

We have created a helpful YouTube Channel with some suggested watching for hours of fun. Below is a gem from our historical collection. It really hits all the marks.

Unbelievable!

This is why when NPR decided to feature artist Julia Kozerski’s weight loss photos, “Changing Room,” as part of “The Picture Show”- a feature on their blog aimed at showcasing photographers, we were a bit skeptical.

With fat showing up in our Facebook feeds in the form of this video where a news anchor attacks her critics, and after reading the esteemed Lindy West’s take on obesity and her takedown of Dan Savage (and his rebuttal), it may seem that there is little to add to an already big conversation.

Films like the horrendous “Shallow Hal,”  wherein a man starts to see women for their inner beauty (manifested of course in the form of thin and blonde Gwyneth Paltrow) epitomize the national psyche as far as beauty is concerned.

In many ways, the photographs of Kozerski that NPR chose to showcase just reyify the American weight loss story. Her interview with NPR largely focuses on her weight loss rather than her artistic practice. Through NPR’s populist lens, Kozerski’s appears to be the tale of an exceptional fat person who manages to live up to her full potential as evidenced by her eventual thinness. While the weight loss itself is exceptional — the pictures show a woman loosing a tremendous amount of weight (160 pounds) over the period of a year–the interviewer sums up her weight loss as if it was relatively simple:

As for how she lost the weight? She stopped eating junk food, started walking and biking daily, counted calories, and weighed and measured her food portions. (You can see a BodyBugg armband in many of the photos.)

The first, and possibly most influential photo is in the series NPR chose to display is of  the overweight Kozerski in her wedding dress. The narrative that can be inserted here is that a man has agreed to marry this overweight woman, so then she proceeds to lose a ton of weight- perhaps rewarding him for his faith in her as a fat person. Upon looking at the complete body of work on Kozerski’s website it is apparent that the photographic series “Changing Room” is by far the least visually interesting or emotionally powerful of her otherwise significant collection. NPR also curiously chose to exclude photos of Kozerski crying which are also part of the “Changing Room” series–visually homogenizing and streamlining the weight loss process.

Kozerski’s other series “Half” shows her naked post weight loss, her skin hanging off her loosely in a photo titled “Ruins.” In another photo, she is in bed naked with her average sized boyfriend and she is crying. In these photos we understand weight loss as what is actually is: a loss.

Ruins by Juila Kozerski http://juliakozerski.com/half

Absolution by Juila Kozerski http://juliakozerski.com/half

Lovers Embrace by Julia Kozerski http://juliakozerski.com/half

Kozerski: “Even though these images were taken years ago, when I look back at them, I become extremely emotional. I can still remember the experience presented in each image. I recall the thrills of trying on smaller sizes and the satisfaction of feeling more attractive, even sexy. More so, I remember the devastation of not recognizing the person reflected back to me in the mirror.”

When a person is forced to identify with a marginalized or belittled group of people–our nation’s obese–and becomes part of a new liberated social group, it is only natural that feelings of guilt may ensue. Dressed in a variety of clothes in her “Changing Room” photos, Kozerski presents as an average bodied individual, but upon seeing her naked with her husband, we realize she has a different story than most people who wear her jeans. In a photo entitled “Absolution,” she is looking up and crying. One wonders what she is absolved of; Is it the burden of obesity, or is it the sin of forsaking her previous identity? In these photos, we see that in our society, having a relationship with fat is having a relationship with pain. Fat IS a feeling.

If you want to go a little bit farther…

There is even a professional mask option…

Pee Wee as Plastic Surgery Victim

Plastic Surgery Costume Inspiration

to Honey Boo-Boo Child,

narrowing down the options was difficult. However, after watching many a makeup tutorial on YoutTube and seriously considering dressing as Edward Scissorhands,

the best costume we have come up with is Anime Girl.

Our costume is based upon 19-year-old Anastasia Shpagina from Ukraine who has turned herself into a living Anime character, complete with a questionably *Japanese* name “Fukkacumi.”

Shpagina exemplifies a disturbing trend in the cartoonifying of women long seen in Asia and embraced in America in the form of Bratz dolls and Steve Madden Ads.

Bratz Dolls

Shpagina is friends with 21-year-old Valeria Lukyanova, also of Ukraine, who has turned herself into a living Barbie doll.

Anime Girl, left, and Barbie Girl picnic.

While we will get into the obviously questionable ethics of becoming living dolls in later posts, we want to show you some makeup tutorials we found helpful in achieving the creepy Halloween Anime Girl look.

Anime Girl and Barbie Girl.

Apparently, Lady Gaga has created her own version of the costume, which may be helpful for those of you wishing to get very dramatic.

The basic decision is whether to paint eyes on top of your existing eyes, or to go more “natural.” Since it’s Halloween, we’re going to go all the way and paint our lids. We might also try to do something so that when our eyes are open they also look Anime-esque. We might also incorporate tape to get the upturned nose.

If you go for a more natural look, this woman is a fantastic makeup artist.

In other Haloween news, we are also really excited to be attending the premiere of “American Mary” at Lincoln Center on Friday Oct. 27. The film centers around a young female med student who ends up performing elective surgeries on all sorts of freaky clientelle. It was created by twins Jenn and Sylvia Soska, whose NPR interview piqued our interest. We probably will have tons more Halloween costume ideas after seeing the film, so check back soon.

Also, send us photos of your creepiest most Fake Pretty Halloween costumes! If you are more into gore, Zipper Face was our favorite costume in that category.

We are into costumes that show what is beneath the skin–from cyborg to hand stitched doll to the classic Frankenstein.

Regina Jose Galindo by Alejandra Herrerra

Regina won a Golden Lion in 2005 for her video “Himenoplastia” at the Venice Biennale. She underwent a surgical hymenoplasty without anethesia. The surgery is meant to “re-virginize” women before their wedding night and is often performed upon people of various religious faiths.

Though Regina may pick up where the artist Orlan left off, we are happy to see someone carrying the bod-mod torch.

To see more of Regina’s work, click here.