In this paper the body is approached through the prism of the way it is represented in reality TV (RTV) makeover shows. The author argues that TV makeover shows promote a very particular type of relationship to the self, namely that of entrepreneur of the self via the manipulation of the surface of the body. Such shows promulgate a corrupt notion of empowerment through subordination to a socially sanctioned superegoish structure, which can become deeply seductive in the internal world of the individual because it provides a way of managing anxiety. The author suggests that RTV as a genre plays into a total surveillance psychic economy, which corrupts the gaze as a form of “looking after” into a form of superegoish “watching”.