With the announcement of a remake in the works of the 1999 film She's All That, I thought it would be appropriate to further explore one of the concepts discussed in my John Hughes movie. This is the makeover movie, in which the female character has to change her appearance to get the man.
This is seen in a litany of teen movies. She's All That, a teen romance comedy about a popular boy making a bet with his friends to take a nerdy girl to prom, is one of the most notable movies to use this trope. The female character has to change for the jock, trading in her eye glasses and smock for a short dress and a new haircut.
This trope even seems to sneak into children's movies as well, like Scooby Doo 2; Monsters Unleashed. Velma, a character iconic for being smart, has to change into a skin tight body suit to impress a male colleague. This is also evident in the film, The Princess Diaries. While the female character's objective is not to get a man, the makeover from frumpy to fancy takes center stage... not her learning how to run a country. Who needs a history lesson and training in politics when you have a nice pedicure?
Does the conventionally unattractive male character have to change for an attractive female character? No. In the film Just Friends, the main male character changes for himself over a ten year period, and not for the girl he was interested in when he was unnattrctive in high school.
In I Love You, Beth Cooper, the male character is nerdy and unattractive and wants to impress the beautiful female character, Beth Cooper. Does he change for her to win her affection? No.
My overall conclusion is that male characters can stay static and still get the girl, but female characters have to be dynamic and change themselves in order to get a date or be taken seriously.
I agree with what you are saying in this post. It is crazy how often girls are told they need to change their appearance to get the affection of a man, Another example of this in media is the movie Grease. Sandy changes her appearance from "goody goody" to "bad ass cigarette smoking biker chick" to get Danny Zuko back in her life. While talking to my best friend about this post, she pointed out to me the plot of Grease 2. She found it important to tell me because of the "plot twist" almost that happens in the film. (She had to tell me the plot because I have never and will never see Grease 2). In the film, a popular girl and a popular boy are dating (shocker, I know), but the girl breaks up with him and "quickly catches the eye of English exchange student Michael Carrington". According to Google, "Hoping to win her over, Michael tries to overcome his nerdy ways while holding off the jealous Johnny.". I think this is important to bring up because it goes against most of the ideas of women having to change themselves for me and men not having to do a damn thing to get a woman's attention.
ReplyDeleteNow, this is only one movie and in no way fixes what most of society and the media's views are on woman, but it may be a good stepping stone for future movies and other things in media to explore that topic.
It's crazy to me that people think they need to change at all for anyone. Man, woman, both, neither, in between, whatever. You don't need to change who you are or what you look like in order to attract attention from someone you like. Just go up and hit them in the face...right??
(side note: please no one do that.. seriously don't)
I agree with what you are saying about makeover movies. There are entirely too many movies with this concept, such as the Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid is actually really weird when you look into it. Ariel becomes so infatuated with the Prince, whom she really doesn’t even know. She then gives up her voice so she can have legs so she can be with him. Long story short, she gives up her family and friends (because they are still in the sea) for a nice body, so she can attract a guy, who she can’t even talk to because she gave up her voice, AND she pretty much just likes him because of his looks, because again she never really talked to him.
ReplyDeleteOne movie I do like though is Legally Blonde. In this movie, Elle is a beautiful woman who decides to go to law school. Many people doubt her because of her looks- because to be a successful woman you have to ugly or something- but she sticks to her guns and goes on to win her case. I think this movie has a positive message (although there is still the typical romance story mixed in, and aside from the fact that the whole reason she went to law school was for a boy) because she didn’t change herself to achieve her dream of winning the case. And bonus points for rejecting her ex when he tries to get her back after her successful trial. And double bonus points for her graduating law school with high honors, again without changing herself!
I agree with the points you make in this post. Mke over mvies have a special way of telling us girls how the really feel dont they? Its hard enough being a girl already then thee movies put the message outt that if you dont look like this, "you need a make over", or you'll never have a companion and or be popular. Thank you to all the writers of these movies who made me feel like crap. The characters in these films don't seem to be unhappy before their make overs, its the objecting character that makes them feel like less of a person, because of their physical appearance. When they change is when the climax or problem starts.
ReplyDeleteI think that if these films had he opposite pattern it would have a great outcome. Who doesn't like a female empowerment movie? The message this sends to women of all ages is truly abuse to their self-esteem.
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