IF NETFLIX'S 'UGLIES' MOVIE WAS BOOK ACCURATE // [book versus movie: Uglies]

this is the ugliest a girl can be before hollywood gets scared ig

∆ My book Unfamiliar is available here! -

[LavenderTowne]

Did you guys read this series growing up? What did you think of the Netflix version? I need to know if I'm being too much of a hater ;w;

[CanisStar]

Honestly i thought tally was asian because they kept talking about her "squinty" eyes and that it was supposed to exemplify that racism wasnt actually as gone as it was supposed to be in the same way that the "base skin tone" for pretties does.

[clarawilliams]

Didn’t know this book existed, got the notification and thought lavender was calling someone ugly 😭

[Sharkuterie]

Before I watch this: I found it annoying that Uglies was full of conventionally beautiful actors. Like, how can you get away with that when the premise is a criticism of beauty standards?

[karlrenna]

Exactly! The 'Pretties' were supposed to look ethereal, almost inhuman, like Alex Consani or like you said, even Alita styled type of beauty! The standards were meant to be sky-high if you were one of the 'uglies'

Sadly, this felt like an edgy tween movie to me. 'Being yourself is the ultimate form of rebellion' would have hit so much harder...

[lolitareyart]

I really dont think the issue was the uglies, as they are just natural born normal people I think the issue was just putting a filter on pretties, they should have gone full out alita battle angel since it is stated it is almost impossible to be born a natural pretty

[motorcitymangababe]

I TOTALLY saw the pretties and specials like aome alita levels of different when i read the books as a kid

[ActuallyRea]

It was crazy how the movie tried to push the romance between Tally and Peris and David so much when Shay was clearly the best option

[isaacleguin]

I like how it's "the full lineup of characters" but you didn't include any of the male characters. True! That IS accurate to the books. The male characters do NOT matter in these books. Can't even remember their names.

[jacktimson]

"Uglies" is also a term for kitbashed spaceships in Sci-Fi, so my brain stuttered and bluescreened when I saw this come up in my feed Groovy vid, tho

[alixiria]

Having read the books growing up i loved how vividly you could picture characters features down to the slight asymmetry in the uglies' faces. I think it was Shay who was described in that scene where they play with a symmetrical face visualiser as having one side looking slightly angrier than the other due to the natural tilt of the brow, but i cant recall for sure. Regardless, in all the years since I touched the books that visual stuck with me.

I'm not gonna pretend they're a perfect commentary for beauty standards and their affects on people, but it was nice as a self conscious teen to have characters described in ways someone hypercritical of their appearance might, not limited to just vague descriptions like "messy brown hair and plain looks" that allow you to easily picture an actor or celebrity.

[dannyslemonade]

I think casting a black trans woman as the villan in a eugenics society is super odd?? Esp in our current political climate

[thegreatzucchiniidkalastna]

Casting model-like people in roles representing “ugly” people in a movie about unfair beauty standards is giving the same vibes as giving an award to a song about men in a movie about feminism lolll



(Which I do have qualms about that movie and true feminism is about equality and the Kens were 100% not being treated right but yk still lol)

[PoptropiCoffin]

the implications of casting a trans woman as the main villain of a story about the dangers of plastic surgery and changing yourself to fit the beauty standard is an actually insane choice for the casting director to have not thought of. plastic surgery is definitely a subject which i think should be elaborated on in media, but i think the choice to cast laverne cox as the clear villain of the story is so strange that it almost intentionally seems like alt right propaganda. laverne cox is a woman who has had "plastic surgery" in the sense that shes had gender-affirming surgery. to use her as the example of a villain in a world which surrounds the concept of being stereotypically pretty in a grotesque manner is so ridiculously tone deaf. no one at any point thought about the implications of casting not only a trans woman, but a trans woman of color in this role? especially since, like lavender said, this story had underlying themes of racism and white beauty standards and the role they chose laverne to play is a character which is supposed to look scary rather than "pretty" is... a choice. i 100% think more trans people should be cast in roles which arent specifically meant for trans people and trans people generally should be more normalized in media. but i also think that when you make any choice with your casting, you should think about the implication of that choice. "blind casting" is not ever actually blind. or at least, it shouldnt be. an oversight this big on this important of a movie for that important of a character is frankly embarrassing. i hope movies and media in general take this into heavy consideration in the future.

[garlicfox]

Oh my god I remember reading this book in my English class in 7th grade, I loved it so much

[Emisystem_error]

I didnt know there was a book of it. What I find frustrating is how off movies and series seem to go from their original story. Changing characters on multiple parts and all... Seems like such a waste! I loved the setup of this story, even if its "out of place" for this time. The designs you made could easily be used for finding an actual properly looking cast for the story...

[plasticsoya]

Akira’s transformation in Devilman Crybaby is much better than anything the Uglies did.
It truly shouldve been animated.

[jaysailsthesea]

I read uglies when I was very young, so I’m actually quite interesting in rereading it since you pointed out the whitewashing aspect, that slipped past me the first time.

[Yohannesburg]

Lady Gaga not being Dr. Cable is such a huge missed opportunity imo

[Zemii_]

I just watched the movie and the fact that they all cast conventionally attractive people as the "uglies" like-
and i remember as I was watching it being like "why do I feel like I'm seeing hunger games?"