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Beauty Equals Goodness: Difference between revisions
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* The [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] took this very, ''very'' seriously. ''Kaloi k'agathoi'' ("the beautiful and good ones") was what Greek aristocrats called themselves. To be beautiful was considered a gift from the gods and was a sign of their favor. This allowed good-looking Greeks to [[Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful|get away with things just because they were beautiful]], and occasionally hurt ugly people when accused of a crime. For instance:
** Phryne, an Athenian [[High-Class Call Girl|courtesan]] known for her beauty, was once accused of a form of blasphemy. At trial, her defense consisted, at least in part, of stripping off her clothes and saying to the (all-male) jury: "Would you dare destroy ''this''?" She was acquitted.
*** Her "blasphemy" was that she'd posed for a statue of Aphrodite, goddess of love, and thus was supposedly claiming to be as beautiful as a goddess. (Apparently no one thought to blame the ''sculptor'' for thinking Phryne would make a good model for Aphrodite.) When the jury took a good long look at Exhibit A....
** [[Socrates]], on the other hand, was famously ugly (both [[Aristophanes]] and [[Plato]] make quite a few "ugly guy" jokes at Socrates' expense). This may have figured into the decision to convict Socrates at trial (the decision to execute him, on the other hand, was more or less because of what he said).
* Public opinion in any trial by media scenario will often fall in line with this trope. [[Missing White Woman Syndrome]] (always pretty, young girls) is an obvious real-life relation, and people often have harsher reactions to unusual looking suspects (as opposed to attractive serial killers mentioned below, who often get fanmail or marriage proposals). Even non-criminal media scandals get this reaction. Take, for example, public perception of the British Royal Family. Princess Diana is lovingly remembered, despite having affairs as her former husband did, while Prince Charles is unpopular and Lady Camilla is largely hated, and both are mocked for their appearance.
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* ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial|ET the Extraterrestrial]]''. An alien that can at best be described as wrinkled and stubby, and also one of the most sympathetic and beloved characters in cinema history.
* Averted, lampshaded and parodied in the ''[[Austin Powers]]'' movies where the hero doesn't look good at all and one of the first things said to him after he is unfrozen is that he should get a make over for his teeth. At the end of one of the movies when they watch a movie based on Austin Powers (yeah.) [[Adaptational Attractiveness|Austin is played by Tom Cruise]].
* In the [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] movie ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'', Aris Kristatos, a handsome Greek tycoon decorated by the British government for valor during [[World War II]] and devoted to his patronage of an aspiring Olympic figure skater Bibi Dahl, warns Bond that Milos
* Christopher Johnson and his son of ''[[District 9]]'' are the only two white spots in an otherwise [[Black and Grey Morality]] [[Crapsack World]]. They also happen to be giant space roaches.
* Played with in ''[[Megamind]]''. Metroman, the unambiguous hero {{spoiler|who fakes his death because he's tired of the life}} is all [[Heroic Build]] and [[Lantern Jaw of Justice]], but then you have Megamind {{spoiler|the villain who becomes good}} and Titan {{spoiler|who turns bad because he can't get the girl}}. Megamind is a blue alien with giant head, but has ''huge'', puppy-like, instantly endearing [[Green Eyes]] complete with eyelashes, while Titan is human but looks and acts like a thug.
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** And, of course, the novel's prettiest characters are all extremely problematic in one way or the other. Blanche Ingram is a self-involved [[Gold Digger]]; Rosamond Oliver, while sweet, is nevertheless represented as a fluttery socialite-type; and St. John Rivers, although not a villain, is extremely manipulative and egotistical.
* Often subverted in ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]].'' [[Adaptational Attractiveness|No matter how attractive the movie actors may be]], characters are often described with more negative physical traits than positive---for example Harry is introduced as having knobby knees, messy hair, and perpetually-broken glasses. Other evil characters, like Bellatrix Black and young Voldemort, are attractive.
** Bellatrix is sort of in between subverting and playing straight this trope - while she was clearly quite attractive when she was younger, she was shown to be gaunt and worn from her time in Azkaban. On the other hand, the same was said for Sirius. And while Harry did think at one point that the Slytherins mostly appeared to be an unattractive lot, the Malfoy family and
** There are further aversions with Mad-eye Moody and the Weasleys. Played straight with a few villains like the Carrows. Interestingly, Pansy Parkinson is described as looking like "a pug", despite her being a [[Alpha Bitch]].
** It's also worth mentioning Gilderoy Lockheart. He's represented as very handsome and charming and has published several books about his various heroic deeds. It's then found out that he's been finding people who banish werewolves and such and modify their memory, then taking their credit. He claims that one reason he did this is that the people who did these things weren't very pretty.
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** On the other hand, the idea comes up: When Martin and Garrett run across a moredhel woman, the latter is surprised by her beauty, so the intrinsic expectation that evil enemies would look monstrous while good allied elves are the ones who are allowed to look beautiful is there.
* The Gentleman With Thistle-Down Hair in ''[[Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell]]'' explicitly considers handsomeness to be a sign of one's superiority and nobility over everyone else. A large factor in his decision to make Steven Black the King of England was his good looks. Since he's one of the worst of [[The Fair Folk]] this view is not particularly sensible, and it's not evident elsewhere in the books.
* ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]'': Lampshaded when [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]] Aronnax uses [[Science Marches On|physiognomy to justify]] that a stocky character is a fool and the good
{{quote|''[[Science Marches On|A disciple of such
''I might add that this was a man of great pride, that his calm, firm gaze seemed to reflect thinking on an elevated plane, and that the harmony of his facial expressions and bodily movements resulted in an overall effect of unquestionable
''[[Is That What They're Calling It Now?|I felt "involuntarily reassured" in his presence]], and this boded well for our interview.'' }}
* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[Hermetic Millenium|Count to a Trillion]]'', Menelaus watches how this trope plays out after he released some technology that allowed the rich to become more beautiful, not just through the [[Ermine Cape Effect]], but actually. He doesn't approve.
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