Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,518
edits
Hollywood Homely: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
(He is at the bottom, and his giving grief is an example of someone with nothing to lose, not someone who has the upper hand.) |
No edit summary |
||
| (25 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:Bettyugly 9704.jpg|link=Ugly Betty|frame| I can think of at least one thing wrong with that title.]]
{{quote|'''Producer''': What were you thinking?
'''Casting''': Well, you said you wanted gritty. In other words, ugly.
'''Producer''': I wanted Mary Ann on ''[[Gilligan's
|'''''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'''''|"Pygmoelian"}}
Dramatic situations sometimes require a character (usually female) who is unappealing, unattractive, and has a hard time finding dates. However, unattractive or even average-looking women are often dissuaded from even trying to get acting jobs in Hollywood, so the person cast in the role ends up being more gorgeous than anybody you'll ever meet in real life. Likewise, producers know that "beauty is money," and so they're disinclined to cast ''genuinely'' unattractive people even as villains or extras, but would rather simply ''imply'' homeliness to the character via character-reactions—regardless of the irony presented in attributing such to the fairly good-looking person playing the role.
Line 16:
Compare [[Beautiful All Along]], [[Cool Loser]], [[Hollywood Dateless]], [[Hollywood Nerd]], [[Hollywood Pudgy]]. Contrast [[Informed Attractiveness]] and [[Gorgeous Gorgon]].
Please keep in mind that this trope only applies if the character is actively stated to be or treated as unattractive. A handsome actor playing a geek doesn't count if nobody on the show has a problem with his looks. Similarly, a good-looking actor who is actually made less attractive is an aversion of this trope.
{{examples}}▼
{{noreallife|many women and girls in real life have body image issues. There's no reason to trigger their anxieties.}}
▲{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* [[Microsoft]]. Sent up in the Windows 7 "My Idea" series of ads. When the normal people in question flashback to having their idea, they're ''always'' portrayed by someone several times prettier than them by Hollywood standards, while an angelic chorus plays in the background. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLAO9YnlJSU Such as this one], where a fairly pretty woman is portrayed by an absolute ''stunner''.
* Teleflora. The theme in their 2010 Super Bowl commercial is ''supposed'' to be "Hot but bitchy girl gets the bad flowers; frumpy but [[Plucky Office Girl|hard-working girl]] gets the good flowers." Apparently, "frumpy" now means "not willing to wear short skirts and go-go boots to work".
* In its early days, the [[Disney Channel]] used to run a PSA that was all over this trope. A very attractive teenager is sitting in front of a poster of a pop star, lamenting how plain and unattractive she is. The pop star springs to life from the poster and tells the girl that she shouldn't worry, because it's all Hollywood magic. The pop star is then magically stripped of all the makeup, fancy clothes, etc, and reduced to being... really attractive. And the teenager is reassured. [[Broken Aesop|About something.]]
== Anime and
* [http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/Ganju_Shiba Ganju Shiba] is a male example from ''[[Bleach]]''. In a world where most of the young male characters are [[Bishonen]], [[Hunk|Ganju]] is considered a [[Gonk]]. The real world does not always work that way.
* ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' When Mayu is introduced, in both manga and anime, she is derided/described as looking every inch the homeless child she has been for perhaps several weeks at that point. Problem is, virtually nothing about her physical appearance suggests this. Even a week's time would have her looking a lot worse than she comes across as.
* ''[[Genshiken]]'' Ohno is called an "Ordinary person who is cute" and that Saki is "like a model", but Ohno is just as attractive as Saki is. In universe, Saki is seen as constantly caring of her appearance (implied by her dyed hair and her fashionable clothes and makeup), while Ohno only pulls that level of effort [[Cosplay Otaku Girl|when doing cosplay]], and when she does she's considered stunning.
* ''[[Godchild]]'' In the ''Scold's Bridle'' story arc, Drew is supposedly so plain that other upper-class girls won't give her the time of day - something which the mangaka illustrates by giving her [[Meganekko|quite good-looking round glasses]], freckles and a braid. (She also seems to have real curves compared to the waifish characters) The art style may be partly at fault, but the fact remains that she looks no less pretty than any other girl in the manga. In the same story arc, Viola wears a mask because she is disfigured, but when she takes it off
* ''[[Gokusen]]'' Quite a few characters like to point out how "plain" the protagonist is. This also comes into play in the drama, however, here she is played by [http://www.yellowcinema.com/yukie-nakama/ Yukie Nakama]
* The Princess of the Diamond´s Country in ''[[Sailor Moon]]''. In both versions (manga and anime), the princess suffer short-sightedness. Her glasses create in her a manga-version of Velma in Scooby Doo, until she drops her glasses. In the manga version, Amy and Rei discuss the true aspect of Umino (Melvin) if he take off his glasses.
* ''[[
** Of course, the movie also shows that Lettie is very sociable while Sophie is very reserved, which might explain a bit of it. The soldiers at the beginning of the movie and Howl himself seem to find Sophie quite attractive. Given the nature of the curse, there's also the implication that a lot of Sophie's "homeliness" are self esteem issues on her part.
** In the movie it's never quite explained why Sophie can change her age at will, but in the book it is stated that, as soon as Hollow saw her, he took away the curse; yet she unconsciously used her own powers to remain an old crone as a means to stay in the comfort zone that "ugly-ness" gave her.
* In ''[[Inuyasha]]'', Kagome is stated several times to be "average" in looks and appearance (by Inuyasha). However, it is noted (even the anime characters state it), that she looks almost exactly like Kikyo,
** Honestly, it's a [[Rumiko Takahashi|Takahashi]] anime, no-one is ugly.
** And Inuyasha is just being a [[Jerkass]] with a Heart of Gold.
** Inuyasha recognizes Kagome by smell, not sight. He probably finds the scent of things like body wash and shampoo strange and off-putting.
* ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'': Lotte, who is no uglier than Eva or Nina, is apparently deemed so unattractive that guys will dance with her on a dare only.
* Akane Tendo, at least if her erstwhile
* ''[[Earthsea|Tehanu]]'' a novel by [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]. Young girl Therru is so disfigured by third-degree burns that people avoid looking at her. In the anime adaptation ''[[Tales from Earthsea]]'', she's a sweet young girl who appears to suffer from a bad sunburn.
* ''[[Yotsuba&!]]'': Fuuka is often compared unfavorably to her older sister Asagi, with Yotsuba referring to her at least once as "the not-pretty sister". Fans [[Perverse Sexual Lust|tend to disagree with this assessment]].
* In ''[[Absolute Boyfriend]]'', Riiko is often described as either ugly or not as pretty as her [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|best friend Mika]]. This, of course, was the point, since Mika went a long way to ruin Riiko's self
* While not "beautiful" or "handsome", [[media:ArigaMako 9236.jpg|Makoto]] from ''[[Wandering Son]]'' is at least cute. He finds himself unattractive due to his [[Youthful Freckles]] and [[Nerd Glasses]]. He's chubbier
* Uozumi and Akagi of ''[[Slam Dunk]]'' who are described as "gorillas". While they sure as heck aren't [[Bishonen]], a chiseled jaw, full lips, and defined cheek bones are hardly hideous flaws, and that's not including the fact that they're both extremely built.
* Yuri from the Kodansha-winning shoujo manga, ''Bara no Tame ni'', who is constantly referred to as fat and ugly despite looking only slightly pudgy and having the same "pretty girl" face as the supposedly more attractive girls in the story. The Taiwanese drama based off of this is even more egregious, as she's played by girl group member and actress Ella Chen.
* [[Nations as People|Ukraine and Belgium]] from ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', while not ugly, are supposed to be plain or uninteresting (Belgium [[I Am Not Pretty|by her own admission]] and Ukraine according to Russia). The art (and fandom) disagrees.
* Shouma of ''[[Mawaru Penguindrum]]'' is said to be merely plain-looking but if you look at his design he's actually quite [[Bishonen]].
* ''[[Ms. Marvel]]'' A current{{when}} running joke in the books is that she's fat. [http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/32540/1073324-10n56xl_super.jpg It eventually gave birth to one of the biggest out of character moments in the history of Marvel Comics]{{Dead link}}.▼
▲== Comics ==
▲* ''[[Ms. Marvel]]'' A current running joke in the books is that she's fat. [http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/32540/1073324-10n56xl_super.jpg It eventually gave birth to one of the biggest out of character moments in the history of Marvel Comics].
* ''[[Sandman]]'' [[Depending on the Artist]], several of the female characters either avert or play this straight. Particularly notable is [[The Fair Folk|Nuala]]'s true form with the glamor spell that made her look like a blonde princess removed, who looks genuinely scraggly and rather underfed, [[Progressively Prettier|though subsequent artists usually make her more cute and childlike]]. The interesting thing is that despite this, she actually comes to prefer her true form (probably because Dream prefers it, and {{spoiler|it's implied she's in love with him}}). Thessaly usually looks genuinely plain, as even without her [[Nerd Glasses]] she has a very odd-shaped face. Then there's [[Gonk|Despair]]. Thessaly's spin-off comics, however, make her look rather adorable.
* The Sentry's wife, Lindy Reynolds, in [[Marvel Comics]], is apparently supposed to be frumpy and unattractive, yet is never drawn any less gorgeous than the superheroines, most of whom have been acknowledged repeatedly as being hot. You could probably take this with a grain of salt, since the only person to call her that to her face is the [[Ax Crazy]] [[Psycho for Hire]] Bullseye, but it's been pointed out in narration before as well.
* ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' The short-time member Marrow had the mutant power to grow bones out of her body which became knives, little spikes or armor (inspired by piercings no less), resulting in calling herself ugly all the time. Despite some body horror implication, most of the time Marrow's bones were merely a cosmetic detail. Most
** There's a specific reason for this. In her original appearances as a Morlock terrorist and her initial [[Heel Face Turn]], she ''was'' quite ugly (to varying degrees [[Depending on the Artist]]). During an adventure on an alien planet, however, Marrow was wounded and placed in a regeneration chamber, which also smoothed her facial features. Despite her newfound beauty, she was still self-conscious about her appearance due to having a visible mutation, since her bones were still sticking out.
* ''[[Wanted]]'' In the graphic novel, Wesley Gibson's girlfriend is repeatedly described as fat, and implied to be fairly unattractive, though she is not drawn this way at all. Seeing that she's knowingly cheating on him, [[Unreliable Narrator|this might be his way of expressing his anger with her]].
* In ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers Academy]]'' Tigra bemoans the fact that she's single, stating that it's hard to get a date "with classified that say 'Single Mom That Sheds'". For context, people, ''[
** This strange scene might count as [[Hollywood Dateless]] since Tigra has had many lovers over the years and has been called attractive in-universe.
== Film ==
* [[Audrey Hepburn]] personified this trope for a while; her characters were supposed to be embarrassingly frumpy and unattractive in such movies as ''[[Sabrina]]'' and ''[[Funny Face (film)|Funny Face]]'' (until the [[Beautiful All Along|makeovers]], that is)
* The remake of ''[[Sabrina]]'' plays this straight. Sabrina, played by Julia Ormond, is initially portrayed as plain and frumpy, with long hair and glasses. By the time she returns from Paris, with [[The Glasses Gotta Go|the glasses gone]] [[She Cleans Up Nicely|and a chic new haircut and wardrobe]], her crush is so stunned at the sight of her that he nearly walks into traffic.
* In ''[[Be Kind Rewind]]'', [[Melonie Diaz]]'s character, Alma, is played up as ugly when the male film-makers are forced to take her over her (apparently) more attractive sister. This is achieved by... having her sniff and rub her nose a couple of times. It's quickly forgotten and she's the hot girl for the rest of the movie.
* ''[[Beastly]]'': Two cases.
** Lindy is supposed to be a Plain Jane-type, and the witch, Kendra, is supposedly genuinely hideous—at least in the original book, they were. The movie version casts [[Vanessa Hudgens]] as Lindy, "uglifying' her by messing her hair up and giving her bangs, and as for Kendra, played by Mary-Kate Olsen? Her "hideousness" is conveyed by black clothing, a [[Hollywood Pudgy|slightly-plump body]], heavy eye make-up, and white-blonde hair with black streaks. She actually looks pretty hot.
** [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/2/28/ Then there is the beast.] In the book, he actually gets turned into a real beast (fur, fangs, etc). In the movie he just [[Adaptational Attractiveness|loses his hair and gets a lot of tattoos]]. Not ideal, but nowhere near as bad as being an actual beast. The way he reacts to this updated appearance adds a lot of new implications about his character.
Line 71 ⟶ 72:
* Charlotte Gainsbourg, while no centerfold, is not unattractive by conventional standards, but seems to have made a career out of this trope, playing specifically unattractive characters in some of her biggest roles:
** She plays the title character in ''[[Jane Eyre]]'', whose plainness is a major aspect of her character.
** In ''[[The Science of Sleep]]'' she plays the plain woman whom the main character initially ignores in favor of her more attractive roommate.
** In ''[[21 Grams]]'', she plays a cuckolded wife whose sick husband acquires a more attractive mistress.
* ''Circle of Friends'' Minnie Driver's character is supposed to be dowdy and heavyset (at one point she refers to herself as a "heifer"). Even playing her against the gorgeous Saffron Burrows doesn't quite make this work.
* ''[[The Comic Strip Presents]]:'' ''[[The Movie|The Supergrass]]'' concerns a guy (Adrian Edmondson) who has so much trouble getting a date that he lies to a girl about being a big fish in the drug trade to impress her ''within earshot of the police'', thus setting in motion an [[Idiot Plot]] supreme. [http://www.geocities.ws/adeappreciation/super20.jpg This] is what Edmondson looked like at the time. Of course, the character’s real problem is more likely that he’s the village idiot who lives with his mother, rather than his looks.
* ''[[Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister]]'': Used blatantly. Iris is supposed to be unattractive as part of the plot, yet she is played by Azura Skye, who is very (albeit unconventionally) pretty.
* ''The Courtship of [[Andy Hardy]]'' (1942) has the title character mercy-dating the daughter of a divorcing couple whose case his father, a judge, is working on. She's depicted as such a "droop" that at one point Andy has to actually pay his chums to dance with her at a school prom. She's also played by Donna Reed, for crying out loud.
* ''Dogfight'', starring River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, is about a crew of Marines who challenge each other to a 'dogfight' -- finding the ugliest girl they can and bringing her to a party. Phoenix's character selects Taylor's character in order to win this 'dogfight'. By Hollywood standards, she's ''hideous''. By any real world standards, she's a reasonably attractive woman.
* ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard]]'': The 2007 [[Backstory]] movie ''The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning'' features a young Daisy Duke as a social wallflower, wearing heavy sweaters, baggy jeans, her hair in a bun and thick-rimmed glasses in the first half of the film ... although a stunningly attractive babe lies underneath all those layers (as they are peeled off later in the movie).
* ''[[Easy A]]'': Subverted by Olive played by the beautiful Emma Stone (
* ''[[The Enchanted Cottage]]'': Doubly bad. The main woman is so "homely" that no guys will dance with her, young boys comment on her looks, and she generally limits her social life in despair. Later, a man breaks off with his fiancee and considers suicide over a barely visible war scar. As the two fall in love, they become beautiful in each others' eyes—represented on camera by a strange blur on their features.
* ''[[Enigma]]'': [[Kate Winslet]]’s character is a good example - even anti-dolled to look ordinary, she's still prettier than the "hot chick".
* ''[[Wanted (film)|Wanted]]'': The producers considered [[James McAvoy]] the runt of the litter when it came to casting Wesley Gibson's character, but ultimately chose him because he looked so regular that viewers would be able to relate to him more. Many fangirls disagree.
** [[Even the Guys Want Him|Just fangirls?]]
* ''Little Children'': Another Kate Winslet role, where her supposed frumpiness is a plot point. Of course, no one buys her being unattractive because it's still Kate Winslet, and even [[Roger Ebert]] in his review of the film found that pretty laughable.
* ''Frankie and Johnny'' is a particularly [[Egregious]] example. In the stage original, the plain girl was played, to great acclaim, by Kathy Bates, who fits the casting requirement by being not particularly physically attractive. For the movie version, the part was recast. To Michelle "Catwoman" Pfeiffer. Again: uh... right.
* Michelle Pfeiffer also plays this straight in ''[[Batman Returns]]''. When we first meet her alter ego Selina Kyle, she too is presented as plain and dowdy, until her transformation. All she really needed to do was take off her glasses.
* Halle Berry is also presented as plain in [[Catwoman (film)|Catwoman]]''.
Line 92 ⟶ 93:
* [[Janeane Garofalo]] was the queen of this trope in the nineties. Despite being very cute, she was almost always cast as unattractive and caustic characters. Perhaps the most egregious example was ''[[The Truth About Cats and Dogs]]'', with [[Roger Ebert]] flat-out stating in his review, "The movie is based upon the presumption that Garofalo is not pretty, and of course she is." She was outspoken about her frustration with the typecasting and eventually lost a lot of weight so that she could get other roles.
** Oddly, in ''Cats and Dogs'' [[Uma Thurman]]'s role as The Knockout is undermined by her looking as if she hasn't slept in a week.
* [[Uma Thurman]] gets this treatment in the film ''Final Analysis'', where a lack of makeup is enough to make her the supposedly mousy and plain younger sister to the glamorous [[Kim
* ''[[Jennifer's Body]]'' stars [[Megan Fox]] as a beautiful cheerleader (certainly plausible) and [[Amanda Seyfried]] as her "plain jane" best friend. ''[http://www.freewebs.com/wildfire-fansite/Amanda_seyfried.jpg Amanda] [http://www.collider.com/wp-content/image-base/People/A/Amanda_Seyfried/Amanda%20Seyfried%20%281%29.jpg Seyfried!]'' In case fans couldn't tell that she's unattractive and unwanted, they named her Needy. It's also parodied
* ''[[Last Action Hero]]'': Lampshaded, when Danny Maddigan tries to prove that they're in a film by pointing out that none of the women are ugly, to which Jack Slater responds:
{{quote|'''Jack''': No, this is California}}
* ''Love Potion Number Nine'': Even Hollywood isn't usually shameless enough to pass off [[Sandra Bullock]] as "ugly", but she is that town's go-to actress when they need an approachable, plain, girl-next-door type. "Usually" is the key word there, as she is supposed to be the ugly type in this film.
* ''[[Marty]]'': Ernest Borgnine (no prize himself in the looks department, although that's admittedly acknowledged in the film) goes on a date with a "dog" played by former model Betsy Blair,
* ''[[My Big Fat Greek Wedding]]'': While Nia Vardolos is a very pretty woman, she is anything but the typical Hollywood bombshell, which many people have stated help make the film that much more appealing. Her homely look genuinely made her plain, and getting the makeover did ''wonders.''
* ''[[Never Been Kissed]]'' has two examples. [[Leelee Sobieski]] as the nerdy girl, especially when she strips down to that spandex blue cat suit at the prom, and [[Drew Barrymore]]. She's supposed to be a bookish, nerdy girl as well... but she's Drew Frikkin' Barrymore! That said, they ''do'' manage to make Drew look pretty bad in her prom flashback. More than the majority of these examples, anyway.
* ''[[Now, Voyager]]'': Bette Davis spends the first few scenes being unconscionably unattractive by having... baggy clothes, unplucked eyebrows, bun hair and glasses. An early example of how to 'do an Ugly Betty', the film having come out in 1948.
* In ''Only the Lonely'', Ally Sheedy's character was supposed to be considered unattractive.
* In ''Only You'', Andrew McCarthy's character has to make a choice between two potential girlfriends, one who is beautiful and one who is supposedly not as good looking but is otherwise perfect. The supposedly non-beautiful woman is played by Helen Hunt. So McCarthy has to face the dilemma of whether he should settle for a woman whose worst flaw is she is only as attractive as Helen Hunt.
* ''[[Penelope]]'': [[Christina Ricci]] actually looks cute with a pig's snout, but some of her suitors are so horrified by the sight of her that they jump out of second-story windows to get away.
* In ''Portrait of a Lady'' from Jane Campion, Isabel and Henrietta go on about how ugly Caspar Goodwood is. That's Viggo Mortensen. Viggo Mortensen with slightly silly hair, but still...
* ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'': In the 2005 movie, Lizzie Bennett, described by Mr. Darcy as 'tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me' is played by [[Keira Knightley]]. Of course, it could have just been that Darcy was being a jerk.
** Likewise, in the miniseries of 1995
* ''[[The Princess Diaries]]'' Mia is supposed to be an ugly duckling before her princess makeover. However, wearing glasses and having a bad perm isn't enough to make [http://static.thehollywoodgossip.com/images/gallery/anne-hathaway-photograph.jpg Anne Hathaway]{{Dead link}} look ugly. Sure, she looks a lot better after her princess makeover, but she never looks that terrible.
* [[Anne Hathaway]] gets this treatment again in ''[[The Devil Wears Prada]]'' where she is called unattractive and fat by her new co-workers, when her only "problem" is not having a designer wardrobe. Though at least here the [[Word of God|screenwriter says]] this attitude is a [[Invoked Trope|comment on the ridiculous standards of the fashion industry]] and not the movie trying to convince the audience that Hathaway is ugly.
* ''[[Psycho]]'' features a joke where a man fawns over Marion at the bank, completely ignoring her supposedly plainer co-worker who says afterwards "He must have seen my wedding ring." The co-worker is played by Pat Hitchcock, who is not only pretty cute herself but the daughter of the director, making this doubly awkward.
* ''The Quiet'' Camilla Belle's character is described as being unattractive by several characters. One character even goes as far to say that she is a hermaphrodite. The only thing that makes her "ugly" is the fact she has short hair, minimal make-up on and wears boys clothing. In real life, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130929010843/http://www.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/camilla-belle-100.jpg Camilla Belle] is as beautiful as Elisha Cuthbert.
* ''[[Shaolin Soccer]]'': Mui also counts as a [[Beautiful All Along]], as she finally looks better after her [[Bald Women|second makeover]], about 15 minutes before the end of the film. Her initial appearance was the very pretty actress being given a long fringe covering most of her face and heavy acne on the parts that were actually visible; her first makeover was putting her under all the fashion excesses of [[The Eighties]], with a gigantic perm and a garish makeup and a power suit in neon colors that make her look genuinely offputting.
* ''[[She's All That]]'' A teenage film take on the Pygmalion story involves a bet to try to get the "ugly" girl to win as prom queen. After scanning the whole school, they settle on the obviously attractive Rachel Leigh Cook as the least likely to be named prom queen.
* ''[[Not Another Teen Movie]]'' parodies ''[[She's All That]]'', having the gus scan the crowd and decide the conjoined twins, hippy albino, hunchback, and others are not ugly enough, but that the girl with glasses, a pony tail, and paint-covered overalls (played by the clearly attractive Chyler Leigh) is the ugliest by far.
Line 119 ⟶ 120:
* ''Tamara'': The eponymous character is considered unattractive before she undergoes her [[Evil Is Sexy]] makeover. Before that it is just the very attractive Jenna Dewan with no make-up on and unflattering clothing.
* [[Thora Birch]] plays a lot of characters like this. Hilariously, her character in ''[[American Beauty]]'' has [[A-Cup Angst]] and wants to get breast implants. Take a look at her nude scene, and her in ''[[Ghost World]]''. Especially when you compare her to the flat-chested Mena Suvari.
* ''[[Thoroughly Modern Millie]]'' Miss Dorothy is drop dead gorgeous while Millie pales in comparison. Miss Dorothy is believable enough as she's played by Mary Tyler Moore but Millie is played by ''Julie Andrews''. Young, cute Julie Andrews whose wearing flashy flapper dresses.
* ''[[She's Out of My League]]'' plays this straight. Jay Baruchel is apparently a 5, but if anything, he's just a bit dorky looking and still fairly cute. To give another idea of just how warped that movie's idea of attractiveness is, Mike Vogel is supposedly only an 8.
* ''A Walk to Remember'': The character of Jamie Sullivan. Although the character was never intended to be unattractive (merely unconcerned with her appearance) the audience has a hard time believing the shock of the other characters during her [[Beautiful All Along]] moment given actress Mandy Moore's natural beauty.
Line 126 ⟶ 127:
* Parodied in ''[[The Other Guys]]''. Will Ferrel is constantly apologizing for his wife, even calling her a "battle-axe," when she is played by the obviously stunning Eva Mendes and he is the only one who doesn't realize how hot she is.
* Actress Ann Revere really ''was'' homely, but played admirable characters (often mothers) who had for lack of a better term a lot of inner beauty, allowing Ms. Revere to display hers. She tended to glow quietly. There is something of this about Dame Edith Evans as well.
* [[Ashley Tisdale]] played a nerdy girl in ''Picture This''. Yes, ''[[High School Musical|Sharpey Evans]]' actress''. It becomes jarring that one of the earliest shown pieces of 'evidence' that she's a nerd is a scene that makes a big deal about her wearing 'granny panties'. Except, its not grannie panties, its clearly a thong, you can see the leg holes of it. It's a [[Goofy Print Underwear|cartoon print thong]], but still a thong. The most the film does is give her tomboy looking clothes, big glasses, and that's it, really.
* [[Ashley Tisdale]], as Maddie on ''The Suite Life of Zack and Cody'' is ''supposed'' to be the homely one in comparison to London - though to be fair, they did establish early that Zack had a crush on her, and they dropped the homely act by season two.▼
* ''Failure to Launch'': Justin Bartha is the ugly one. Not the plain one and not played as a joke, repeatedly throughout the movie he is referred to as being ugly. So is [[Zooey Deschanel]]; in fact they are hooked up by friends on the theory that since they are both so ugly neither would be able to find anyone else.
* ''[[The Help]]'': a plot point in both the book and movie, is the plainness of Skeeter. However, in the film version, Skeeter is played by the lovely Emma Stone. Most viewers find it difficult to believe that a character as beautiful as that would have trouble attracting men, even if the movie tried to make her "ugly" by giving her "frizzy" hair.
Line 133:
* ''[[Princess Protection Program]]'' has Selena Gomez playing the unpopular tomboy girl role. Does [http://welovesel.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/8/8/2788070/7283692_orig.png this] looks tomboyish to you?
* ''[[The Ten Commandments]]'' goes on (and on and on) about the noble choice Moses makes to marry the plain Sephora over the gorgeous Nefretiri. Yvonne De Carlo is made "plain" by putting some dirt on her face in most scenes, and not giving her the sparkly dresses that Anne Baxter gets. But she's still [http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/De%20Carlo,%20Yvonne/Annex/Annex%20-%20De%20Carlo,%20Yvonne_02.jpg Yvonne De Carlo].
== Literature ==
Line 150 ⟶ 149:
* A subversion: artist Stephen Fabian illustrated some of Keith Roberts' fantasy short stories about a 20th-Century witch named Anita. The editor told Fabian that Roberts had complained about previous illustrators drawing Anita as "a sexy babe," when she was actually "a plain, homely girl." But when Fabian went through the manuscript to get an idea of Anita's appearance, he found the passages "related to Anita’s looks were all describing her as a really beautiful sexy babe; young men whistled at her as she walked by, their eyes popped out at the sight of her luscious figure, their hearts broke if she didn’t smile at them, etc, etc." He wound up drawing Anita as a beauty ... and Roberts wrote him a complimentary note, with no reference to his earlier instructions.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Absolutely Fabulous]]'': There was a constant stream of fat jokes at the expense of Jennifer Saunders, even though she didn't even ''look'' fat.
** This may actually be more of an intentional satire of body image and the fashion industry than the trope being played straight. The fat jokes were often from people who had eating disorders, were incredibly insensitive (or in Bubble's case, just flat out stupid), or [[My Beloved Smother|well-meaning but terrible parents]]. The only person showing genuine concern over her weight was her daughter, Saffy, who didn't find the jokes very funny and was generally just worried about her mother's overall health (physical and mental).
*** Almost certainly a parody, since Jennifer Saunders was best known at the time as the thin comedy partner of the larger Dawn French.
* ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]'': Andy and his girlfriend help out a farmer's daughter by giving her dresses and makeup in order to make her look good. Of course, her "non-beautiful" state consisted of the (beautiful) actress with a few dirt smudges instead of rouge.
* ''[[Angel]]'': A rather obnoxious commercial director declared Cordelia looking like [
* ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'':
** Ann Veal. Although Ann's not really played as "ugly," more that she's incredibly boring/unmemorable.
Line 162 ⟶ 160:
* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'': None of the characters are especially unattractive, but a combination of not being especially tall, muscular or fashionable in addition to being socially awkward and you can see why they aren't very lucky with the ladies. For Raj the actor is stuffed in horrible clothes, has his hair done badly, and is a [[Hollywood Nerd]]... and then you see Raj's actor, Kunal Nayyar, off the show, and... he's HOT.<ref>Raj, incidentally, has ''no'' problem ''attracting'' women, just talking to them while he's still sober.</ref> Leonard's fashion sense and hair style makes him look like a teenager, he's noticeable more handsome when he dresses up but that can be said for a lot of people.
** Bernadette is extremely attractive and is recognized as being pretty, but the fact that she has glasses and is rather mousy makes [[Anything That Moves|Howard Wolowitz]] not sure how committed he wants to be, as being rather shallow he is looking for a glamorous supermodel. He eventually recognizes how lucky he is to have her. Even Simon Helberg (Howard) is a lot more attractive off the show, just look at his picture on the [[wikipedia:Simon Helberg|other wiki]]. His character has a ''horrible'' haircut and his clothing makes it clear he has little body fat or muscle on him, including very stuffy turtleneck sweaters.
* The third ''[[Blackadder]]'' series has the Prince being frequently referred to as fat (as historically he was) and having trouble with women, in spite of being played by the very thin (and rather popular with women) Hugh Laurie.
* ''[[Bones]]'':
** [[Lampshaded]] when Booth describes himself and Brennan as the "sexy FBI agent and the sexy scientist".
Line 188 ⟶ 186:
* Steve Urkel in ''[[Family Matters]]''. As proven by the 'Stefan' persona, Jaleel White is by no means unattractive, but give him thick glasses and a funny voice and everyone treats him as a totally repellent geek.
** That one's simply a case of bad luck in casting. When Jaleel started as Urkel, he was a lot shorter, scrawnier, and was usually portrayed as really annoying instead of repulsive. By the time they started creating the Stefan Urquelle persona, puberty had been very kind to him.
* ''[[Franklin and Bash]]'': Jennifer from "Jennifer of Troy". [https://web.archive.org/web/20150126092803/http://www.thetvking.com/reviews/412/jennifer-of-troy-astounds-franklin--bash/ Just read this].
* ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]'': One episode involved the [[Girl of the Week]] bribing Will into going on dates with her, despite him being unattracted to her. At one point, Judge Carl Robertson also makes fun of her appearance. However, it's pretty obvious that the girl in question is a pretty actress who just happens to have unflattering hair and clothes, and glasses.
** Also the episode with [[Queen Latifah]]. ''Queen Latifah''.
Line 195 ⟶ 193:
* ''[[General Hospital]]'': Part of the backlash on Spinelli is that he's a greasy-haired, geeky nerd with [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]...on a [[Soap Opera]], where anyone under a 9 is ugly. This was stretched even more when they brought in a similarly geeky girl...and hid her behind glasses, [[Girlish Pigtails]], and clothing that went out in the mid-90s.
* ''[[Glee]]'':
** [[Genki Girl|Rachel Berry]] is supposedly less attractive than [[All Guys Want Cheerleaders|Quinn Fabray]]. Now, Quinn's actress, Dianna Agron, is a cute girl, but Rachel's played by Lea. ''Friggin'.'' '''''[http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/8400000/Lea-Michele-on-The-Letterman-Show-05-10-09-glee-8493600-691-1222.jpg Michele]'''''.{{Dead link}}
** In one episode, Quinn's boyfriend Finn describes Rachel has having "a smoking hot body... if you don't like boobs." Rachel is noticeably much, much curvier than Quinn.
** In an [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-en-lea-michele2-2009dec02,0,6625011.story interview] with the actress she mentions how the character is supposed to be considered not attractive in the show.
Line 208 ⟶ 206:
* ''[[I Love Lucy]]'': Ethel was the source of constant fat jokes, despite being about the same build as Lucy. To compensate for this, the producers had her wear clothes that were several sizes too small. The [[Urban Legend]] that she was contractually obligated to gain 20 pounds is untrue.
** This was intentional on the part of Vivian Vance. She reasoned that if Fred threw fat jokes at Ethel, and she were actually fat, people would feel bad for her; however, if she was called fat while actually slender, the hypocrisy and dissonance would make it funny.
* ''[[iCarly]]'' manages to avert this fairly well. [[The Chew Toy]] Lewbert is played [https://web.archive.org/web/20140716024727/http://img.likecinema.net/images/movie/player/Jeremy_Rowley_1279986142.jpg by this guy]. However, in the show, they mention that Lewbert used to be a male model, until a psycho ex-girlfriend caused him enough grief to make a [https://web.archive.org/web/20120605092659/http://www.icarly.com/assets/1/image/2009/04/30/import_000012.jpg giant wart] grow on his face, and at that point, he seemed to throw in the towel on hygiene.
* ''[[Inspector Lynley]]'': (BBC Homely?) A mild case in the televised version of the mysteries; in the books, DS Barbara Havers is ''committedly'' unattractive—middle-aged, plain, overweight, and badly dressed. [[Sharon Small]] may not fit the supermodel aesthetic, but she ''is'' stunningly pretty, and no bad haircut or baggy clothes can completely hide this, with the result that Barbara Havers is utterly adorable for the first four series, and then genuinely pretty (they let Sharon grow her hair out for series 5 and 6). Elizabeth George, who wrote the novels, was quite upset by this [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|until she saw Small's performance in the pilot]].
* ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]''
Line 227 ⟶ 225:
** Maybe that one was simply the "young" part. Mark Harmon is nearly 60, and for most people, regardless of how hot both parties are, it can be slightly strange to watch someone hit on a person old enough to be their father, especially when he acts as a [[Team Dad]]. A [[Grumpy Old Man]] Team Dad.
* ''[[The New Adventures of Old Christine]]'': The beauty and shapely figure of Julia Louis Dreyfuss is totally ignored by the people around her, even though her wardrobe often shows off what one would consider damn fine assets.
* Parodied on the Adult Swim show ''NTSF:SD:SUV::''. Jessie, the head lab tech, is called ugly by everyone else on the show. Jessie is played by [https://web.archive.org/web/20121012015917/http://poptimal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/RebeccaRomijn-300x225.jpg Rebecca Romijn wearing a lab coat and glasses (the latter not worn in this photo)]. A later episode reveals that the other lab techs are similarly viewed as unattractive and are all played by male models.
* ''[[The OC]]'': Seth Cohen.
* ''[[The Office]]'' (US version):
Line 243 ⟶ 241:
** And also Michael Novotny's self-depreciation, despite that Hal Sparks is unendingly adorable no matter what Sears-type button up shirts they put him in.
* ''[[Reaper]]'': In episode "Business Casualty", Sock is set up with a friend of Nina's. His reaction to her is that she is hideous beyond all imagining, to the point that he tries to get away from her as quickly as possible. In fact, the character is simply played by a beautiful woman wearing a minimal amount of make-up wearing average clothes with her hair in a pony-tail. There isn't even any of the usual Hollywood Homely attempts to disguise this: she doesn't wear glasses, have braces, wear hideous clothes, have bad hair, or prosthetic makeup. She just looks like someone going out to run errands.
* ''[[Rules of Engagement (TV series)|Rules of Engagement]]'' has Liz. Descriptions of the character indicate that she's overweight and highly unattractive. Visual inspection begs to differ.
* ''[[Scrubs]]'': Ted the lawyer is a well done aversion, created with makeup and an ill-fitting suit. The actor has been quoted as saying that after seeing him in the pilot episode, his mother called him up and asked if he was ill.
* ''[[Sex and the City]]'':
Line 251 ⟶ 249:
* ''[[Strangers with Candy]]'': ''Very'' much averted where [[Amy Sedaris]], who in real life is far from bad looking, took extensive pains to look as ugly as possible as Jerri Blank. This includes fat suits, yellowed teeth, hilariously awful wigs, and a wardrobe that would make anyone with a modicum of taste gouge their eyes out. The result is appropriately hideous. In an interview, she stated she was deliberately trying to avoid this trope.
* ''[[That '70s Show]]'':
** Big Rhonda was made up to look homely, but the actress ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130928040238/http://cynthialamontagne.com/ Cynthia Lamontagne]) who played her wasn't actually bad looking. This is seen in the episode "It's a Wonderful Life", where in an alternate timeline she was dumped by Eric and appears at the gang's ten-year reunion without the whole Big Rhonda look. She also played a fembot in ''[[Austin Powers]]''.
** Somewhat inverted with Donna ([[Laura Prepon]]), who's frequently mocked as a "giant" and a "lumberjack" by Jackie, while alternately depicted as a "hot redhead" whom Eric could never hope to date otherwise. He even considered her his equivalent of the actual Brooke Shields dating Donna's father.
* ''[[30 Rock|Thirty Rock]]'': Liz Lemon ([[Tina Fey]]). This is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the episode "Cleveland". Liz goes to Ohio and is offered a modeling contract and is complimented by people on the street.
{{quote|'''Jenna''': We're all models west of the Allegheny.}}
* ''[[The Tudors]]'':
** In Season 3, [[Joss Stone]] appears as Anne of Cleves. Henry VIII claims he cannot tell her from his horse (which speaks either very poorly of his eyesight or very well of his horse) and is unable to consummate his marriage to her, supposedly because she is so ugly. This is based on something Henry actually said, but contemporary reports suggest that she was quite pretty. An alternative explanation suggested by other characters is that he's turned off because Anne is a virgin who doesn't know what to do. We also know that Henry was almost 50 years old and as heavy as 400 pounds, so he may have had performance anxiety of his own. Either way, it's most likely all in his head.
** This is used in Philippa Gregory's novel, ''The Boleyn Inheritance'', where Anne of Cleves seems very frumpy at first because she is wearing incredibly modest (read: baggy) and unflattering clothing that she brought with her from Germany. After Henry VIII divorced her, however, she was free to wear English clothing and hold her own court in her own household. The next time she showed up at court, everyone thought that she looked very pretty. There are several historical accounts that support this theory. Henry did end up sleeping with her in Season Four.
** Case can be also made for Henry himself who is played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Especially in his later years, King Henry was an obese, very unattractive man, Jonathan Rhys Meyers still make him look hotter than he ever was. Although this is more a result of keeping the same actor who played the young Henry (who actually was fit, attractive and a famous sportsman) to play the old Henry with only very light cosmetic changes even though many years are supposed to have passed.
Line 267 ⟶ 265:
*** This man obviously never watched the actual show and criticized it on it's premise.
** Actually, the show kind of averts this more often than not. While Betty is not exactly a super model, people around her usually recognize, both verbally and non-verbally, that she's pretty much an average looking woman and that, when she tries, she can look stunningly beautiful. The main problem with the girl is not her actual appearance but her awkward customs and fashion sense, which of course are something people in the fashion business will mock to death. Some characters, including ex-womanizers Matt and Daniel, as well as shallow Amanda even develop crushes on her, along with a series of seriously good looking, if nerdy, guys.
* The Venezuelan soap ''Vieja yo?''
* ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'': Justin. In one episode his family couldn't believe that a pretty girl would consider dating him. At one point, Alex said that Justin was not cute all. And we are supposed to believe this? Especially since he is played by the ridiculously hot ''David Henrie''.
* ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]'': Many male fans insist this one was (unintentionally) inverted wherein Jan Smithers as [[Hot Librarian|shy]], [[Hollywood Nerd|nerdy Bailey]] apparently came off as a whole lot hotter than 'blonde bombshell' Loni Anderson. Loni Anderson stated that the trope was being intentionally subverted and that she enjoyed playing on a show where the two attractive women were loyal co-workers and good friends.
Line 276 ⟶ 274:
''Steve''': Thanks, Diana. I know you'd do a wonderful job. But I'm afraid this calls for a really gorgeous girl. Someone who looks great in a bathing suit. Say, I won't be needing you for awhile, is there anything you'd like to do?
'''This Troper''': [[Big OMG|Wow!]] }}
* ''[[Yo Soy Betty, la Fea]]'', the Colombian soap opera on which ''[[Ugly Betty]]'' is based, looks [http://img.timeinc.net/pespanol/i/galeria/2006/septiembre/Betty_Colombia_090506.jpg a bit more convincing] into characterizing Betty as ugly, even when the main actress is [
** Also in universe, this is also the crux of the secretarial staff: they are aware that, for normal person standards, they are attractive and even hot (the younger secretaries were played by very pretty actreses and even an actual model), but they work for men like Lombardi and Gutierrez who are surrounded by very pretty but homogeneous looking models, so if you get sightly outside that mold you'll get shunned by them, if they ever noticed you at all.
* ''[[Zoey 101]]'': [[Hollywood Nerd|Quinn Sanders]]
** Or Coco Wexler. She is neither so fat nor so horrible as they say in the series. The fact that his supposed ugliness is accompanied by a series of romantic failures, which appear to be deserved for it, ultimately has [[Unfortunate Implications]], even though her role is kinda the [[Butt Monkey]].
Line 282 ⟶ 281:
* Lilith on ''[[Cheers]]'' is uptight, prim, and withdrawn. And she is played by [[Bebe Neuwirth]].
** It's somewhat of a running joke both on ''Cheers'' and ''[[Frasier]]'' that Lilith ''is'' hot, but insists on donning hyper-conservative, frumpy, old-fashioned clothes, refusing to cover her pale skin with makeup, and wearing her hair in an abominably tight bun. Lampshaded in that whenever she unpins her hair, Frasier becomes so overcome with lust he completely loses his composure.
* ''[[Picket Fences]]'' - Kenny can't seem to appreciate Maxine's physical beauty because she's a fat tomboy with a weird face, so he has to learn to love her [https://web.archive.org/web/20160909081506/http://s.sfwgifs.com/img/upld/boys-dream.gif personality].
* Zelda Gilroy on ''[[The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis]]'' even said there's nothing to love about her appearance. Really, the only problem was she wasn't as super-model hot as the other gals Dobie would chase.
* ''[[Smallville]]'': Lampshaded, as Clark thinks of himself as plain but, as the high school reunion and even his friends (such as Pete) have mentioned, he is quite handsome.
* Edith, the extremely adorable middle sister in ''[[Downton Abbey]]'' looks like a blonde Betty Boop. However, the men constantly pass her over and the rest of the family despair that she will never marry. When a man who everyone describes as old and dull actually shows interest in her, it is supposed to be cause for celebration. It is possible that this is a [[Justified Trope]] as she does have the most dull personality of the three sisters and appears somewhat needy, so it may simply be her personality that men find uninteresting.
* Sketch from ''[[Skins]]'', who everyone is constantly saying is ugly. She doesn't get all dolled up like most of the other girls on the show, but she is definitely pretty.
* Annie in ''[[Community]]'', to the point that some characters in-universe have to explicitly informed that she really is beautiful. It's crossed to a degree with [[Informed Attribute]] and [[Character Development]], however, since while she is quite clearly pretty ''now'' she's explicitly described to have had issues with her weight and complexion (among other things) before the series started, and is thus still rather neurotic and lacking in self-confidence and self-esteem about it. Reflecting this, she also has a tendency to dress rather frumpily and unflatteringly, in the earlier seasons at least.
** However it should be noted that the only one to have to be told
** In one Season 2 episode, she complains about being used as "bait and distraction" in various schemes, only to realize Troy and Abed didn't hear her because they were distracted by her
* In ''[[Victorious]]'' when Trina offers to kiss a kid who previously came on to the other three main female
** Trina gets this a lot on the show - in the episode "Wifi In The Sky" Beck and Andre are horrified at getting a close-up shot of her behind as she leaves her seat. Several male viewers would probably be gratified if they were in their place.
* In [[Stephen King]]'s novel ''[[The Stand]]'', Harold Lauder is a fat acne-ridden teenager. So when it came time to make the TV-miniseries adaptation, they cast.. [[Parker Lewis|Corin Nemec.]]
** Partly justified, since the novel mentions that Harold trims down and becomes fairly attractive thanks to physical labor and the relative lack of junk-food in his post-superflu lifestyle.
* ''[[Horrible Histories]]'' had a sketch where King Philip of Spain married Queen Mary of England. Mary was supposedly quite ugly, but the actress they had portray her was actually somewhat attractive. Subverted with their portrayal of Elizabeth I, where they use make-up to make the actress look quite ugly.
▲* [[Ashley Tisdale]], as Maddie on ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]]'' is ''supposed'' to be the homely one in comparison to London - though to be fair, they did establish early that Zack had a crush on her, and they dropped the homely act by season two.
== Music ==
* [[Avril Lavigne]]. In the video for "Girlfriend", we're supposed to believe that Avril's bratty punk-like "bad girl" character is more desirable than the nerdy girlfriend. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ25-glGRzI Er...] ([[Word of God]] says it's supposed to be satirical, but if that's true, it sure has one hell of a [[Misaimed Fandom]].)
* Saving Jane. The whole point of the song "Girl Next Door".
* [[Taylor Swift]]. In the video for [https://web.archive.org/web/20100117072901/http://www.cmt.com/videos/taylor-swift/377889/you-belong-with-me.jhtml "You Belong With Me"], they put her in [[Hollywood Nerd|really big glasses and a band uniform]] and we're supposed to believe she's The Plain Girl. Yeah, right. And then when [[Beautiful All Along|the glasses come off...]] Just to drive the trope home, the 'hot cheerleader' is played by... [[Taylor Swift]], in a brunette wig.
* Bill Kaulitz, lead singer of [[Tokio Hotel]] has stated on multiple occasions that he looks ugly without his makeup. When seen without his makeup, [[Sarcasm Mode|horror of horrors]], [[Dude Looks Like a Lady|he looks more like a man than usual.]]
== Newspaper Comics ==
* [[Luann]] is typically assumed in her world to be plain, at best (at least as compared to the local high school [[Alpha Bitch]], Tiffany), even though as drawn she is quite attractive. In one arc boys lined up around the block to throw baseballs at a dunking machine so as to get Tiffany wet; when it was Luann's turn, all the boys mysteriously vanished (which was in fact the [[Punch Line]]). And it's not like her boob size (again, as drawn) is any less ample than her rival's, either.
== Professional Wrestling ==
* [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] spoofed this when they had [[Alpha Bitch|LayCool]] mock Mickie James claiming that the extremely fit Diva was fat and calling her Piggy James. Even though they were doing it for some cheap heat, and the announcers pointed out how ridiculous it was some people apparently thought the WWE was seriously calling her fat, talk about [[Completely Missing the Point]].
** Probably not even that they really thought it was serious, just that it was an unbearably stupid angle.
* [[Cody Rhodes]] adopted a vain pretty boy gimmick and came out to cut a promo on how "dashing" he is. He then referred to Todd Grisham as "overweight" and "plain". [http://onlineworldofwrestling.com/pictures/t/toddgrisham/01.jpg Yeah], not getting oxygen to the brain there Cody.
Line 323 ⟶ 321:
* ''[[Wicked (theatre)|Wicked]]'' the musical adaptation, Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, is supposed to be so hideous that her father cannot look at her upon her birth. She even describes herself as "ugly". Still, she is played by actresses such as Shoshanna Bean, Eden Espinosa and the incredibly attractive Idina Menzel, with no further pains taken in making her look unattractive than painting her green. There are some. however, who theorize that Elphaba is actually supposed to be pretty. She ''thinks'' she's ugly because people look at her funny, and her dad can't look at her because he blames her for her mother's death.
** Her father can't look at her because SHE IS GREEN! It doesn't really matter how tolerant you are, if your child was born and their skin was the colour green, you'd probably freak out a bit too. Plus there's the fact that in the book, her green skin colour is supposedly the result of her mother's unfaithfulness, which must smart him a bit.
== Video Games ==
Line 333 ⟶ 330:
* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 4'', Solid Snake is supposed to be so ugly as a result of his accelerated ageing disease that at one point, when he takes his shirt off, he actually makes a grown woman cry. (His younger self was supposed to be a [[Sliding Scale of Beauty|World Class Beauty]], and women immediately show interest in him when he's wearing [[Latex Perfection|makeup to look like his younger self]].) In practice, he still has a great body and finding him more attractive than his younger self is ''not'' a niche opinion amongst Solid Snake's generous [[Estrogen Brigade]]; people frequently remark that his younger self as it was rendered in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 4'' looks [[Uncanny Valley|awkward-looking]] or even outright ugly, but as an old man he is extremely charismatic.
* In [[Dragon Age]] 2, Aveline asks Isabela how she's able to attract men, given that she's not especially good looking. The tone of both Aveline's question and Isabela's response indicates that this was a serious question, despite Isabela's character model being an [[Up to Eleven]] [[Ms. Fanservice]] and Aveline herself is quite attractive.
* In ''[[Until Dawn]]'', we're introduced to Hannah. [[Word of God|Allegedly]] she's a plain-looking, nerdy geek. In reality, she's a [[She's Got Legs|leggy]], [[Spicy Latina|tan-skinned]], [[Brainy Brunette|raven haired]], [[Buxom Is Better|well-endowed girl]] who could be a bitchy egotistical cheerleader in any other setting... but apparently, even the hunky jock guy finds Hannah undesirable for some undisclosed reason.
==
* in ''[[Better Days]]'', both [http://www.jaynaylor.com/betterdays/comic/BD235.05-07-15.gif Marvin] and [http://www.jaynaylor.com/betterdays/comic/BD225.05-06-10.gif Marissa] are treated as being pretty unattractive. Fisk is shocked the instant he sees Marissa, having assumed she got some of the "hereditary hottability" that her cheerleader sister had, and Lucy reacts with pity the instant she sees Elizabeth with Marvin. The trouble is, both of them are drawn in the standard cute animal style, so it's really impossible to tell that they're supposed to be that undesirable.
* In ''[[Nip and Tuck]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20120512011240/http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00772.html objecting to this trope is one reason to avoid movie romances.]
== Web Original ==
Line 352 ⟶ 349:
** Example: Aquerna. She's hardly worth a second glance on campus, but the devisers think she's hot, and when she goes home for the holidays with her pal Rhiannon, lots of guys are hitting on her.
* Feena's avatar of ''[[The Gungan Council]]'' could be viewed as pretty, yet her character in narrative is described as being borderline ugly.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' / ''The New Batman Adventures'' lampshades it beautifully, if a bit [[anvilicious]]ly (but hey, [[Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped]]): One [[Villain of the Week]], Calendar Girl, was once a renowned model who was fired for getting old, unable to compete with younger models. She tried to make the transition to acting, and even managed to get the role as a mother on a sitcom, but was subsequently fired from ''that'' job when the network decided they wanted a to go in a "younger direction". Eventually, she decides to wreak bloody vengeance on the network and modeling executives who ruined her career, but she had so much plastic surgery done before turning evil that she wears a full-face mask. At the end of the episode [[Batman]] defeats her and the police unmask her, whereupon she begins to scream and sob upon the ground. She is in her mid 30s and still quite attractive, even in comparison to other models, but she is absolutely horrified the police can see her "old, ugly" face.
{{quote|'''[[Batgirl]]''': I don't get it, she's beautiful.
'''Batman''': She can't see that anymore. All she can see are the flaws.
* ''[[Daria]]'' is a reasonably-attractive girl to anyone with functioning eyes. Subverted in the episode, "Quinn the Brain"; while Daria is generally described as plain or even ugly (by people who believe that [[All Guys Want Cheerleaders]]), and usually shows disdain for makeup and clothing, she proves that she can match her fashion-crazed sister Quinn to make a point to her. Extra points for being a [[Spoof Aesop]], since Daria did so in order to [[We Want Our Jerk Back|set Quinn back on the shallow, airheaded lifestyle]] Daria so loathed her for, because Quinn being seen as intelligent was a threat to Daria's own self-image.
** Note that Daria and her pal Jane are the only girls in the school who are drawn with no bust ''at all''.
** In the episode, "Too Cute", Quinn was convinced that she needed plastic surgery after another girl in school had some work done, and was threatening her position in the Fashion Club. By the episode's climax, Daria had enough and flat out told Quinn she was beautiful and did not need plastic surgery. Quinn, of course, thought she was being sarcastic.
* ''[[The Fairly
** Cosmo is also considered very ugly.
*** Wanda as well, or at least, [[Hollywood Pudgy|fat]].
* ''[[Family Guy]]''
** Meg Griffin, who was originally supposed to be rather plain but has been flanderized into being monstrously hideous based on the reactions of those around her. Characters have committed suicide by fire upon sight and have (claimed to) kill family members to generate excuses to avoid her. Of course in the episode, "Don't Make Me Over" all that was easily fixed with a new hairstyle and color, fashionable clothes and make up.
Line 369 ⟶ 365:
** If there's a [[Cutaway Gag]] is about a famous woman, half the time it'll be about how she's an absolute hag.<ref>The other half are about her being a giant bitch</ref> The list of women so insulted includes Helen Hunt, Kirsten Dunst, [[Sarah Jessica Parker]] ("she looks like a foot!"), Laura Linney, [[Laura Dern]], [[Kate Winslet]], [[Maggie Gyllenhaal]], and countless others. This has the [[Unfortunate Implications|unfortunate effect of making the writing staff look like misogynists]].
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'''s [[Sidekick]] Ron Stoppable was supposed to appear as a nerdy type of character, but he ended up appearing cute to the viewers. DNAmy is supposed to to be desperately unattractive.
* ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'': Velma Dinkley used to be decidedly plain; her hairstyle was unflattering at best, her face was nothing to get excited over, the sweater she always wore was shapeless, and her figure could generously be described as resembling a barrel on legs. Then (probably because the actress who played her in the live-action movies was pretty good looking herself), when they were making ''[[What's New, Scooby
** In the recent (2002–present) ''Scooby-Doo'' series where Velma makes an appearance, she's been voiced by Mindy Cohn (best known as Natalie from ''[[The Facts of Life]]'') in what's probably an unintended [[Subverted Trope|subvertesion]]. Also hilariously [[Lampshaded]] in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9XKoapOH5Y this] shampoo commercial featuring Velma before and after using the aforementioned shampoo. Let's give props to Wilma Flintstone and Jane Jetson in that commercial, too.
** In the second season episode ''A Tiki Scare Is No Fair'', Shaggy and Velma dress up as Tarzan and Jane. It might not be up to Daphne standards, but she's definitely been hiding [http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9355/atsinf12.jpg something] under that sweater. She wasn't hard to look at doing the hula at the end, either.
Line 384 ⟶ 380:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Dead Horse Trope]]
[[Category:The Makeover]]
[[Category:Body Image Tropes]]
[[Category:Characters and Casting]]
[[Category:YMMV Trope]]
[[Category:Hollywood Style]]
[[Category:Romance Novel Plots]]
▲[[Category:Hollywood Homely]]
[[Category:Show, Don't Tell]]
[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]
| |||