Hollywood Homely: Difference between revisions

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== 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) ... even though she was voted [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/31/1085855500521.html the most beautiful woman in the world] in 2004.

* [[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)... even though she was voted [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/31/1085855500521.html the most beautiful woman in the world] in 2004.

* 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.

* ''[[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.

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* ''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.

* ''[[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 (~~Who~~ has played The Hot Chick in almost every other role she has been in). Olive's narration never implies that she actually views herself as ugly, or that she is viewed as ugly by others at her school, but she does talk about how she is normal, plain and unable to attract the interest of boys. However, the entire plot of the movie revolves around how perceptions and rumors influence your opinions of those around you, and the "plain" Olive is actually quite stunning once you stop thinking about her ''as'' "plain" Olive.

* ''[[Easy A]]'': Subverted by Olive played by the beautiful Emma Stone (who has played [[Ms. Fanservice|The Hot Chick]] in almost every other role she has been in). Olive's narration never implies that she actually views herself as ugly, or that she is viewed as ugly by others at her school, but she does talk about how she is normal, plain and unable to attract the interest of boys. However, the entire plot of the movie revolves around how perceptions and rumors influence your opinions of those around you, and the "plain" Olive is actually quite stunning once you stop thinking about her ''as'' "plain" Olive.

* ''[[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.

** Just fangirls?

** [[Even the Guys Want Him|Just fangirls?]]

* ''Little Children'': Another 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.

* ''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. Michelle "Catwoman" Pfeiffer. Again: uh... right.

* ''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]]''.

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* [[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 B]] ~~asinger~~. She's also presented as this at the beginning of ''[[Batman and Robin (film)|Batman and Robin]]'' before morphing into Poison Ivy.

* [[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 Basinger]]. She's also presented as this at the beginning of ''[[Batman and Robin (film)|Batman and Robin]]'' before morphing into Poison Ivy.

* ''[[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, ~~with~~ Jennifer getting "ugly" from not feeding enough. Needy points out that it just looks like she didn't put on makeup. This almost counts as a [[Deconstruction]], since even in-universe, it's pointed out that Needy has to dress down when she and Jennifer go out, so she doesn't show Jennifer up.

* ''[[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: when Jennifer is getting "ugly" from not feeding enough, Needy points out that it just looks like she didn't put on makeup. This almost counts as a [[Deconstruction]], since even in-universe, it's pointed out that Needy has to ''dress down'' when she and Jennifer go out, so she doesn't show [[Attention Whore|Jennifer]] up.

* ''[[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:

* ''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, ~~and~~ former wife of [[Gene Kelly]].

* ''[[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, who was the former wife of [[Gene Kelly]].

* ''[[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.''

* ''[[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.

* ''[[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.

* ''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...

* 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 older sister (the pretty one, according to dialogue) is quite plain compared to Lizzie – who is after all the star of the story.

** Likewise, in the miniseries of 1995 the older sister (the pretty one, according to dialogue) is quite plain compared to Lizzie – who is after all the star of the story.

* ''[[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 comment on the ridiculous standards of the fashion industry and not the movie trying to convince the audience that Hathaway is ugly.

* [[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]], she finally looks better after her [[Bald Women|second makeover]], about 15 minutes before the end of the film.

* ''[[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.

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* ''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.

* ''[[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.

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* 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, ''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]] 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.