Just the Way You Are: Difference between revisions

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{{quote| '''Victim''' (in a flashback, talking to an old friend of both him and the killer): Can you imagine it? She altered her face ''for me''! I ''never'' asked her for anything like that! ''Why'' did she change herself '''just to please me'''...? }}
{{quote| '''Victim''' (in a flashback, talking to an old friend of both him and the killer): Can you imagine it? She altered her face ''for me''! I ''never'' asked her for anything like that! ''Why'' did she change herself '''just to please me'''...? }}
** You would think the girl would get a hint when he made her sing ''Rudolph The Red '''Nose'''d Reindeer''.
** You would think the girl would get a hint when he made her sing ''Rudolph The Red '''Nose'''d Reindeer''.
* As far as manga goes, the popularity of ''[[Kimi Ni Todoke]]'' can be attributed to its mastery of this trope. Whereas lesser stories would make the protagonist get a [[Beautiful All Along]] makeover or some such thing, ''Todoke'' has Sawako Kuronuma, whose [[Stringy Haired Ghost Girl|unique]] appearance actually catches the eye of the school's most desirable guy. Bonus points for him being made of "100% niceness," too.
* As far as manga goes, the popularity of ''[[Kimi ni Todoke]]'' can be attributed to its mastery of this trope. Whereas lesser stories would make the protagonist get a [[Beautiful All Along]] makeover or some such thing, ''Todoke'' has Sawako Kuronuma, whose [[Stringy Haired Ghost Girl|unique]] appearance actually catches the eye of the school's most desirable guy. Bonus points for him being made of "100% niceness," too.




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== [[Literature]] ==
== [[Literature]] ==
* Rather touchingly played straight in ''[[Bridget Jones]]'s Diary'', when Mark Darcy tells her he likes her "Just as she is".
* Rather touchingly played straight in ''[[Bridget Jones]]'s Diary'', when Mark Darcy tells her he likes her "Just as she is".
* Played straight the very first ''[[Arthur (Animation)|Arthur]]'' book, ''Arthur's Nose''.
* Played straight the very first ''[[Arthur (animation)|Arthur]]'' book, ''Arthur's Nose''.




== [[Live Action TV]] ==
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Harry on ''[[Empty Nest]]'' spends an episode talking a young female patient (played by Mayim Bialik of ''[[Blossom]]'', who was well-known in [[Real Life]] for her large nose) out of having rhinoplasty. She finally decides against in after speaking with a woman who has had tons of plastic surgery and is not any happier with herself.
* Harry on ''[[Empty Nest]]'' spends an episode talking a young female patient (played by Mayim Bialik of ''[[Blossom]]'', who was well-known in [[Real Life]] for her large nose) out of having rhinoplasty. She finally decides against in after speaking with a woman who has had tons of plastic surgery and is not any happier with herself.
* Brian on ''[[Wings (TV)|Wings]]'' becomes obsessed with a bump on his nose after a plastic surgeon points it out. He eventually plans to have his face overhauled until his brother Joe points out how much his various feature resemble those of several deceased relatives.
* Brian on ''[[Wings (TV series)|Wings]]'' becomes obsessed with a bump on his nose after a plastic surgeon points it out. He eventually plans to have his face overhauled until his brother Joe points out how much his various feature resemble those of several deceased relatives.
* In a refreshing change, Hawkeye and Trapper in an early episode of ''[[MASH]]'' actually give a soldier who wants it a nose-job (after a token attempt to talk him out of it), but in a later episode BJ refuses to perform blepharoplasty (eyelid lift) on an Asian boy because he's fine Just The Way He Is.
* In a refreshing change, Hawkeye and Trapper in an early episode of ''[[MASH]]'' actually give a soldier who wants it a nose-job (after a token attempt to talk him out of it), but in a later episode BJ refuses to perform blepharoplasty (eyelid lift) on an Asian boy because he's fine Just The Way He Is.
** This might have been (in part) because the Korean boy wants the eye lift to "look more American." BJ, quite disillusioned with the state of the world by this point, wants the boy to see that Americans aren't better than Koreans.
** This might have been (in part) because the Korean boy wants the eye lift to "look more American." BJ, quite disillusioned with the state of the world by this point, wants the boy to see that Americans aren't better than Koreans.
* This is, of course, exactly the opposite of how it works on ''[[Nip Tuck|Nip/Tuck]]''.
* This is, of course, exactly the opposite of how it works on ''[[Nip Tuck]]''.
* Rather cynically played with (perhaps an outright deconstruction) in a second-season episode of ''[[Veronica Mars]]'', where in an attempt to investigate a plastic surgeon's possible gang connections, Veronica (played by ''[http://amansworldonline.com/wp-content/gallery/kristen-bell-1/kristen-bell-1.jpg Kristen Bell]'', people) starts listing "flaws" that she wants fixed for her eighteenth birthday. (She doesn't have a large chest--which she of course starts with as "the obvious"--but it wouldn't work with her body type anyway.) The surgeon hands her a pamphlet that deals with body issues, saying he'd refuse to operate on her, and leaves his obvious. She ''immediately'' gets suspicious of him...and turns out to be right.
* Rather cynically played with (perhaps an outright deconstruction) in a second-season episode of ''[[Veronica Mars]]'', where in an attempt to investigate a plastic surgeon's possible gang connections, Veronica (played by ''[http://amansworldonline.com/wp-content/gallery/kristen-bell-1/kristen-bell-1.jpg Kristen Bell]'', people) starts listing "flaws" that she wants fixed for her eighteenth birthday. (She doesn't have a large chest--which she of course starts with as "the obvious"--but it wouldn't work with her body type anyway.) The surgeon hands her a pamphlet that deals with body issues, saying he'd refuse to operate on her, and leaves his obvious. She ''immediately'' gets suspicious of him...and turns out to be right.
* Averted on ''[[Daves World]]'', where Dave's friend Shel is an unrepentant plastic surgeon. During one episode, Shel's brother shows up unexpectedly at his office and convinces a potential patient of his with a Jimmy Durante nose that she's fine Just The Way She Is. Shel is, understandably, not pleased.
* Averted on ''[[Daves World]]'', where Dave's friend Shel is an unrepentant plastic surgeon. During one episode, Shel's brother shows up unexpectedly at his office and convinces a potential patient of his with a Jimmy Durante nose that she's fine Just The Way She Is. Shel is, understandably, not pleased.
* Subverted in ''[[Malcolm in The Middle]]''. Lois is told by her boss she needs to look more feminine and starts wearing heavy makeup. Everybody likes her more. She quits when someone mistakes her for a hooker. But played straight with her husband. The episode at first seems to play out that Hal is seemingly more attractive to Lois due to the make-up, but when she returned to normal, Hal is still turned on (if not because she briefly donned a plain ol' baseball cap).
* Subverted in ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]''. Lois is told by her boss she needs to look more feminine and starts wearing heavy makeup. Everybody likes her more. She quits when someone mistakes her for a hooker. But played straight with her husband. The episode at first seems to play out that Hal is seemingly more attractive to Lois due to the make-up, but when she returned to normal, Hal is still turned on (if not because she briefly donned a plain ol' baseball cap).
* The entire "Born This Way" episode of [[Glee]]. Rachel breaks her nose, and decides to get a nose job. (Somehow, without parental consent?) The entire club takes sides, with nearly everyone on the "don't change how you look" side, and Quinn, interestingly, on Rachel's. Rachel, after 40 minutes of angsty singing, decides against a nose job, to the delight of her peers. Quinn, it is revealed, used to be overweight and had glasses, but now changed. However, this somehow works out for her, as people admire her for both being beatiful now and for being "herself" then. It's unclear what the message is for Quinn, as she still remains beautiful. One could argue that the message was for her to accept her old self, but that must be much easier [[Grass Is Greener|looking the way she does now]].
* The entire "Born This Way" episode of [[Glee]]. Rachel breaks her nose, and decides to get a nose job. (Somehow, without parental consent?) The entire club takes sides, with nearly everyone on the "don't change how you look" side, and Quinn, interestingly, on Rachel's. Rachel, after 40 minutes of angsty singing, decides against a nose job, to the delight of her peers. Quinn, it is revealed, used to be overweight and had glasses, but now changed. However, this somehow works out for her, as people admire her for both being beatiful now and for being "herself" then. It's unclear what the message is for Quinn, as she still remains beautiful. One could argue that the message was for her to accept her old self, but that must be much easier [[Grass Is Greener|looking the way she does now]].
* In ''[[Community (TV)|Community]]'' episodes [[Community (TV)/Recap/S1 E17 Physical Education|Physical Education]] Abed's comfortable with himself as he is, and he's okay if others want to try to change that to discover this trope.
* In ''[[Community]]'' episodes [[Community/Recap/S1 E17 Physical Education|Physical Education]] Abed's comfortable with himself as he is, and he's okay if others want to try to change that to discover this trope.
* Sarah in ''Raising Dad'' became insecure about her nose (it didn't help that her father and sister were constantly making fun of it) and opted to get a nose job, which her friends were all against. A popular girl (whom Sarah secretly wanted to be more like) supports her and says she's planning to get a lot more surgery done on herself. Sarah is shocked at this since she considers the girl to look fine and then decides against the nose job.
* Sarah in ''Raising Dad'' became insecure about her nose (it didn't help that her father and sister were constantly making fun of it) and opted to get a nose job, which her friends were all against. A popular girl (whom Sarah secretly wanted to be more like) supports her and says she's planning to get a lot more surgery done on herself. Sarah is shocked at this since she considers the girl to look fine and then decides against the nose job.


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== [[Web Comics]] ==
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Kat from ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' once attempted to put on makeup to impress Aly, only to [[Cosmetic Catastrophe|botch it]] [[Femininity Failure|horribly]]. When Annie offers to make her look better, she simply takes off her makeup and tells her that Aly likes her for who she was before she started putting it on.
* Kat from ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' once attempted to put on makeup to impress Aly, only to [[Cosmetic Catastrophe|botch it]] [[Femininity Failure|horribly]]. When Annie offers to make her look better, she simply takes off her makeup and tells her that Aly likes her for who she was before she started putting it on.
** A subtle subversion in that Antimony is almost always wearing makeup and manages to avoid carrying on a conversation directly after this [[Cosmetic Catastrophe]] with Kat as to why Annie needs to wear it.
** A subtle subversion in that Antimony is almost always wearing makeup and manages to avoid carrying on a conversation directly after this [[Cosmetic Catastrophe]] with Kat as to why Annie needs to wear it.


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== [[Western Animation]] ==
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* The Cyclopean Leela on ''[[Futurama]]'' gets another eye, but after seeing a three-eared girl get teased, decides she was wonderful Just The Way She Was and [[Status Quo Is God|reverts to normal]].
* The Cyclopean Leela on ''[[Futurama]]'' gets another eye, but after seeing a three-eared girl get teased, decides she was wonderful Just The Way She Was and [[Status Quo Is God|reverts to normal]].
* One ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'' short featuring Slappy Squirrel has her going to have plastic surgery, but after her old nemesis, Walter Wolf, tries to ruin things she sends him in for some instead and walks out saying she earned her wrinkles. Walter Wolf, however, is traumatized at the results of his surgery, claiming that no villain will take him seriously again.
* One ''[[Animaniacs]]'' short featuring Slappy Squirrel has her going to have plastic surgery, but after her old nemesis, Walter Wolf, tries to ruin things she sends him in for some instead and walks out saying she earned her wrinkles. Walter Wolf, however, is traumatized at the results of his surgery, claiming that no villain will take him seriously again.
* On ''Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys'' (2001), the cheesy CGI sequel to ''[[Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer]],'' Rudolph has the opportunity of getting a normal nose, but he learns...eh, you know by now.
* On ''Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys'' (2001), the cheesy CGI sequel to ''[[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]],'' Rudolph has the opportunity of getting a normal nose, but he learns...eh, you know by now.
* This happened twice on ''[[The Simpsons]]'', to both Marge (breasts) and Moe (face) although both cases were sufficiently surreal and self-consciously bizarre to sort-of-avoid such direct moralizing as this trope implies.
* This happened twice on ''[[The Simpsons]]'', to both Marge (breasts) and Moe (face) although both cases were sufficiently surreal and self-consciously bizarre to sort-of-avoid such direct moralizing as this trope implies.
** Moe never actually learns the Aesop, and indeed everyone around him treats him ''better'' due to his plastic surgery. The only reason he changes back at the end is because [[Status Quo Is God|of a freak accident that hideously deforms his face, coincidentally changing it back to the way it once was]].
** Moe never actually learns the Aesop, and indeed everyone around him treats him ''better'' due to his plastic surgery. The only reason he changes back at the end is because [[Status Quo Is God|of a freak accident that hideously deforms his face, coincidentally changing it back to the way it once was]].
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