So Beautiful It's a Curse: Difference between revisions

'''Eddie Valiant:''' "Well... you don't know [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|how hard it is]], being a man, looking at a woman looking the way you do..."|''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]''}}

A very specific form of [[Blessed with Suck]] that comes up regularly. An admittedly attractive character (almost [[Always Female]]) remarks on how their beauty is a drawback. Whether it be as a failed attempt at being humble, offering a "[[Sour Grapes Tropes|sour grapes]]" solution to appease other people, or because their beauty actually ''is'' [[Blessed with Suck|a severe drawback]], they decide to spend some time [[Wangst|Wangsting]]ing about it. Usually, this makes the character come across as either thankless or otherwise disconnected from reality, making them a bit unsympathetic.

Note that this trope can be justified in some cases, if a character is shown to inspire [[Green-Eyed Monster|jealousy]], [[Attractiveness Isolation|intimidation]], [[Male Gaze|unwanted]] [[Stalker with a Crush|attention]], or is only noticed because of their looks and not their personal merits. Women whose lives actually have been rendered miserable by their looks are seldom shown whining about it -- whichit—which makes them more sympathetic by itself. A woman's victim in [[Fairest of Them All]] seldom curses her luck, for instance. Partly, no doubt, because she's too busy trying to survive.

This leads us to the darker, and far less [[Mary Sue|Sue-driven]] application of this trope, where a character will be so beautiful, alluring or appealing that he or she will be the target of unwanted, sexualized attention. This would be the polar opposite of the character mentioned above whose beauty is causing them far less serious hardship, and takes a rather less rosy look at what could happen if anyone's attention to an extremely attractive character was [[Yandere (disambiguation)|less]] [[Stalker with a Crush|than]] [[If I Can't Have You|pure]], or if they [[Rape Is Love|were aggressive about it]]. Usually the results are... [[Dark and Troubled Past|less than pretty, to say the least]]. This take on this trope will often be invoked in serious love and drama stories, usually aimed at an older demographic and looking at the grimmer aspects of human nature. Expect rape, stalking, or molestation to be at least mentioned, if not inspected rather closely, and be assured that it ''will'' show up in the plot in some shape or form. Odds are that there will be some serious form of [[Break the Cutie]] going on, either in backstory or in the main story, and that this will not be the kind an audience will be unsympathetic towards. This is basically what happens when beauty actually ''is'' making this person's life miserable.

It is important to remember though, that [[Tropes Are Tools]], and that the [[Lighter and Fluffier]] version of this trope can be used just as effectively as its more [[Angst|Angsty]]y partner if written well in a particular context. However, be warned in that this particular trope can be '''''very''''' easy to misuse! If done well, either take on this trope can be used to do anything from establishing a non-sympathetic character view to developing a deconstruction on the entire trope, looking at the nature of superficiality and some of the more perverse inclinations of human beings. However, if done badly, it can do anything from creating a shallowly crafted [[Canon Sue]] or [[Mary Sue]] to cobbling together a particularly [[Moral Dissonance|Morally Dissonant]] [[Hurt /Comfort Fic]].

'''Ranma:''' But isn't it embarassing to lose a bust battle to a guy like me? (gleefully pushes up [[Gender Bender|her]] chest to make it look even larger) It's too bad I can't give you some of mine.<br />

* Shungo Ninomiya from ''[[Goshuushou Sama-sama Ninomiya Kun-kun]]''. He's harassed on a regular basis by a majority of the girls at his school who think that his "[[Troubled but Cute|troubled face]]" is very cute. Not to mention the sheer number of ''[[Even the Guys Want Him|guys]]'' in one episode who swooned over his good looks, and crowded around him, complete with unwanted touching...Or when Reika tried to kiss him, among other things, while he was sleeping. Also, Reika's alternate personality once lured Shungo to a private location where she ''actually attempted to rape him''...

* Parodied in ''[[Princess Tutu]]''. A character named Femio believes that he's so beautiful, it's a ''sin'', because it causes every woman ([[Even the Guys Want Him|and a few men]]) who sees him to fall maddeningly in love with him--sohim—so much so that they can barely stand to be around him! It's SUCH a sin, he constantly "repents" for it by allowing himself to be trampled by a bull called by his faithful servant. However, it turns out that he's so egotistical and so bizarre with his self-imposed punishments that everyone '''hates''' him and do everything they can to avoid him, and he's too obsessed with himself to see it.

* Being something of a melodramatic diva, Bulma from ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' ''thinks'' that she's this -- thoughthis—though whether this is true is up for debate. For example, she attributes not being able fit the [[Only the Pure of Heart]] criteria for riding Goku's Nimbus cloud to being "so beautiful that it's a sin."

* The [[Artificial Human|Artificial Humans]]s known as Fatimas from ''[[The Five Star Stories]]'' suffer heavily from this. A Fatima who goes out in public without her master ''will'' be raped. Though this may have less to do with their ageless beauty and more to do with the fact that they are programmed to be incapable of hurting a human unless ordered to by their master, so perverts who catch one alone know she won't be able to resist.

* Post-Eclipse Casca serves as another negative example in ''[[Berserk]]'', though she does not say so herself (or rather, she is unable to because of her [[Go Mad Fromfrom the Revelation|insanity]]). True to [[The Ophelia]] ideal, Casca has now became much more beautiful with the added bonus of becoming [[Damsel in Distress|innocent and defenseless]], but now attracts the attention of plenty of lewd men who want to have their way with her. Luca, Casca's one-time [[Hooker with a Heart of Gold|kind-hearted prostitute caretaker]], is aware of this, and tries to [[Defied Trope|defy this outcome as best as she can]] by [[Bandaged Face|wrapping Casca's face in bandages]] and passes her off as a victim of syphilis.

* ''[[9 Chickweed Lane]]'': Edda, a ballerina-turned-model, projected such a wholesome [[Girl Next Door]] image that she became more popular than the clothes she was (barely) wearing and made the [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]s of the clothing line want to fire her over it despite the fact they originally didn't even want her face -- itface—it was her rear they admired. Heaven knows no one in the fashion industry wants a beautiful person model for them or have their ads go viral after discovering an ingenue.

* Subverted by Mary Jane Watson in ''[[Ultimate SpiderWoman|Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With Thethe Light]]''. She doesn't really [[Wangst]] over her beauty, and in fact rather enjoys being the center of attention at parties and on the beach. The catch is that she also ended up attracting a crazed [[Stalker with a Crush]] named Supercharger, a [[Psycho Electro]] who doesn't like to take "No" for an answer...

* As Dr. Merlin of [https://web.archive.org/web/20130727065749/http://firefox.org/news/articles/651/1/The-Original-Mary-Sue-Litmus-Test/Page1.html the original Mary Sue Litmus Test] says, "Anyone who says "She's so pretty that it's like a disability because everyone hates her or wants to have sex with her" will be summarily keelhauled."

* ''[[She's Out of My League]]'' features this trope mainly from the perspective of a not-very-attractive guy who has landed a very attractive girlfriend -- shegirlfriend—she really digs him, but his own insecurities and the pettiness, jealousy and spite of the people around him work to poison the relationship.

* Parodied in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[Discworld/Maskerade|Maskerade]]'': the thin, beautiful, [[The Brainless Beauty|brainless]], talentless Christine, when questioned about her scanty breakfast, tells the fat but highly talented Agnes, "It's lucky for you, you can eat whatever you want." Agnes tries to be charitable but "deep down inside, [she] thought a rude word." Of course, the book goes on to say that while being a talentless beauty can be a curse, being a talent with no beauty can be a ''worse'' curse.

** And in ''[[Discworld/Thud|Thud!]]'' Tawneee, so beautiful that Sally and Angua (no slouches themselves in the looks department) feel [[Green-Eyed Monster|stirrings of envy]] at her attractiveness, suffers from "Jerk Syndrome", and figuring this out allows them to overcome their [[Green-Eyed Monster|jealousy]]. She is so beautiful that most men "[[I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me|can't believe she would notice a guy like me]]", so they don't approach her for fear of rejection. Which leads her to think something is wrong with her, and date pathetic losers...the kind of people who are ''used'' to rejection. On top of that, she is "[[Brainless Beauty|thicker than a yard of lard]]", and doesn't think she's very attractive at all.

* In [[Simone de Beauvoir]]'s novel ''[[The Mandarins]]'', Josette Belhomme feels misunderstood and has low self-esteem both because men only ever see her beauty, not her human qualities, and because her cruel mother regularly tells her she'll never be good-looking enough. Surprisingly, she's a very endearing character.

* In [[David Foster Wallace]]'s ''[[Infinite Jest]]'', Joelle Van Dyne wears a veil ostensibly to cover the damage from an acid attack, but it's heavily implied that she really wears it because she's so beautiful and can't deal with the reaction she gets (her in-universe nickname is PGOAT--thePGOAT—the Prettiest Girl of All Time). Indeed, it's implied at one point that witnessing her having sex is enough to put anyone in a permanent catatonic state of bliss.

* Inverted in Tess Gerrittsen's "Rizzoli" series, where the eponymous character frequently complains that it's her plain looks that render her invisible. Interestingly, despite her general disdain for beautiful women, she often invokes this trope in sympathy for them--inthem—in most of the books, such women are the target of stalkers and rapist/murderers, and she muses that it must be difficult to contend with the unwanted attention that must result from looking a certain way. It's even lampshaded when she points out how quickly women are judged because of they look, never realizing that she does the exact same thing.

* ''[[The Against Taffy Sinclair Club]]'' centers around a group of fifth-grade girls who bond over their mutual dislike of Taffy Sinclair-- aSinclair—a pretty, blonde classmate who hit puberty early and is a bit of a snob-- andsnob—and devote a lot of time trying to one-up her and humiliate her in small ways. It's not until the last quarter of the book, when Taffy's overbearing, somewhat brutish mother finds out that there is a ''club'' devoted to ''bullying her daughter'' and confronts main character Jana and her mother about it, that the main characters realize that what they've been doing is wrong. Jana's mother points out that Taffy has never actually done anything to any of them-- shethem—she just happens to be pretty.

* Jenna Morasca of ''[[Survivor]]'' infamously tried to invoke the trope in one Tribal Council, talking about how she's spent her life feeling like her looks are a disability as they cause people to think she isn't smart {(It's not your ''looks'' that make 'em think that, honey!). It backfired spectacularly, as she said it while sitting right next to someone who was ''deaf''.

* In a discussion with ''[[The Muppet Show]]'''s guest of one episode, Miss Piggy claims her beauty is a curse. While her belief that she is beautiful is unquestionably present, how beautiful she actually is -- andis—and how much she believes it to be a curse -- iscurse—is debatable.

* Played hilariously straight in ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'': The Nymph, a fey in the 3rd Edition Monster Manual, is so beautiful, looking at one can blind or kill. She can, however, turn it on and off. (In Second Edition, whether the nymph killed or blinded was based on whether she was naked or clothed, respectively, and couldn't be turned off voluntarily.)

* The Nosferatu from ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' [[The Grotesque|usually don't have to deal with this]]; however, one of their [[Prestige Class|bloodlines]], the Galloi, has the power to make its members beautiful through [[Blood Bath|ritual immersion in specially prepared blood]]. Small problem -- thisproblem—this makes them inhumanly, adrogynously beautiful, so they still suffer from the same problem (having trouble relating to others because they seem... [[Uncanny Valley|off]]) as they did before. And if they stop bathing... well, it gets worse. ''Much'' worse.

* In the original Christopher Bond version of ''[[Sweeney Todd]]'', Sweeney believes this about his wife, and with good reason -- itreason—it's the reason he was falsely transported for life.

* Fall-From-Grace doesn't actually ''complain'' in ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' about all the attention her looks get her--thather—that would be unladylike. But it's got to ''suck'' being a blazingly-hot demon that normally gets its jollies through seduction and having willingly taken a vow of chastity...

* Played horrifically straight in ''[[Marilith]]'': In a flashback of [[Psycho for Hire]] hitwoman/mob enforcer Valentino's [[Start of Darkness]], it's shown that she was the daughter of "purged" dissidents in the last days of the USSR. Along with other attractive young girls in the same situation, she is shipped to a secret gulag/training camp operated by party hardliners who want to mold them through [[Training Fromfrom Hell]] into assassin-spies to compromise, blackmail or eliminate key individuals to stop the country's slide towards implosion. The grizzled, bearlike old general in charge of the camp mentions while discussing the plot with a co-conspirator that only God can give such a curse as beauty (the reason those girls were chosen in the first place). [[Moral Event Horizon|Then, as a part of training, the general brutally and repeatedly rapes the girls, starting with Valentino]]. No wonder she's a sadistic maniac...

* [[Playing with a Trope|Played with]] on [https://web.archive.org/web/20101213205847/http://bukucomics.com/loserz/go/428 this] ''[[Loserz]]'' strip with Alice complaining about men looking at her breasts all the time, but refusing to wear more modest clothes because she's so hot it wouldn't make a difference. According to her anyways.

* Kharisma from ''[[Something *Positive]]'' considers herself to be a victim of this. The remaining cast disagrees. {{spoiler|She gets better... [[Chew Toy|In a "gets horrid burn damages on face" way.]]}}

* Marigold the unicorn in ''[[HeavenlyPhoebe Nostrilsand Her Unicorn]]''. When she sees her reflection, she is trapped staring, sometimes for days. This is plot-relevant more than once.

* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20140209191048/http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=1809 Monique complains. Slick is unsympathetic.]

* [httphttps://auwww.youtube.com/watch?v=b02IEYdSJXApsbazXy-lFU Minerva Mink] of ''[[Animaniacs]]'' seems to enjoy all the attention after all... except when she tries to get something normal, like shopping for groceries or filing her taxes, but can't because every male around her is panting and howling. Incidentally, [[Fetish Fuel|this is a lot of fans']][[Furry Fandom| reaction, too]].

** Of course, the only males who ''don't'' have this reaction are those she's actually quite attracted to, which causes her to react similarly to her drooling, gawking male admirers, for great comic effect.

*** A recent article on the poverty-stricken children of Vietnam demonstrated this -- itthis—it's the prettiest children who are given cell phones to call for help, as they are most likely to be targeted by sex traffickers.

* [[Maureen O'Hara]] -- who—who, while still learning her craft as a girl and teenager in Ireland, had won every major theatrical award that country had to offer --offer— relatesrelated in her autobiography how her exceptional beauty often prevented her from getting serious dramatic roles.

* [[Halle Berry]] said that she almost didn't get the role that put on her map (a homeless crack addict in the film ''[[Jungle Fever]]'') because when she showed up to audition, the casting director took one look at her and said that no one would find someone as beautiful as her believable in such a part.

* After ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'', poor [[Robert Pattinson]] looks ''terrified'' whenever he sees a fangirl. He hilariously lampshaded this after being asked what it felt like to play such a "hot" character. [[Sarcasm Mode|"I'm so beautiful it makes me cry."]] He's also legitimately afraid of them; after the [[Fan Dumb|more psychotic members of his fan base]] nearly got him run over and others admitted to cutting themselves for him, he's afraid that he's seriously going to get hurt because of them. All because he's "OMG so HAWT!" Even some of the most vocal Twilight haters are starting to feel a little bad for him.

* [[Eliza Dushku]] got an extremely [[Squick|Squicky]]y version of this trope after she began appearing on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. She received a lot of fan mail from convicted felons, the contents of which was pretty disgusting and [[You Do NOT Want to Know|really shouldn't be repeated here]]. If you're that curious, go check out her profile at [[That Other Wiki]].

* Donna D'Errico has reported that she was singled out by the TSA for a "full body scan" because she was more attractive than the other people in line, and had previously appeared on ''[[Baywatch]]''.

* On YoutubeYouTube, you can find anti-bullying videos showing pictures of teenagers who [[Driven to Suicide|commited suicide]] because of [[Kids Are Cruel|school]] [[The Bully|bullying]]. Sometimes, some commenters say stupid things like "that girl is too pretty for being bullied, this must be a joke, a good-looking person cannot be unhappy..." It doesn't occur to them that some kids may be bullied ''because'' other kids are actually [[Green-Eyed Monster|envious of their good looks]].

* According to the director, this was the reason [[Scarlett Johansson]] [http://jezebel.com/5850719/david-fincher--scarjo-was-too-sexy-for-dragon-tattoo-role didn't get the role of Lisbeth Salander in the remake] of ''[[The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo]]''.

* Pretty celebrities and or pop stars who get proposed to by strangers because their pretty or beautiful or popular or charismatic and never having known the person could be considered harassment for the celebrity and pop star as [[Sarcasm Mode|sweet and cute]] the marriage proposals are. Certain websites have said (Shakesville) that this sort of public thing is peer pressure at it's highest level... and thethey only get proposals 'cuz their pretty or sweet or cute or popular. It's is never appropriate or right to do this, no matter how "Inin love" you are with a person you never really knew.