Beauty Equals Goodness: Difference between revisions

* In Jaqueline Carey's ''[[Kushiel's Legacy|Kushiels Legacy]]'', we are sympathetic (politically) towards the D'Angeline people, who are all beautiful. That is not to say that there aren't D'Angeline villains, and non-D'Angeline heroes, but for the most part, this fits into the trope. More often than not, Non-D'Angeline characters of importance are either attractive or 'skilled' enough for their heritage to not matter.

* Naturally, played for laughs in ''[[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy (novel)|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'':

The second, and much longer, part of each song would then tell of all their bickerings about which one of them is going to have to walk back. }}

* In ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', all the protagonists are strikingly beautiful, while the villains' [[Anvilicious|ugliness is often mentioned in connection with their ]][[Straw Character|ridiculous beliefs]].

** Some of this is averted in the relatively recent film starring Sir [[Ian McKellen]], in that Richard looks fairly attractive to those who don't realize his looks are based on [[Putting on the Reich|British Fascist Party leader Oswald Mosley...]] then again, [[Misaimed Fandom|to a few, it probably makes the character more attractive...]]

* [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Macbeth]]'' does not so much subvert it as play with it: Goodness equals Beauty but not vice versa.

Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace,<br />

Yet grace must still look so.'' }}

* Played with ''all over the damn place'' in the ''[[Sword of Truth]]''. The list of hot evil chicks and handsome evil dudes is about as long as their good counterparts. In fact, its implied that their good looks helped them on the road to be big enough bads to seriously break things.

* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[The Monster Men]]'', how Virginia deduces Bulan's character

* Played straight and inverted in ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]''. On the one hand, a lot of the protagonists are described as attractive, especially the elves. On the other hand, said elves can and do use magic to shape their own bodies. One character says something to the effect of every elf looking exactly like they want, and some are described as terrifying and animalistic. Not to mention that some of the elves, like Vanir, may be on the protagonist's side, but hardly embody "[[Fantastic Racism|good]]".

 

== Live Action TV ==

* Joked at in ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]'' with Hilary.

* Perhaps surprisingly, given its self-awareness, ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' often falls victim to this trope. Apart from the Slayers themselves (who are all stunning), all the other major good guy characters are attractive, even [[Hollywood Homely]] Willow, while the demons are usually hideous. True, there are ''some'' [[Evil Is Sexy|good looking villains]], (Spike, Angelus, Faith, etc.), but most of these characters were either very minor or ended up performing a [[Heel Face Turn]], or ended up ''looking'' really, really monstrous. Glory is the only good-looking seasonal [[Big Bad]] who was presented entirely without sympathy. (Although [[Ultimate Evil|The First]], able to look like anyone it wants to as long as it's dead and given to appearing like Buffy, might count.) And, of course, Willow was recast from the pilot to be cuter. The original tends to be known on the internet as "Fat Willow", with forum posters complaining about how the show would have been ruined...

* While pretty much everyone on ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' is ridiculously pretty, this trope was directly referenced in the episode ''Folsom Prison Blues,'' in which Dean and Sam are thrown in jail. While their female lawyer keeps hearing that Dean's a monster, she changes her mind completely and even helps them out when he uses his looks to convince her he's innocent.

* The Gentleman With Thistle-Down Hair in ''[[Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell]]'' explicitly considers handsomeness to be a sign of one's superiority and nobility over everyone else. A large factor in his decision to make Steven Black the King of England was his good looks. Since he's one of the worst of [[The Fair Folk]] this view is not particularly sensible, and it's not evident elsewhere in the books.

* ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]'': Lampshaded when [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]] Aronnax uses [[Science Marches On|physiognomy to justify]] that a stocky character is a fool and the good – looking man is someone good, but then is subverted when Aronnax thinks again this theory when the good – looking man (Captain Nemo) left him starving with their companions in a cell.

''I might add that this was a man of great pride, that his calm, firm gaze seemed to reflect thinking on an elevated plane, and that the harmony of his facial expressions and bodily movements resulted in an overall effect of unquestionable candor—according to the findings of physiognomists, those analysts of facial character.''<br />

''[[Is That What They're Calling It Now?|I felt "involuntarily reassured" in his presence]], and this boded well for our interview.'' }}

* [[Warren Harding]], considered the most incompetent president in American history. It was his outward appearance rather than any outstanding internal qualities that contributed most strongly to his political success.

** On the opposite end of the spectrum, [[Abraham Lincoln]], often considered to be America's best president, was thin-faced and wrinkly. His opponents mocked him for having the face of a horse-thief. Most pictures of him smooth out his face quite a bit. There's some evidence that he was actually medically deformed due to Marfan's Syndrome, also explaining his extremely unusual height.

* Quite a few serial killers (such as Ted Bundy) subvert this trope nastily when it comes to using good looks to lure potential victims. They first [[Invoked Trope]] it by getting women to automatically trust them on their good looks alone ("He wouldn't hurt anyone, just look at how hot/cute/handsome he is!").

* This trope came out to play regarding Susan Boyle. When she walked on stage, the judges looked at her awkward appearance and assumed she was going to be a total disaster. When she had an amazing voice come out of her mouth, they judges were visibly floored, and left commentators asking why we assume lack of physical beauty automatically means lack of talent.