The Glasses Gotta Go: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|Men seldom make passes

Pretty much, if "the glasses must go," then the example must go here.

 

 

Per [[Rule 34]], there are of course exceptions to this work for writers who [[Author Appeal|consider glasses to be sexy]], and pornographic websites dedicated to people wearing glasses can be found without much effort.

 

 

{{examples}}

== Played straight ==

=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===

* Yuki Nagato of ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'' gives up her [[Scary Shiny Glasses]] when she protects Kyon from {{spoiler|another [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]]}}, and he comments that she looks better without them.

* {{spoiler|Aizen}} gives up his glasses when he reveals himself to be the true villain in ''[[Bleach]]'', in this case going from Hidden Villain to full-out [[Badass]].

** [[Mr. Fanservice|The sex appeal did go up though.]] How did he get his hair to do that? Can spiritual pressure double as emergency hair gel?

* Ordinary maid Emma from ''[[Victorian Romance Emma]]'' turns out to be gorgeous when she's persuaded to take off her glasses and dress up for a ball. Unfortunately, this being the age before contact lenses, she can barely see a thing.

* ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'' does this when Tamaki first removes Haruhi's glasses, revealing her large, bishonen-style eyes. The host club insists she wear contacts from then on, as her eyes are apparently a draw for female customers. Flashbacks reveal that she only recently wore the glasses in the first place and normally wore contacts—the glasses were only a temporary thing anyway.

* Carly from [[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]] looks incredibly beautiful without her glasses, but while her [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] doesn't need them, she's [[Blind Without'Em]].

* Kirihara Misaki, from ''[[Darker than Black]]'', tends to lose her glasses in her more [[Fan Service|fanservicey]] scenes; they're more [[Stoic Spectacles]] than [[Meganekko]] glasses and make her look more aggressive and professional. In one case, a friend stole them for ''exactly this reason'' when she decided to [[Go-Go Enslavement|dress her up as a "punishment."]] However, since Kirihara actually ''needs'' them, she spent most of that episode squinting.

* In ''[[Heartcatch Precure]]'', Erika ends up having Tsubomi get rid of her glasses as part of her own makeover, though it doesn't initially stick - mostly because she can't stand someone so energetic. She ends up letting it stay, but she's spotted from time to time with her glasses on, but by the end of the series, she has them back on... and ends up having them off again in time for the third ''[[Pretty Cure All Stars]]'' movie.

 

=== [[Comic Books]] ===

** Another story showed Betty wearing glasses for school while Veronica taunted her that she'd only attract "nerds and dweebs" (Betty didn't care one way or the other). When she saw Betty was actually attracting attention from handsome guys instead, she snatched Dilton's glasses in an attempt to show her up. The prescription was so high that she couldn't see, however, leading her to flirt with the ''principal''.

* Played straight in ''[[Watchmen]]''. Laurie finds Dan much more attractive without his giant glasses. {{spoiler|When they go into hiding at the end and forge new identities, he has apparently ditched the glasses in favor of contacts}}.

 

* A great many ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfics have Harry ditch his glasses, replaced by contacts or repaired by magic, lasers, genetic engineering, surgery... pretty much anything. This usually coincides with the introduction of a [[Mary Sue]] and/or Harry's [[Start of Darkness|first steps to becoming a worse villain than Voldemort.]]

 

* One of the first steps of the makeover in ''[[She's All That]]'' is glasses removal.

* One of the older (though almost certainly not the oldest) examples comes with the Ruby Keeler character in the 1933 musical ''[[Footlight Parade]]''.

* ''[[L.A. Confidential]]'': A couple high-ranking characters tell up-and-coming police Sgt. Edmond Exley to "lose the glasses", since he wouldn't fit in as the only detective wearing them. He takes their advice as best as he can, going without them while sitting at his desk and while being photographed. This leads him to forget his glasses before a shoot-out. Oops!

* In ''[[Strictly Ballroom]]'', one of the first things Scott does after agreeing to dance with Fran is ask if she really needs her glasses, and then takes them off. The glasses are never seen again, and Fran's dancing (and love life) rapidly improves as soon as they're gone.

* Subverted in ''How To Marry a Millionaire'' (1953): A running gag is Marilyn Monroe's character quotes the Dorothy Parker line at the top of the page, takes her glasses off... and walks into things.

* Subverted in in ''The Pink Panther'' (2006): Inspector Clouseau puts the finishing touch on a plain woman's glamorous transformation by removing her glasses. She squints, stumbles, and smacks into a post.

* In the ''[[Superman (film)|Superman]]'' films, mild-mannered Clark Kent wears glasses to help look more "mild-mannered." He removes them when he's Superman and appears much more dashing. In the fourth film, a woman hitting on Clark tries to remove his glasses and suggests that he wear contacts, but he says that they irritate his eyes and keeps his glasses on to protect his identity.

* Played completely straight with Adrian's granny glasses in ''[[Rocky]]''.

* The love interest in ''[[Delicatessen]]'' knows that The Glasses Gotta Go for her big date, but she's also [[Blind Without'Em]]. [[Hilarity Ensues]] when she needs to pour a hot beverage.

* Somewhat subverted in ''[[A Wrinkle in Time]]''. Meg takes her glasses off and Calvin notices that her eyes are gorgeous. And then he tells her to put her glasses back on, because he wants her to keep her beauty a secret from unworthy admirers. Aww.

 

* In the [[Sitcom]] ''[[Grounded for Life]]'', the husband goes through ridiculous lengths to keep his wife from wearing her new glasses because he finds glasses ''so ugly'' that looking at them turns him off instantly. In a flashback, he even snubbed his would-be wife simply because she was wearing glasses.

* Subverted in ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]''.

* The reality makeover show ''10 Years Younger'' employs Lasik eye surgery religiously.

* In the first episode of ''[[Sliders]]'', Quinn needs reading glasses, yet this was dropped for later episodes.

* In an episode of ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]'', Hilary makes her glasses-wearing boyfriend stop wearing them, saying he looks better without them. It becomes a plot point in the episode {{spoiler|He gets in an accident with Will and sues for damages. When it's revealed he wasn't wearing glasses while driving as the law requires, the judge rules in Will's favor}}

* On MTV's ''Made'' Sweet, nerdy girl Kitty wants to be in a high school beauty pageant. The makeover works better than expected for a few reasons. One, Kitty turned out to have a great body(long legs, small waist and big bust) that was hidden under the baggy clothes she always wore. Two, she had beautiful blue eyes that could be seen better without her thick glasses. She actually ends up winning second place!

* The Japanese music video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fq2cwZf7pc "LOVE Dokkyun"] by [[Capital Letters Are Magic|CLUB PRINCE]] has the band in [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|prince-like]] outfits teaching [[Hot Scientist|scientist-looking girls]] how to [[Shaped Like Itself|LOVE Dokkyun]]. It climaxes with the girls [[Flung Clothing|flinging off their nerdy attire]] to expose their [[She Cleans Up Nicely|happier, trendier]], [[Bishie Sparkle|sparklier]] selves.

 

* Doubly subverted in ''[[Wicked (theatre)|Wicked]]'': When Galinda takes it upon herself to give Elphaba a makeover (in "Popular"), the first thing she does is remove Elphaba's glasses. The second thing she does is put them back on. All the same, Elphaba stops wearing glasses after that song.

* Male example (kind of) in ''[[The History Boys]]'': "Taking off my glasses is the last thing I do."

* Otacon in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'', at Naomi's suggestion. Which is decidedly odd, as he had far left behind his actual [[Otaku|namesake-look]] and had been noticably [[Bishonen]] for a long time. {{spoiler|It's not all bad, though -- eventually, he puts them back on.}}

** Also, Emma Emmerich. Raiden says she would look better without her glasses, but she tells him 'no', and not for the sake of practicality, either. She doesn't even need them; they're just frames. She says that she just likes glasses.

 

=== [[Web Comics]] ===

* In ''[[Penny and Aggie]]'', as part of Karen's makeover, Penny urges her to ditch her glasses for laser eye surgery.

{{quote|'''Penny:''' Boys don't cut classes for girls who wear glasses. But boys find it way sick when those girls get LASIK.}}

* When Kevyn has to lead the men for a while in ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20041121.html the doctor insists] that he drop the glasses - that in order for him to pull off the position of authority in this grave time, the men have to see his eyes. (This, despite the fact that earlier, while in temporary command, he'd so terrified the men that one of them called for his mommy - and that was ''while'' Kevyn wore his glasses.)

** The doctor is clearly aware of the difference between leading people and driving them before you in terror...

 

=== [[Western Animation]] ===

{{quote|'''Velma:''' [[Blind Without'Em|My glasses! I can't see without my glasses!]]

'''Johnny Bravo:''' [[Cool Shades|My glasses! I can't be seen without my glasses!]] }}

 

== Aversions ==

=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===

* [[Ranma ½]] subverts this trope. Mousse, a male member of the same tribe of "Chinese Amazons" that Ranma's [[Accidental Marriage|self-proclaimed fiancee]] Shampoo belongs to, normally looks like a rather [[Bishonen]] guy. Unfortunately for him, his eyesight is horrendous, and to counteract this he has to wear a set of [[Nerd Glasses]] that make him look absolutely ridiculous whenever he puts them on. Worse still, he has a bad habit of taking them off frequently, due to either vanity or [[Glasses Pull|wanting to be dramatic]]... and because he's [[Blind Without'Em]], he invariably ends up making himself look like an idiot. Even worse is the fact that his eyesight honestly isn't so hot with them ''on'' either; he's a bit better at seeing where his target actually is instead of walking right past it, but he still tends to confuse objects and people.

** Then again, Kyoya's glasses don't obscure the eyes like Haruhi's do.

** And he's the Glasses Character, as Kirimi so rightly pointed out. Since they "cater to all types", that would mean they need a glasses character for those with a glasses fetish. Male glasses characters have smaller, frame-less or thin-framed glasses so they don't obscure their [[Bishounen]] faces. Haruhi's glasses don't do that while Kyouya's do.

 

=== [[Literature]] ===

{{quote|'''Wesley:''' ''(removing Fred's glasses)'' Now you truly are...perfection.

'''Fred:''' Whereas you are slightly fuzzy; can I have those back? }}

{{quote|'''Booth (seeing Brennan wearing someone's zany glasses)''': Right. What I want you to do is take off your glasses, shake out your hair and say "Mr. Booth, do you know [[Hot Librarian|what the penalty is for an overdue book]]?"

'''Brennan''': Why?

** "Evil Daniel" also didn't wear glasses in Absolute Power. The character also stopped wearing them when he {{spoiler|ascended to a higher plane of existence. Both times.}}

* [[Stoic Spectacles|Logan]] in ''[[Dark Angel]]'' also manages to keep his glasses for the entire run (shorter though it was) and when Max is lusting over him, she mentions how much they ''add'' to his appeal.

 

=== [[Newspaper Comics]] ===

* In one ''[[Peanuts]]'' strip, Peppermint Patty suggests that Marcie would look more sophisticated if she pushed her glasses up onto her forehead. After walking into a wall and a lamp-post, Marcie comments "Before I became sophisticated, I almost never had headaches."

 

=== [[Web Original]]===