So I was very randomly looking this film up. I will admit I've never seen it. I had never even heard of it. So I went to the forum link to see what people said about it. I saw this. I know this is several years later but I just thought I'd add my two cents to what everyone else said.
Two things
1: I agree with you that the way "ugly" girls are treated is nasty and also not much represented in movies with any reality
2: The thing about your not believing. You don't have to believe me but in high school I was model pretty. I'm not saying this to brag, I actually have horrible self esteem and an eating disorder, but I'm saying it because I was *literally* a model in my teens. HOWEVER, I was really shy, socially awkward, probably on the spectrum, and used being weird to keep people from rejecting me because I had been HORRIBLY bullied as a child and had an abusive home.
2a: I was thought of as clever, funny, and yes people knew who I was but I was friends with no one. This went right on in college. Only instead of a cute movie where I use people's reactions to my advantage, I was naive and primed for a bad thing. The bad thing came in the form of a professor. I spent a year recovering. No repercussions were faced by anyone but me. I did not get a cool reputation as a slut, I got a reputation as a career destroying liar and that reaction from society almost broke me. I transferred to another school, never spoke to anyone about my past, became viciously motivated to have a 4.0, and didn't drop the need to prove my worth and value as a human being for many more years, long after I started to cope with my other issues and long standing PTSD (don't give me that combat only *beep* if you lived through what I really did most of my life you'd realize there can be life threatening combat-like situations including guns and whatever else you like in civilian life, but if it makes you feel better a good chunk of it probably comes from some one else's combat PTSD so war is hell and all).
2b: After reading this I'm thinking maybe I would like to watch this movie. It might be too triggering for me and I'll just get rage-y but then again as much as I usually hate comedies and especially any comedy with a tinge of romantic comedy especially, maybe I'd find it cute like I did "But I'm a Cheerleader:"
2c: Why did I tell you my life story? Because "pretty" girls can be socially awkward while also being kind of funny in the right situation, and totally shunned/ignored. I never had a boyfriend until the unfortunate event, and that is not a boyfriend, then I just got married largely to redeem myself and also to have a place to hide. I never wanted to date a man after that, not that most people call that dating. But I constantly got nagged by my mom about why a pretty girl like me (yes, she was like that, how do you think some one like me ends up modeling... I hated it and I hated being looked at that much) isn't popular.
2d: Being considered a slut is actually more believable for a good looking girl, especially if there's any chance she uses it to her advantage. Most of society actually will just tear you down. IMO if she wasn't Hollywood pretty, it would be less believable because IME she'd just get physically attacked, shunned, and since teachers are no less prone to rumors she'd likely get worse grades and possibly worse things.
So, yeah, in summary, Hollywood sucks and applies way harsh standards on femininity, but being considered "pretty" but also being shunned is totally believable to me, I guess since it, like, literally was my life.
I'm a lot older now, I'm too plain to ever model even if there was much room for feminine people my age and I don't want to anyway because to me it sucked and I hated the whole disgusting industry. I haven't been a stripper, but if a friend asked which career to pursue, I'd say stripper unless you have a sure contract for millions from your agent and then do the gig and quit for good. Just my POV though.
Obviously I'm a weird person, but then again there's your answer. Oh and the bullying? I wasn't always considered pretty, you know. As a kid I was called pretty by some people, but kids called me ugly and all kinds of other things, and did a lot to humiliate me physically and emotionally. Like real life stuff not movie stuff. Anyway, I hated myself as a result by the age of 11, which is oddly enough when I started modeling (I developed early and the industry is pedo sick).
So "pretty" girls can totally grow up feeling ugly too, and they can totally be unpopular and shunned by people. Especially if they don't fit the mold of "pretty" girl just right and don't ask me how to do that because obviously I never figured it out.
Being old is great though. I love it. Aside from having to yell my order at a pub to get attention, I'm freer and happier now than ever. So on that note, Hollywood would do well to show us a bit more reality that way too. It's not so bad being older and plainer, a big weight off one's shoulders.
Anyway that long and weirdly intimate post (don't worry, after this many years of therapy talking about these things is as normal to me as talking about my cat) was really just to literally give you a real life example because there's a lot of stereotypical thinking in your post too.
Your point about Hollywood is spot-on, but life is complicated and ugly, and so I simply am trying to give another POV since the idea of a "pretty" girl being a goody-two-shoes (I was totally with the exception of the bad thing that took that from me) and not very popular or liked by potential dates... that, to me, is actually totally believable.
That being said, I repeat I have NOT seen the movie. Don't know if I will. I'll have to read more about it. But I just wanted to give a POV probably not that many people have as to how rumors, beauty, slut shaming, prude shaming, and young women can combine in unexpected ways.
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