NETFLIX’S “UGLIES” HAS A MESSAGE ABOUT INDIVIDUALITY FOR TEENS

When I saw the title for Netflix’s newest movie pop up I had to determine if it was a comedy or a horror story. Turns out that Uglies is neither and is, in fact a young adult (YA) teen drama based on a book akin to the “Divergent” book series that became movies as well. The “teens-in-peril-can-save-world” story line is not new and will always have a place in Hollywood as long as younger generations see the older or current ones make mistakes. In almost all these stories the world has devolved into some dystopian civilization where everything is terrible or they have built back to a seemingly wonderful new way of life only to find everything is not as good as it seems. If you’ve read or watched any of the Hunger Games books or movies or Divergent or even Ready Player 1 you get the gist. How they tell that story can be a slippery slope at times because they can’t get too preachy, but also can’t hold back to the point that the ending is too convoluted.

In Uglies we are told that the world is split into two types on people: Uglies and Pretties. Why is this? Well, when the older generation, referred to as “rusties” basically destroyed the world by over use of the world’s natural resources, such as oil and gas everything fell apart. Scientists were brought together to try to heal the planet and they did by inventing a flower that not only replenished the Earth but also was a sustainable energy source. World leaders then determined that the only way to make people not hate each other was to basically put them on the same playing field when it comes to their outward appearance. That’s right: plastic surgery to make everyone pretty so no one could be jealous brought about world peace. Apparently the Kardashians rule in this world. So, until you are 16 you are considered “ugly” until you have the procedure to make you “pretty”. No one really hates each other either because they know they’ll all be the same someday and all be back together in the Utopia that good looks has brought them. However, we all know things are never that great. Tally, played by Joey King is an “ugly” living in the dorms anxiously awaiting her birthday and her procedure. She endlessly scrolls on her tablet at the different looks she can have and has her mirror that can show her different looks as well. She is obsessed with the whole thing. Sound familiar? She meets another girl named Shay, played by Brianne Tju who doesn’t want to get the surgery and wants to run away to a rumored place where people escaped to to stay who they are because something about becoming pretty seems to change who the person was. Tally, of course gets caught up in a struggle of which world she wants to be in after meeting David – Keith Powers who is the leader of the group hiding out in the world’s forgotten forests.

The movie is pretty formulaic and the plot itself doesn’t seem much different from the other YA titles I’ve mentioned. It simply uses the teen movie trope of doing whatever you can to be with the cool kids versus stay true to yourself and your friends as a catalyst. It’s a unique layering of the two architectures to move a story along and it works well. And while there are messages about “not abusing the Earth”, “be yourself”, and “this is where social media is leading us” they don’t rely on being over preachy to get the point across. They also don’t force us into any agendas while telling the story. Every time I felt like they were going to take the time to force a viewpoint they pivoted away and stayed on the task of telling the story. Sure, they’re portraying a reflection of society in the story, but not just beating us over the head with it to the point of losing entertainment value. This movie is for teenagers and I think parents should definitely watch it as a microscope on society and that kids still deal with the same things they did growing up with social looks and acceptance. It is still an enjoyable movie along with that and family friendly as well. Some of the special effects are not as smooth as they could be and that detracts a bit from the scenes, but it is made up for in others. Give this one a watch with or without the kids and expect there to be sequels as well because this story can’t be summed up in one movie or in one generation.