The trailer for Netflix’ Ugly teased the release of the “Prettyand while they shocked me, it wasn’t what I expected. The upcoming sci-fi film is based on the book series by Scott Westerfeld, which explores the extremes of societal beauty standards (and more) in a futuristic world. Ordinary people are considered ugly until they undergo surgery at age 16 that gives them perfect beauty from head to toe. These Pretties are said to be so gorgeous that even naturally beautiful people look grotesque. Naturally, this made me excited to see what Netflix would bring to the screen.

Scott Westerfeld’s Ugly follows the protagonist Tally Youngblood, a 15-year-old girl who is desperately waiting for her next birthday when she can finally become a pretty girl. To prepare for this, Tally talks to Morphos, a software that shows her how she might look if her facial features were perfect with flawless symmetry, perfect skin tone and sparkling eyes. As a prepubescent reader Ugly When I first discovered the concept of Morphos and Pretties in 2005, I was fascinated. the trailer for Netflix’ Ugly finally showed me what I had imagined for years.

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I’m surprised the “Pretties” in Netflix’s “Uglies” aren’t as shocking as I expected

The incredibly beautiful beauties now look strangely normal to me

During the entire Ugly In the book series, Pretties are described as being of impossible beauty. Their symmetrical faces are said to trigger a biological response in those who look at them. Their large eyes make them appear vulnerable, while their symmetry and clear skin convey reassuring health. In comparison, people we consider beautiful by today’s standards would still not quite measure up. I struggled to imagine this when I read Ugly almost 20 years ago, so I expected to hear about the Pretties in Netflix’s Ugly.

I admit, Pretty Paris (Tally’s friend who turned 16 before her) in the Ugly Trailer ticks all the boxes, but I wasn’t as blown away by his looks as I expected. He was symmetrical and beautiful, with glowing skin, big eyes and full lips that looked anything but natural. I was eager to experience a sense of the uncanny valley when I first saw Pretties on screen, but I realized that I was already used to this impossible beautyThe same goes for Tally’s Morpho image in Ugly Trailer. It looked like any other beauty filter, so I wasn’t blown away.

Uglies proves how beauty filters have changed our perception of reality

Our society has already normalized beauty

I am not the only one who is impressed by the pretties in Ugly Trailer. Þjórsárdalur And Reddit There is much debate about how normal these perfectly beautiful creatures appear to viewers. While some have used this to criticize Netflix’s adaptation of Westerfeld’s work, I can’t help but believe that Our lack of shock about Pretties says a lot more about society’s current beauty standards. When Ugly came out in 2005, we could only imagine such perfect beauty. Today, thanks to modern technology, it is impossible to avoid these flawless faces.

Beauty filters have become an integral part of the Internet and social media. Instagram enabled already beautiful models to perfect their faces, and platforms like TikTok even applied this to live videos, making sure that a person’s followers only saw them with glowing skin, big eyes and full lips. For this reason Tally’s perfected Morpho and Paris’ surgically altered faces look just like the ones we’ve seen all over the internetThis impossible ideal of beauty has already become the norm in modern society, which is why the Pretties of Ugly are not as shocking as they may have been a few decades ago.

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Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series is more relevant than ever

The Uglies series was prophetic

The reactions to the trailer for Netflix’ Ugly proves how prophetic Westerfeld’s book series was. When I first read the series in 2005, no software could instantly show me what I would look like with perfected facial features (at least none that would have been accessible to a 12-year-old). Tally’s Morpho was a completely original concept. Two decades later, however, I have sat in front of a screen several times and changed my facial features perfectly just like the Ugly the protagonist did it.

The original cover of Westerfelds Ugly The book had a catchy slogan:“In a world of extreme beauty, every normal person is ugly.” Although extreme plastic surgery is not yet normal for teenagers, these words are more true to today’s society than ever before. Especially in the digital world, an unaltered face looks strange compared to one obscured by beauty filters. Part of me wishes that Ugly was made into a movie before this became a reality, so I would have been sufficiently shocked by Pretty Faces. Ultimately, however, this fact proves that the themes of Tally’s story are more relevant today than ever before.

The Ugly Ones (2024)

Uglies is a science fiction drama series based on the novel of the same name, which will be released on Netflix in 2024. The series follows a young woman named Tally Youngblood who must make difficult decisions in a world where, at the age of 16, she must undergo mandatory surgery that blurs physical differences between people.

Pour

Joey King, Keith Powers, Brianne Tju, Chase Stokes, Laverne Cox

Seasons

1

Franchise(s)

Ugly

Authors

Jacob Forman, Vanessa Taylor, Whit Anderson

Directors

McG

Main genre

Science fiction

Creator

Scott Westerfeld

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