Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies book series was a huge part of my growing up.
It’s a young adult dystopian series set in a world where once you turn 16, you’re given a procedure that makes you Pretty. The Pretties all live together in a city of fun, where they don’t have to think or care about anything.
Lead character Tally ends up rebelling against this, until she finds out the truth. Not only does the procedure make you pretty, but it wipes out the part of your brain which allows free-thinking.
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Becoming beautiful and not having to worry about anything sounds like a pretty good deal to me, but of course the story would be boring if that’s all it was. And after reading the book many times in my teens, it’s safe to say I was beyond excited that it was finally getting a screen adaptation on Netflix.
But I can’t help thinking they got one thing seriously wrong.
(Image: Brian Douglas/Netflix)
In the movie, Joey King (best known for playing Gypsy-Rose Blanchard in The Act) appears as Tally. She’s joined in the cast by Laverne Cox as villainous Dr Cable (who was brilliant, by the way), Brianne Tju as Shay, Keith Powers as David and Chase Stokes as Peris.
Laverne’s Dr Cable is the sinister top dog, the one who wants the Uglies to have the procedure. Obviously, her pretty evil ways are discovered in the movie when Tally meets David and his group, who all ran away and refused to turn Pretty.
But you’d be forgiven for not realising that. All of the main cast is conventionally attractive.
(Image: Brian Douglas/Netflix)
I’d even go as far as saying they’re actually better looking than the Pretty version of Peris. The Pretties have unnaturally bright eyes and are heightened versions of themselves – what you might deem as “perfection” if it existed.
I understand that’s the point, and it is exactly how I imagined things when I read it as a chubby, ginger 13-year-old. But I’d also imagined that the Uglies were, well, ugly.
That seems to be a common complaint online too. One person wrote on X: “Casting Keith Powers and this girl Brianne Tju as pre-perfection surgery ‘Uglies’ is unhinged and delusional.” Another said: “Problem is that the ‘Uglies’ are all very attractive people.”
(Image: Brian Douglas/Netflix)
This is Hollywood, though, where beauty wins. Also, it would be very cruel to actually cast ugly people – beauty is in the eye of the beholder, remember.
And the overall idea of the movies works well today, where there is still so much focus on looking perfect and not stepping out of line.
As for the movie as a whole, it was giving 2010s era of young adult dystopian films. Think Hunger Games, Maze Runner or Divergent.
(Image: Brian Douglas/Netflix)
Yes, in parts it feels dated, but as a whole it took me back to my teens and in large gave me everything I wanted from it.
The film ends on a cliffhanger, and in the books Pretties comes next. So now we just wait to see if we get a sequel, or if Netflix does what Netflix does best and cancel it before the story is finished.
Uglies is available to stream on Netflix now
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
