Dystopian novels and movies were highly popular in the early 2000s as people didn’t know what to expect for the future entering the 21st Century. Movie series such as “Divergent”, “The Hunger Games” and “The Maze Runner” all shared their not ideal viewpoints of the world to come through thrilling storylines and action-packed adventures. These film adaptations are now making a comeback. On Sept.13, Netflix released a movie based on the dystopian book “Uglies” by Scott Westerfield.
In the film, the story starts in an ultramodern and futuristic world where most of humankind is only focused on their appearances and beauty. The society revolves around cosmetic surgery that 16-year-olds undergo to look “pretty” and limit differences in their physical appearances. They then leave Uglyville and move into New Pretty Town to start their new life as a “Pretty.” The protagonist Tally Youngblood (Joey King) has always dreamed of being pretty until she meets Shay (Brianne Tju) and David (Keith Powers) who help her see the hidden dark truth behind the operation.
Relating to today’s society, the Uglies movie teaches people to love themselves and not alter their appearance to fit the norms of the world. It shows teens across nations that appreciating their natural beauty and being themselves is better than being someone they aren’t. Being themselves helps boost their self-image and helps them reduce the stress of fitting in. I love that they decided to produce this movie in 2024 because a lot of teens today look down on their appearances and this will help them to see their true beauty.
After hearing many mixed reviews, I ultimately think it was very similar to the book and showed what our world would look like if everyone continued to only focus on appearances instead of inner personalities and characters. It shows that everyone not just “ugly” people need to turn pretty, even people who in today’s society are considered better looking than others. Saying everyone who hasn’t gone through cosmetic surgery is ugly is similar in our world to how everyone has their insecurities and doubts in themselves but we all need to embrace our imperfections and bring out our individuality.
Although the movie was very similar to the novel there were some changes that I noticed. In the book, Tally’s best friend Peris (Chase Stokes) becomes pretty and acts differently and it stops there, but in the movie, he is offered a different position called “Specials”. They get more superhuman power and give more of their free will to the authorities. I don’t usually like it when there are changes made from the book when making the movie. However, I did like this one because it lets us see how people will do anything to be better looking, even giving up their independence. The movie also cut down Tally’s long journey to The Smoke to seem a lot shorter than it was. I think they should have made the journey more in-depth and shown more detail of it because most of the book was explaining her journey there.
Throughout the movie and novel, we see a goofy side of Tally and Peris. That is until Peris turns into a pretty, and becomes a different person inside and out who is controlled by the government. I think this aspect helps teens see the im-practicality of impersonating influencers and celebrities and how it minimizes the uniqueness of people in the world. In current times it has become so common to feel the need to keep up with the people you see online and I think this movie does a good job of highlighting the beauty in being yourself.
The setting in the movie was very similar to how I imagined it to be when reading the novel. It had a giant bridge that connected the pretties and uglies who were separated by a river. It showed the pretties partying all night in their numerous tall buildings and the uglies in their dull and plain dorm rooms. The smoke also looked very similar to how I imagined it as it is more old school and isn’t even up to date with our time right now.
This novel-to-film adaptation was one that I thought was very interesting and thought out. I think the message is something the world needs to hear and connect with as it can help a lot of people feel more comfortable in their own skin.
