The movie makeover is you know sort of the convention is boiled down to the girl takes
off her glasses and she's hot.
That's Todd Vanderwerff, Vox.com's culture editor.
We got together to talk about makeover movies.
You know the ones.
"Given the right look, the right boyfriend, bam, in six weeks she's the one being crowned
prom queen."
For all that it gets made fun of, and justifiably made fun of, I think Rachel Leigh Cook sells
the makeover sells the makeover in She's All That to the degree that I'm like "Okay, sure"
nobody noticed that she looked like Rachel Leigh Cook until now.
One of the very first movies with a makeover as its central plotline was a film called
Now, Voyager starring Bette Davis.
Charlotte, played by Davis pretty much had every single convention you see in makeover
movies today.
She was shy and nervous, she wore glasses, she had a unibrow and after a brief stint
in a sanatorium, she came out looking like real winner.
"I've lost over 25 pounds it won't fit!"
It's rooted in Cinderella it's rooted in any story of the girl or the boy who discovers
they are secretly royalty which is a famous fairytale convention.
"Me, a princess?
Shut up!"
Alright, so there are a few things that always happen in a makeover movie.
1.
You have to establish that the girl or guy is invisible to the people around them or
clumsy or both.
2.
You have to find them a seemingly unattainable love interest.
" Yeah see what'd I tell you?
Hot right?"
3.
Their friends convince them that the only way to get out of their shitty situation is
a makeover.
"Let's do a makeover" 4.
The big reveal.
"She looks beautiful" It's occasionally been gender flipped and you have the guy like does
his hair a different way and suddenly everyone is like "Oh wow, what a good looking guy!"
"Yes yes, big improvement."
What I think is interesting about the makeover story is that, at least in past 30 years,
we don't want it to be that easy.
Clueless is perfect for this.
"Sher's main thrill in life is a makeover okay it gives her a sense of control in a
world full of chaos."
Clueless is based on the Jane Austen novel, Emma.
It gets at some of her themes of social class and propriety and what women are allowed to
be.
The character that who needs the makeover basically is Alicia Silver Stone's character.
She doesn't realize that until the very end and like in someways the audience doesn't
as well.
It's a marvelously structured movie if you look at it at that level.
Let me just do a shout out the recent movie, The Duff.
"How could you guys not tell me this whole time that I was your "Duff" "Your what?"
"Your designated ugly fat friend."
The Duff really got understood that Mae Whitman's character in that movie was not going to put
on a pink prom dress and suddenly be Taylor Swift.
She was always going to be kind of the quirky funny girl.
"Are you wearing pajamas?"
"Oh my God!
You know, I get it Wesley!
I'm a disgusting, I'm a swamp thing, I'm a regular Bela Lugosi!"
The makeover was not about becoming someone that was conventionally attractive to dudes,
and more about becoming the kind of girl she would be when was a junior in college and
had sort of figured her shit out.
"With some intensive work, she'll be ready for the world's finest trailer park."
Makeover movies aren't the most sophisticated stories in the world, but it's a trope that
resonates with people.
Teenagers constantly want to hear they're okay the way they are.
That's ultimately what the makeover movie is about.
It's about that when you put the glasses back on and the prom dress comes off, you're dressed
in your artsy pain spattered overalls, you're still a worthwhile person.