By Mars Marte
Sept. 13 marked the debut of “Uglies”: a Netflix original movie directed by Joseph Mcginty Nichol and adapted from the critically acclaimed Scott Westerfield book series. Uglies challenges viewers to confront the impact of unrealistic beauty standards in a society that has become increasingly obsessed with appearance. Uglies holds up a mirror to our current appearances and asks viewers to unpack the effects of unrealistic beauty standards. While the world of Uglies may be set in the far future, its portrayal of toxic beauty standards is an issue reflected in our current society.
The movie is set in a dystopian future where beauty can only be achieved through the “pretty procedure,” which is a form of extreme cosmetic surgery. It explores a society that seeks to eradicate differences in favor of a uniform ideal, rooted in the belief that conformity is the path to peace.
On a person’s 16th birthday, they get the procedure performed and are molded out of their physical characteristics into a flawless standard template. The story unfolds through the eyes of Tally, a 15-year-old grappling with her identity in a world obsessed with unrealistic beauty standards. Uglies refuses to shy away from its depiction of toxic social norms. The extent of this can be seen through Tally’s consistent usage of the “morphos,” a form of digital face altering that depicts Tally’s face post-procedure.
Audiences are first introduced to Tally as she longingly stares at her altered face projected onto the walls of her room. Tally is not only given the ability to see her face post-procedure, but she has free reign to alter the morpho as it fits into the “pretty procedure” standard. The morphos create the illusion of power for teens like Tally, creating a false sense of control over their appearance and helping condition the teens to reject their original faces.
Tally’s use of morphos mimics the use of filters in our world, the present-day way to digitally enhance one’s image. The usage of filters and other digital editing techniques runs rampant across social media platforms. You can have the ideal now with a click of a button that alters your facial features. Filters blur the line between fiction and reality, creating unrealistic rules that impact young adults’ self-perception. Oftentimes, the usage of digital editing is hidden from the masses and is promoted as reality, creating a standard that is rooted in fiction.
In Uglies, the pretty procedure is just one of many surgeries. Those who exist in the Uglies world, receive multiple surgeries throughout their lifetime. These surgeries allow the youth of the Uglies world to not age to fit in their society’s standards. The use of plastic surgery to age gracefully is reminiscent of our current society. In the contemporary world, aging is treated as a condition that needs to be cured. Cosmetic procedures like Botox have been invented to reduce the natural formation of wrinkles. A smooth flawless face is considered the ideal, any sign of wrinkles and you are automatically deemed to be less than that.
This facade is perpetuated throughout media outlets, resulting in a skewed perception of aging influencing impressionable young adults. Even teens are now beginning to seek out surgeries to maintain their youthful appearance. Surgeries that range from Botox injections to liposuction are now done on young adults who adjust their bodies as they see fit. With the help of social media, teens are taught to conform to society’s standards, much like the teens in Uglies. As unchecked expectations continue to grow, youth find themselves striving for unattainable ideals that are rooted in rejecting one’s authentic self.
Through the film’s exploration of a society fixated on superficial perfection, viewers are encouraged to question the unrealistic beauty ideals perpetuated by our own society. Uglies serves as a much-needed reminder that conforming to societal pressures is never the path to self-acceptance.