We are open to A world covered in gray concrete. There’s a powerful government, a post-apocalyptic class system with a clear name, and an unassuming teenager ready to start a global revolution. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s the basis for most popular dystopian youth franchises, including Uglya mid-2000s series of novels by Scott Westerfield that has finally been adapted into a film (available now on Netflix). Unfortunately, while Westerfield’s books were memorable pioneers of the genre, the long-awaited film feels like a collection of youthful clichés. And it’s not just a frame-by-frame rehash of some of the genre’s most frustrating aspects. It’s proof that such expansive works and worlds deserve equally expansive treatment on screen—a style that a live-action remake simply can’t afford.
The film follows Tali Youngblood (Joey King), a girl on the cusp of turning sixteen. She feels ugly, but it's not her fault. She lives in a community where everyone undergoes an aggressive, life-changing plastic surgery on their sixteenth birthday, transforming them into perfectly proportioned beauties. Children Tali's age and younger are called Uglies; after their birthday procedures, they are called Pretties, and are allowed to live and play among the town's beautiful residents. After a failed attempt to sneak into the nice part of town to see her best friend Pierce (Chase Stokes), who has already had surgery, Tali meets a 15-year-old girl, Shay (Brianne Tju), who shares a birthday with her. They quickly develop a strong bond, riding their hoverboards and imagining what they would like their new faces to look like. But when Shay decides to avoid the surgery and flee to a secret society of surgery deniers called SMOKE, the government sends Tali on a mission to infiltrate the camp. All she has to do is turn in the outlaws, and she'll finally be a beauty. However, Tali's time with the Smokes—as well as a budding romance with their leader, David (Keith Powers)—opens her eyes to harsh truths about the Beauties. She's soon forced to choose between the life she thought she always wanted and a new home she never considered.
As a movie, Ugly This is a predictable YA Netflix adaptation. The muted color palette matches the lackluster performances from the cast, the presentation relies on what looks like stock footage, and the copious amounts of visual effects manage to make the project seem dated and completely unbelievable. (The only bright spot is Tju’s inspired performance as the rebellious Shay.) But the film’s glaring lack of imagination doesn’t lie in the source material. Westerfeld’s dystopia pulls off one of the most memorable revelations in YA history by playing with our notions of beauty. In the books, Tali looks through carefully preserved magazines from a bygone era, which readers will easily recognize as a mix of tabloids and standard glossy magazines filled with celebrities. But in her eyes, not every celebrity is beautiful. They’re ugly. It’s an unexpected shift in this new culture: beauty isn’t just about poreless skin and taut features. To be beautiful in this dystopian world is to become a monster.
But the film doesn’t even begin to capture that essential nuance, settling for the cast’s spoofing with something akin to heavy Facetune. The book’s critique of government bread and circuses is also sidelined to please audiences, as the film cynically pushes other Netflix stars into the mix at every available moment—as if to remind viewers that there’s plenty more to see here once the film is over. (Stokes and King are both directing their own films.) Netflix Series. There's also Laverne Cox from Orange is the new black Fame, Luke Eisner of Tall Girl 2, Selling Sunset (Star Briana Teece, model Lucky Blue Smith or someone who looks a lot like him.)
But these defects are not Unique. In fact, there are a great many failures of young adult literature built on the back of beloved works — beautiful creatures, Eragon, The giver, Ember City, Divergent, and The darkest minds These films suffer from the same major problem: live-action movies cannot recreate the scale and scope of their fictional settings. After the massive success of hunger gamesIt's clear that studio execs will never stop greenlighting young adult adaptations with your favorite stars in the hopes that one of them will lead to the next hit franchise. In fact, there are already some in the works, including a TV version of Harry Potterand a blockbuster movie based on the successful fantasy series by Tomi Adeyemi. Children of blood and bonesAt the same time, film and TV makers are ignoring the best option for adapting works of art that is right in front of them: animation.
In this age of remakes, live action has been treated as the end all be all, especially in the case of animated classics. There have been star-studded live-action remakes of popular children's films such as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, Dumbo, Mulan, and The Little MermaidEach of these films has been criticized for failing to live up to the inspiring world of their predecessors. But animation can fill in the gaps where live-action films fail. Artists can tell a story that isn’t bound by the rules of depicting real people in the real world. Yes, given enough time and money, visual effects can create stunning spectacle. But let’s be honest, no studio would ever budget as much as James Cameron’s brilliant film of the same name. Avatar: The Way of WaterOne of the greatest strengths of animation also lies in the way it can convey emotion as a physical presence. There are limitless art styles and creative choices that can be made in the animation process, such as the Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's ability to turn Miles Morale's leap of faith from a tall building into a scene of a frightened boy literally rising to face his fate, or how the 2001 Japanese film was transformed Spirituality away He gave a mysterious dragon sunken eyes of sadness during an aerial battle. It's pretty easy to see how an animated version of Ugly The city might have been pictured as being powered by fields of eco-killing flowers, multi-tentacled party machines roaming the streets blasting fireworks or music, and floating boards guided by magnetic levitation and thrusters.
The best books for young people are so popular—and remain so—because of the scope they leave for readers’ imaginations. They are limitless stories that explore difficult social systems and captivating worlds. And with each new generation, the books for young people that define their identity become more creative. And when it comes to translating the worlds these stories create in our minds onto the screen, these books deserve the best. And that goes for viewers, too.
