MovieChat Forums > Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) Discussion > I've never been very beautiful and that'...

I've never been very beautiful and that's fine...

posted 9 years ago by slynglen
10 replies | jump to latest

*beep* you movie - did that and the entire following sequence fall completely flat to anyone else because of that? What should've been a heartfelt, emotional moment instead became an insult to the audience imo.

Either cast an ACTUALLY average looking girl for the part that would make that line believable or leave it out - I was unable to take the rest of the scene seriously after that.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie overall and the rest of Rachel's emotional scenes hit it home for me.

[–] enzo_corte_vieira 9 years ago

You know how girls usually don't really enjoy their own physical appearance.

[–] slynglen 9 years ago

Yup. But in this case it was an insult to the audience's intelligence. More specifically I guess it's actually a major insult towards average looking girls.

[–] NeedysBoy 9 years ago

slynglen writes: "Either cast an ACTUALLY average looking girl for the part that would make that line believable or leave it out..."

First off, it's "Hollywood"... (An average looking person isn't going to be cast.)

Second, I don't think the line is meant to be literal. Rachel is a teenager and most teenagers pass through a period of being awkward, or at least feeling awkward. That's what I think the line is getting at.

 "Maybe it's another dimension. Or, you know, just really deep." --Needy

[–] slynglen 9 years ago

Sure it's Hollywood which is why I say leave that line out.

Not meant to be literal? She continues by saying: "..and that's fine because that was never really important to me" meaning she values inner qualities over superficial. Cool. But the entire sequence was literally her talking about how she's getting uglier so I don't see how "I've never been very beautiful" could be interpreted as anything but literal.

[–] NeedysBoy 9 years ago

Some of the most beautiful women in the world, think they're not beautiful enough and have plastic surgery.

On top of her cancer, Rachel has to deal with the universal themes of adolescence; that is why, I think, the line was in the film.

Clearly, Rachel is beautiful inside and out; but she has to deal with the adolescent issues, right? Otherwise, she'd be an adult dying, not a girl.

 "Maybe it's another dimension. Or, you know, just really deep." --Needy

[–] AnUnnamedGalaxy 9 years ago

She is indeed a very beautiful girl, but it's doubtful, in her world she was seen as a stunning beauty. She was this dorky girl with 2 other dorky friends in a subcategory of a subcategory in a long line of high school groups.
She is a very cute girl but taking her place in life into account it's unlikely many or even a few boys in her school took any amount of time in their day to notice her.
The lead character was even forced into noticing her.

Her character in the film never (it wasn't even implied) that she took any time in valuing her appearance. She was the kind of girl that didn't wear make-up, or very little. She didn't fuss with her hair, or wear trendy clothes. She never took the time to SHOW her physical beauty.
Compare this to the other girl in the movie, who took the time to wear make up, and do her hair and wear the clothing that one usually associates with a beautiful girl.
It's easy to see why Rachel wouldn't classify herself as a beautiful girl, because she never took the time to wedge herself into that stereotypical view of what beauty is.

And in the end its always going to come down to personal opinion. What you find beautiful, millions of other people could not. You might find Rachel to be a beautiful girl, but she, herself, might not consider herself such, and she is allowed to do so because no one is allowed to dictate your feelings and personal opinions. You can certainly disagree with it, but that isn't going to stop it from being true to the person stating it.
She didn't think of herself as a particularly beautiful girl and that is that.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (29543476) 9 years ago

When girls say they are ugly, they are usually just fishing for compliments and girls of all physical appearances say that stuff. She was young, lonely and she wanted compliments and also, she probably wanted Greg to be romantically involved with her, to fight out through all her insecurities and show how much he cares.

That's how I see it.

[–] kiya12309 8 years ago

Yes, Rachel is a beautiful girl, but most teenage girls don't consider themselves beautiful, and that sentence is from Rachel's perspective. In fact, most people in general don't consider themselves beautiful, so I don't think it's at all unrealistic for Rachel to say this about herself. Plus, she's cute, but the way she dresses and styles herself is not what most high school boys would consider "traditionally beautiful" so she may just be reflecting onto herself the opinions of others.

[–] GhostTheDireWolf 9 years ago

They do that with Olivia's character in Bates Motel as well, making her out to be an average looking girl it's strange cos she's quite stunning, I thought the film was perfect but yes that was something that irritated me a little bit.

[–] Kjottpudding 9 years ago

You've never tried being a teenager in modern society?

If you want to win the lottery, first you have to make the money to buy a ticket.