This is an excellent essay that examines the success of Ugly Betty and how its success has impacted communities and people in general around the world through its themes and story-lines.
*Many thanks to the author, Erin Rickard and Gender Across Borders for posting this on-line!
Eulogy For Ugly Betty, Feminist Show and International Phenomenon
April 18, 2010
By Erin Rickard
The first piece I ever wrote for a feminist publication was an analysis of the first season of Ugly Betty, so the show holds a special place in my heart as one of my favourite works of pop culture and as part of my feminist writing career. So now please excuse my sentimental desire to mark the ultimate demise of the show this week with a retrospective.
After four hilarious, heartbreaking, culturally progressive seasons, ABC's dramedy Ugly Betty came to an end last Wednesday. I haven't watched the finale yet because I am sadly six episodes behind this season, and rushing to catch up would be like hurrying through a goodbye to an old friend. (Plus I have no time to watch!) So even though the show's conclusion is crucial to a discussion of its feminist themes (as fans know and the uninitiated will soon learn in this post), I can't comment on it now but will return with my thoughts once I've seen it.
Ugly Betty was (oh, how it hurts to write this in past tense!) a unique show in many ways, but two stand out: it covered a myriad of progressive themes, delivering positive messages with humor and absurdity; and it was part of an international television phenomenon of sorts, one of many shows adapted from a Columbian Telenovela that addressed beauty standards, 'Yo Soy Betty La Fea' (I am Betty the ugly).
Yo Soy Betty La Fea was a popular soap opera that aired in Columbia from 1999- 2001. The show's protagonist is a plain, brilliant young woman who struggles to find a job and soon finds herself working as an assistant to the president of a fashion company. It's a fish out of water story driven by Betty's efforts to thrive in a superficial company culture, and her eventual success at winning the respect of her colleagues and affections of her boss. The show seemed to strike a nerve in Columbia, where such a premium is placed on beauty that cosmetic surgery is becoming very common among the middle and upper classes. In fact the show's themes reverberated around the world, as 19 countries soon had their own version of it on the airwaves.
Ugly Betty is one of these adaptations. It premièred in 2006 with America Ferrera playing the title character, a new college grad from Queens, New York who dreams of breaking into magazine editing at a literary publication. Instead she finds herself accepting a position as assistant to the newly instated editor of a fashion magazine, Daniel (Eric Mabius). The show at first focuses on Betty's attempts to cope with her superficial co-workers and her immature, womanising boss. Over time Betty begins to earn the respect of her colleagues and develops a strong friendship with Daniel, wherein they essentially help each other grow up. Betty helps her boss defeat the plans of the magazine's creative director, the conniving Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams) to take over the company. Through it all Betty is supported by her family, which includes her widower father Ignascio (Tony Plana), her sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz) and her nephew Justin (Mark Indelicato).
The show tackles such feminist issues as: body image, race and ethnicity, immigration, homosexuality, transsexuality, working women, single motherhood, single fatherhood, ageism.. and I'm probably missing a few here. Here are some highlights....
Body image: In addition to Betty's personal struggle with fitting into a beauty- orientated world, episodes address the fashion world's ultra-thin standards and egregious photo-shopping . Later episodes explore how the beauty myth affects even the beautiful themselves, as blonde bombshell receptionist Amanda (Becki Newton) worries what will happen to her career when her looks start to fade.
Race/ethnicity: By featuring a second generation Mexican immigrant protagonist, Ugly Betty has a unique cross- cultural dynamic. it highlights cultural and class differences in beauty standards, racial stereotypes, and even the process of immigration itself.
Sexuality and gender: Throughout the show it's implied that Betty's young nephew Justin is gay, but his sexuality is not explicitly defined until Justin comes to terms with his own identity in the last few episodes (or so I've heard). Wilhelmina's assistant Marc (Michael Urie) is also gay and becomes a mentor to Justin. Meanwhile the first two seasons feature a storyline in which Daniel's supposedly dead brother returns as a transwoman, Alexis (Rebbecca Romijin) .
While all these sub-plots and the often wildly soap-operatic twists and turns of Ugly Betty kept us fans enthralled, the biggest mystery of the show has always been how the writers will handle Betty's makeover. In the original Columbian series, Betty's happy ending includes a dramatic makeover and the winning of her boss's heart. Many fans such as myself, however, have thought that this type of ending would be too traditional for the progressive American version, reducing it to a Cinderella story and reinforcing the idea that despite her brains and personality out heroine must in the end be validated by beauty and attractiveness.
So far, I like how the show handled Betty's makeover this season. it started subtly with Betty straightening her hair and dressing more fashionably, changes which seem more a reflection of her new-found appreciation of fashion as an art form rather than attempts to conform to her peers expectations. I know that in one of the episodes I haven't seen yet Betty's braces are removed and she imagines what life would have been like if she was born beautiful. How the writers wrap up this theme will certainly provide an interesting point of discussion in the fashion and feminism debate.
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