Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

I've noticed a popular habit among some people on the internet is to insult celebrities by calling them ugly.  To paraphrase a conversation I read recently;

'BtVS was a good show, but Buffy is a whiney bitch and SMG is ugly.'
'STFU, Dawn is a whiney bitch and Michel Trachtenberg is ugly.'


Obviously due to the nature of, I guess society in general, these comments are almost exclusively directed at females.  Most often unusually attractive females.

What I'm wondering is:  What inspires this behavior?  Is it some sort of e-peen enhancement to call people ugly?

So... anyone wanna beat their heads against the wall of internet psychology with me?

[ChairmanPoo]

"Well, you're whiny and ugly too"

[Heron TSG]

I believe that they are using ugly as 'not as beautiful as most people make them out to be.'.

I'd love to crush my head into a brick wall, but I haven't watched TV or a Movie in a long time. Nyah.

[Vector]

Having a complaint makes people feel like they're capable of saying something important about a work.  Something that others wouldn't say; something audacious.

Like "X celebrity is ugly."

Personally, I find most celebrities rather unattractive.  Why?  Probably because the characters they play have personalities that I consider unattractive, and unfortunately women bear the brunt of this--because the characters written for them tend to suck.  The guys are sweet and funny and kind and understanding and *deep,* and women are written as shallow, nagging harridans whose life purpose is to pop out babies.  In many cases, anyway.

For example, I found Christian Bale attractive in the second Batman movie, but not so much in the first or Inception.  Even Leonardo di Caprio cannot save Jack from Lord of the Flies or Romeo.  In my opinion, it's all about the writing and less about the physical looks.

[Vaftrudner]

I just assume that it's the go-to complaint for anyone who can't be bothered to analyze the show they're watching, or people who watch TV and film just for eye-candy. In other words, the Internet is crawling with 14 year old boys (sometimes only mentally). Or it's just trolling. Whatever. Ignore and move on.

I agree with Vector though, and the main reason is that something like 80% of TV and film writers are men. Some can write female characters wonderfully, but a frightening number of them can't be bothered and just go for the stereotypes. And yes, it's hard to be attracted to someone spouting shitty writing. Except maybe Neil Patrick Harris, he could probably recite the phone book sleepily and be scorching.

[Retro]

Personality-less people are ugly and interesting, engrossing people are beautiful. I agree with Vector to an extent, but I'm going to say both the writing and acting are responsible. People say Angelina Jolie is gorgeous but I've never found her attractive, probably because I've never found her that interesting nor have I thought she's anything special as an actress. Meanwhile, the more 'regular' girls (read: not supermodels) tend to get my attention in both real life and in cinema/television because there is actually something to them.

But, uh... on-topic, yeah, people just say stuff like that emptily, usually out of aggression that they can't articulate well enough to channel out as anything but "yeah well she's ugly." It's an attempt to feel superior through critique, when the 'criticism' is what yo mama jokes are to good humour.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Having a complaint makes people feel like they're capable of saying something important about a work.  Something that others wouldn't say; something audacious.

Like "X celebrity is ugly."

Personally, I find most celebrities rather unattractive.  Why?  Probably because the characters they play have personalities that I consider unattractive, and unfortunately women bear the brunt of this--because the characters written for them tend to suck.  The guys are sweet and funny and kind and understanding and *deep,* and women are written as shallow, nagging harridans whose life purpose is to pop out babies.  In many cases, anyway.

For example, I found Christian Bale attractive in the second Batman movie, but not so much in the first or Inception.  Even Leonardo di Caprio cannot save Jack from Lord of the Flies or Romeo.  In my opinion, it's all about the writing and less about the physical looks.

There's a big difference between not liking someone because of their personality and thinking they're physically ugly.  Most importantly to this discussion, what the people I'm talking about seem to mean.  I seriously doubt any of them mean ugly on the inside.

Anyway, unbelievable claims that you and the others who've said so aren't affected by physical appearance and the accompanying tangent those claims led to aside, those are some interesting points.

[Vector]

There's a big difference between not liking someone because of their personality and thinking they're physically ugly.  Most importantly to this discussion, what the people I'm talking about seem to mean.  I seriously doubt any of them mean ugly on the inside.

Anyway, bizarre claims that you and the others who've said so aren't affected by physical appearance and the accompanying tangent aside, those are some interesting points.

When I like the way someone behaves, I will invariably like they way they look--because their face brings positive associations to me.  When I dislike the way someone behaves, I will find them less physically attractive.

I also just plain have different standards of beauty than most people.  "Beautiful" women are very boring to me, because they all look the same.  Their faces tend to have very little character, and their smiles typically scare me.  Some handsome men are okay, but I'll always have a thing for the warlord/absent-minded professor look.

I'm sure not all of the nay-sayers have the same opinions I do, but I wouldn't be surprised if many had similar objections.

[ChairmanPoo]

I've found the contrary. When I dislike someone, she tends to look less attractive, even dramatically so, in my

[G-Flex]

I was going to say stuff, but Vector basically did.

Add to this the fact that if a person doesn't find Celebrity X attractive, but the hype is that they are attractive, that person might overcompensate, just as an example of playing up their disagreement. If a person has an opinion contrary to an extremely pervasive norm, they're likely to be a little louder about it sometimes.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Well I guess we aren't going to end up discussing the original topic...

So anyway, on the subject of personality... Well, what makes you think you actually know someone you saw playing a character on TV or something?

[G-Flex]

Well I guess we aren't going to end up discussing the original topic...

We kind of are?

So anyway, on the subject of personality... Well, what makes you think you actually know someone you saw playing a character on TV or something?

How someone presents themselves can give you a certain impression of what they're like. It isn't always true, and is often prejudicial, but that's just a fact of life. You garner impressions of a person's personality by what they wear, how they carry themselves, how clean they look, their expressions, how they're groomed, their mannerisms, their voice, and a bunch of other things.

[Vector]

Well I guess we aren't going to end up discussing the original topic...

So anyway, on the subject of personality... Well, what makes you think you actually know someone you saw playing a character on TV or something?

I think it's because most of us feel that we have already answered it.

I wouldn't say that I know the person I saw playing a character on TV.  What I know is that there is an image that they project that I can find attractive.  I'd say that I'm more attracted to the character than to the actor or actress who is channeling the character's behavior.

For example, I definitely don't know diddly-squat about Michael Emerson, but I like to think that I know Benjamin Linus pretty well.  Ben is (unfortunately) the sort of person I find attractive--well-read and a complete asshole.  As such, I can forgive his lack of neck, bulging eyes, and expanding stomach, and say "wow, that guy is really pretty good-looking."

[Astramancer]

I'm going to have to skip the whole 'personality trumps overall appearance' debate here.

My guess why so many people who complain about shows by saying the cast is simply ugly are taking the politicians way out -- it's quite a bit easier to say something that's short and critical than well thought out and critical, and it's more likely to actually be read.  In those same forums, how often do you see someone's long, well-written post flat-out ignored, but the "Sara Michelle Geller is Ugly" posts get tons of replies?

That said, I feel that there are less than a dozen stunningly beautiful women acting in the english-speaking world (because I don't have much experience with non-english speaking actresses, I can't say).  On the other hand, the world is stuffed to the gills with people who are attractive.  Some people may have gotten ... unrealistic expectations from the few stunningly beautiful ones out there, and so, by comparison, SMG is ugly.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Halle Berry was NEVER one of those dozen!  I honestly felt Swordfish actually lost something when she showed up topless in it.

[DJ]

Did you find Dani de Vito hawt in any of his movies, Vector? He did have a rather good role as the Penguin