Ryan McNeil
Every one of us has wanted to open our eyes and see something different. Perhaps that “something” was taller, perhaps stronger. Some of us wish we could speak with stronger voices, or wield sharper thoughts. No matter what the change is, the fantasy is the same: it’s instant, and it is absolutely for the better. What if it were possible? Would it truly make us into someone better, or would it merely make us into someone else? Is it enough to look in the mirror and see something different – or should the real desire be to look in the mirror and like what we see?
Renee (Amy Schumer) is your average thirty-something woman trying to make it in New York. Her friends Vivian and Jane (Aidy Bryant and Busy Philipps) are loving and of a similar station, her job working the website for a cosmetics company is steady, if unfulfilling. Her love life is bumpy and challenging.
At every turn, Renee is reminded of what life could be if she was “more”. She meets a model named Mallory (Emily Ratajkowski) in the changing room of her gym that seems to be a perfect physical specimen. She huddles in the shadow of her company’s spokeswoman, Avery LeClaire (Michelle Williams) who is a gorgeous and empowered spokeswoman for would-be fashionistas the world-over. Even in her day-to-day life, she seems to get just a little bit ignored, a little bit passed-over…almost always for what she physically isn’t in a world obsessed with looks.
In a push to get better, Renee takes up spinning. Results go poorly, as they often do for beginners who spin – but “poorly” turns “potentially catastrophic” when Renee keels off her bike and smacks her head.
When she comes out of her concussion, Renee is changed. When she looks in the mirror, she sees herself as a more idealized woman. She sees someone hotter, fitter, as if with a smack on the head she’s gong from a 6 to a 10. We don’t see that (nor does any other character in the film), but in Renee’s eyes she is a different woman.
She begins to approach life differently. She dresses differently, acts differently, suddenly seems to be bound by nothing. At a dry cleaner, she has the lady-stones to come on to cute nerd named Ethan (Rory Scovel), where ordinarily she would be a bundle of clumsiness and self-doubt. At work, she takes a big swing at a big job right in the orbit of Avery herself, and never acts as though she doesn’t deserve it.
Renee’s transformation seems implausible, and frighteningly temporary…but it doesn’t matter. She feels pretty, and with feelings like that there’s no holding her back from anything she has her mind set on.
I FEEL PRETTY casts a very wide net. Truly, it is most concerned with women of size, and wants them to believe that the world is capable at reflecting back at them any inner beauty that they send out into the world. It’s a wonderful message: perhaps a bit idealistic, but beautiful. The film doesn’t stop there though.
The story also shines a light on Mallory – the model Renee meets in the gym, underlining that she too is the subject of rejection. Here is someone who seemingly is the ideal, and has gifts in her life Renee is willing to risk physical and emotional pain to achieve. And yet, Mallory herself is subject of feelings of rejection, unworthiness, and self-loathing. To that end, the story wants us to think of someone like Avery who might even be more the ideal since she has the fame and success that someone like Mallory does not. Yet she too has a physical characteristic that holds her back.
The fight for greater positive image isn’t “us against them”. That’s the myth and it’s a myth that leaves allies and fellow combatants standing on the sidelines. This is a fight we have to wage against ourselves, and in that fight, the only weapon we have is empathy. Yes, at the end of the fight, people like Mallory and Avery will be on much firmer ground than someone like Renee…but that doesn’t make their fight any less bloody, or less worthy.
What’s more, I FEEL PRETTY isn’t content to keep the message to one gender. A character like Ethan is an interesting inclusion, because in him we see what a lot of men go through too. The challenge is obviously much lesser, but it doesn’t change the fact that when a lot of men in the world compare themselves to Tom Brady or Chris Evans, they come away feeling lesser – and often even bitter.
To that end, Renee – in post-concussion-confidence mode – offers a pearl of wisdom. Jealousy and resentment can hold a man back from being his best self. The presence of a prototypical alpha doesn’t dim the value of any other man in the room – giving way to angst and negativity will.
Men don’t really need any more propping-up, however that the film has the grace to include men in this fable of being more image-positive is a sign of its true desire for inclusion.
Unfortunately, there is a fly in the ointment regarding this film and its positive message. Renee doesn’t wake-up from that bump on the head and suddenly feel more confident. When she looks at her reflection, she describes a physical appearance that doesn’t match with what we see. She sees someone thinner, more fit, conventionally “hotter”. The gym staff member bearing witness to the transformation is as confused as we are: Renee isn’t suddenly happy with who she is – she’s happy to be someone else. The former is profoundly inspiring; the latter is a cheat. “Beer goggles” in reverse.
Had Renee taken that bump and suddenly loved the truth that is her every curve, dip, and roll despite societal norms, this story would have a very different thrust. Instead, she is fuelled by a lie, and in that lie the moral suffers.
I FEEL PRETTY is like panning for gold in a very muddy river. Now and then, after standing in the cold muck for a while we extract precious fragments – every bit as valuable as they are beautiful. We live in an age where so many are affected by poor body image, unreal expectations, and high amounts of anxiety. We believe ourselves too small, too big, too blemished, too damned imperfect to fit into the ever collapsing box that defines “the ideal”. This phenomenon affects men and women, rich and poor, and even those many of us would see as conventionally beautiful.
In such a world, any story that wants to boost our confidence and outfit us with stronger armour is something that should be celebrated. However, one has to consider the return on the emotional investment. Are the small treasures worth the time and effort spent hip-deep in cold waters?
Much like self-image, the answer will vary from person to person.
You make a very good point about the problem with her becoming happy due to a “lie”, and I think that was my only problem with the film to be honest. I liked the general message and the way it tries to show how every one of us feels the same way. It maybe could’ve been funnier but actually, the topic isn’t that funny so that’s ok. Happy to see that you gave this one a chance 🙂