In the American film business, there are two types of teen comedies:
1) Featuring a teenage guy as a protagonist, the message is almost always to never aim higher that what you are and be content with what you have - after all, hot girls are all shallow, so why not settle for your not-so-hot friend instead?
2) Featuring a teenage girl as a protagonist, the message is almost always to never bother to improve oneself and that good things will be handed to you on a silver platter if you simply accept yourself.
Both of the above are peddling toxic rubbish and both of the above are ubiquitous.
The Duff is one of the those generic teen comedies that tries to pretend it's not formulaic garbage that's designed to lift up the self-esteem of not-so-popular girls by telling them that they don't need to do anything to improve themselves and they'll get everything handed to them on a plate anyway, but it is.
It starts off promising when our main character, Bianca (played by the decidedly average-looking Mae Whitman - unlike older comedies where the plain girl was almost always played by a hot girl in disguise, at least Whitman actually fits the role of the unappealing, grumpy-faced friend), gets a rude wake-up call that she's actually not-that-cool by Wesley, played by the ever-reliable Robbie Amell. From then onward, Bianca decides to take her life into her own hands and become more appealing - starting from aggressively ditching her best friends and enlisting the popular Wesley's help in becoming "un-duffed".
From that point onward, the movie falls apart. Wesley turns out to have had a secret crush on Bianca all along (and obviously, his much hotter sorta-girlfriend turns out to be a total b***h), Bianca's friends practically beg her to come back despite her acting horribly to them earlier and Bianca's actions never being brought up again and the end of the movie gives out a generic feel-good message that everyone sucks just as much as you do.
The acting is cringeworthy across the board, with the possible exception of Amell, who at least seems to be trying rather than phoning it in like everyone else. Ken Jeong again tries too hard to be funny. Mae Whitman is serviceable, which was to be expected. Everyone else fails.
I know that women are one of the biggest consumers of American mainstream media but this is not healthy. Encouraging teenage girls (and guys as well) to remain stuck in their ways and expect good things to come is a poisonous mentality. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this.
1) Featuring a teenage guy as a protagonist, the message is almost always to never aim higher that what you are and be content with what you have - after all, hot girls are all shallow, so why not settle for your not-so-hot friend instead?
2) Featuring a teenage girl as a protagonist, the message is almost always to never bother to improve oneself and that good things will be handed to you on a silver platter if you simply accept yourself.
Both of the above are peddling toxic rubbish and both of the above are ubiquitous.
The Duff is one of the those generic teen comedies that tries to pretend it's not formulaic garbage that's designed to lift up the self-esteem of not-so-popular girls by telling them that they don't need to do anything to improve themselves and they'll get everything handed to them on a plate anyway, but it is.
It starts off promising when our main character, Bianca (played by the decidedly average-looking Mae Whitman - unlike older comedies where the plain girl was almost always played by a hot girl in disguise, at least Whitman actually fits the role of the unappealing, grumpy-faced friend), gets a rude wake-up call that she's actually not-that-cool by Wesley, played by the ever-reliable Robbie Amell. From then onward, Bianca decides to take her life into her own hands and become more appealing - starting from aggressively ditching her best friends and enlisting the popular Wesley's help in becoming "un-duffed".
From that point onward, the movie falls apart. Wesley turns out to have had a secret crush on Bianca all along (and obviously, his much hotter sorta-girlfriend turns out to be a total b***h), Bianca's friends practically beg her to come back despite her acting horribly to them earlier and Bianca's actions never being brought up again and the end of the movie gives out a generic feel-good message that everyone sucks just as much as you do.
The acting is cringeworthy across the board, with the possible exception of Amell, who at least seems to be trying rather than phoning it in like everyone else. Ken Jeong again tries too hard to be funny. Mae Whitman is serviceable, which was to be expected. Everyone else fails.
I know that women are one of the biggest consumers of American mainstream media but this is not healthy. Encouraging teenage girls (and guys as well) to remain stuck in their ways and expect good things to come is a poisonous mentality. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this.
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