Delightful Posted October 1, 2016 Report Share Posted October 1, 2016 (edited) So I was watching a Stock Standard Chick Flick about an Unpopular Girl fighting over college popularity with Uptight Blonde Beauty Queen. So it was irritating me to begin with and I was trying to think how to rework it to be more interesting. (This particular movie had Prince Charming as someone genuinely kind and quirky rather than just hot and popular which was a nice change). So I was thinking the uptight blonde beauty queen stereotype, she's always very very one dimensional. Superficial, scary, powerful, taken down by normalcy! I want (to write) a story where we can sympathise with her. Why does she spend so much effort on her appearance? Why does stepping on other people make her feel powerful, why is she so insecure that she feels this is necessary? How did she get people to fear and obey her in the first place? Really truly what does she want? Any ideas? Or any other ideas for making her 3D? because this genre of movie is actually ridiculous and I bet it could be so much better than it is. Edited October 1, 2016 by Delightful 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted October 1, 2016 Report Share Posted October 1, 2016 One answer for why UBBQ is the way she is would be her home life. Maybe her mother is the uptight controlling type, the sort who's planned out every moment of her daughter's summer vacation from the time she was in kindergarten, and having half the school wrapped around her finger is the only way UBBQ can feel she has control over her own life. Maybe UBBQ is taught by her mother and family friends that staying up to date on school gossip is the way to buy approval. Maybe her parents aren't interested in UBBQ herself, only in the gossip she brings home, and so UBBQ ensures she always has the latest. Maybe UBBQ was taught poor social skills, that treating people badly is the way to get their admiration, and this is why she's so mean to the protagonist. When the protagonist returns treatment in kind, UBBQ takes it as a challenge to her authority and a rejection of her personally, and declares war. Alternatively, the protagonist is kind to UBBQ in response, and we see UBBQ gradually soften over the course of the story. Or maybe UBBQ has a horrible secret in her past, or just one that she's been led to believe is horrible, and so she learns everyone else's secret to blackmail them in case they learn hers. This keeps them at a distance and too terrified of retribution to seek out her own secret. (What I like about this scenario is that it could lead to an ending where Down To Earth New Girl drags the secret out of UBBQ and, instead of expressing horror, says, "That's your deep dark secret? Seriously? It's really not that bad" and they leave as friends.) I'm sure there are many more answers, but I'm on mobile at the moment. Suffice to say, I love the idea of making a typically loathsome and one dimensional character into a sympathetic and interesting one. There is, after all, always a reason for why people act the way they do. A wealthy boy isn't going to be a chull to the hero simply because he was raised by wealthy parents (*coughRowlingcough*). 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrae Posted October 1, 2016 Report Share Posted October 1, 2016 Why does the UBBQ always have to be blond? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted October 1, 2016 Report Share Posted October 1, 2016 10 minutes ago, Arraenae said: Why does the UBBQ always have to be blond? She usually is, but not always. Cordelia from Buffy was a brunette. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobold King he/him Posted October 2, 2016 Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 8 hours ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said: A wealthy boy isn't going to be a chull to the hero simply because he was raised by wealthy parents (*coughRowlingcough*). Found the Draco apologist. Wait, this is TwiLyght? Found the best Draco apologist. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted October 2, 2016 Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 21 minutes ago, Kobold King said: Found the Draco apologist. Wait, this is TwiLyght? Found the best Draco apologist. I FOUND KOBOLD GUYS 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assassin in Burgundy he/him Posted October 2, 2016 Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 41 minutes ago, Kobold King said: Found the Draco apologist. Wait, this is TwiLyght? Found the best Draco apologist. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soyperson Posted October 2, 2016 Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 1 hour ago, Kobold King said: Found the Draco apologist. Wait, this is TwiLyght? Found the best Draco apologist. The Herald Koboldlobok has arisen to comment upon our Eldritch Queen of Pugs! Great lord Koboldlobok, I am but a humble Forumlurker. Have mercy on my soul. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle of the Forest Path he/him Posted October 2, 2016 Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 For an example of an "alpha female" that's rather more nuanced than the average, I suggest you watch some of Awkward. At some points I actually felt sorry for the mean girl (which was the whole idea of the character of course, but still...). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted October 2, 2016 Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 Pacifica Northwest of Gravity Falls is another example of a more nuanced mean girl, although her depths are revealed over the course of the show. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted October 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 Eagle, I'll check that out pacifica starts off as a parody of the trope....I distinctly remember Mabel in the golf episode yelling "you're just a shallow stuck up Blonde stereotype!" and iirc pitch perfect did this well too, as in it didn't immediately come to mind as an annoying example. Im wondering if a character lead story would work better for deconstructing this, or wether giving her a magical reason for being so slontzey would be more fun ie she can't let anyone actually smart find out about her curse, she feeds secrets to the literal demon in the dungeon to keep it from escaping, monsters can't see blonde hair or magic drains the colour from her hair? Leaves her with pockmarked skin so she overcompensates..... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver he/him Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 On 10/1/2016 at 3:46 PM, Delightful said: So I was watching a Stock Standard Chick Flick about an Unpopular Girl fighting over college popularity with Uptight Blonde Beauty Queen. So it was irritating me to begin with and I was trying to think how to rework it to be more interesting. (This particular movie had Prince Charming as someone genuinely kind and quirky rather than just hot and popular which was a nice change). So I was thinking the uptight blonde beauty queen stereotype, she's always very very one dimensional. Superficial, scary, powerful, taken down by normalcy! I want (to write) a story where we can sympathise with her. Why does she spend so much effort on her appearance? Why does stepping on other people make her feel powerful, why is she so insecure that she feels this is necessary? How did she get people to fear and obey her in the first place? Really truly what does she want? Any ideas? Or any other ideas for making her 3D? because this genre of movie is actually ridiculous and I bet it could be so much better than it is. Actually, I really like the 'Secret Feeder' idea. That's kind of neat. Alternatively... go for the most obvious solution in the book: perspective swap. Write the story from the point of view of the UBBQ. Or, maybe, alternate the chapters? Like... chapter 1, show it from Unpopular Girls perspective, and really play into the stereotype; that UBBQ is... well, an Uptight Blonde Beauty Queen, who spends more time concerned with her appearance than with what is actually important. The chapter 2, write from UBBQ's point of view... and show her thoughts on Unpopular Girl, and all the neagtive flaws she see's about her. Actualy, thinking about it... I would recommend the Twilight sporks on Das Sporking. I mean, I would recommend those anyway (they are great fun), but Twilight is, by and large, a traditional chik-lit story of the (supposedly) Plain Unpopular Girl winning. The recaps, riffs and sporkigns do a lot to flesh out the rest of the world of Twilight, and it's characters, and that includes pointing out how the UBBQ characters of that piece are villainised unfairly, and what makes them more interesting and sympathetic than our lead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 I like the idea of alternating chapters. You could even take it a step or two further and write the first chapter from Unpopular New Girl's perspective, and the rest of the story from UBBQ's perspective. What'd be fun about that is the chance to subvert and deconstruct the opposite stereotypes readers usually expect; in other words, you begin with UNG, play up UBBQ as a walking stereotype, and paint UNG as the saintly free spirit she's usually portrayed as. Then, in the next chapter, you begin justifying and subverting all of the traits UNG just judged UBBQ for....while exposing and deconstructing all of the stereotypes typical to the UNG type. You could even take it to the point where you show UNG to be just as judgmental as the typical UBBQ, if not more so. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted October 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) I was intending on doing the whole thing from UBBQ perspective. Alternating chapters is cool. What might be awesome or what might be crazy would be to write like a quarter of the story from each perspective, do both characters as flawed and sympathetic, tragic ending. Boom. Ill see if I can do this as a short story and expand if it works. Edited October 4, 2016 by Delightful 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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