Sunday 22 April 2007

There is nothing Ugly about Betty.

So much has been made about America Ferrera, and her ugly drag on Ugly Betty.
People have been praising the show for not succumbing to the unrealistic ideals of how a women should look, and it should be praised, even if Betty is the only woman on the show who does not bend to the size ‘0’ requirements.

What I am personally happy about is that the lead star, America Ferrera, as not gone out and hired a personal trainer and dietician in light of her new found fame. She hasn’t crumbled under pressure.
On the show she is consistently endearing, bringing heart and soul to a character that could easily be a cartoon. It is a shame that Hollywood had to first make her ugly so that she could be seen as beautiful, since it was always there.

When she first came into the spotlight, it was for her award winning turn as ‘Ana Garcia’ in 2002’s wonderful ‘Real Women Have Curves’. The basic premise is centers on Ana, who refuses to succumb to popular-culture's super-model ideal. The recent high school grad also is struggling to reconcile the values of her Mexican-American background, while trying to keep her independence and self-expression.
This is something that America has stayed true to in her career, always paying homage to her heritage as well as her size. She had some of the most moving scenes in 2005’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as the mixed race sister of size, visiting her white father and his new white and skinny family.

If you have been reading my blog before, you will know what movie role I would love her to play if given the chance, but she seems to have a focused idea of how she wants to use her fame.
On looking at her IMDB profile, she has some interesting movies coming out this year, Hacia la oscuridad, Muertas,La Misma Luna.
These are all low profile movies centred around her heritage, and not high profile ones based around her bank account. It is a shame there are not more young actresses out there like her.

1 comment:

Moe said...

I think she's a marvelous actress. I can totally see her being around twenty years from now long after Ugly Betty. Real Girls Have Curves is one of my favorite movies.