The makeovers in films like The Princess Diaries, Clueless, and She’s All That are some of the most memorable scenes. The trope was a popular plot device in teen movies of the 1990s and 2000s. It catered to a demographic of consumers interested in beauty and fashion. It is appealing even today because, as Dionne claims for Cher in Clueless, it gives “a sense of control in a world full of chaos.”
Turning the awkward, outcast into a beautiful woman during a thirty-second montage overlayed with pop beats dates back to Cinderella.
In their The Makeover in Movies: Before and After in Hollywood Films 1941–2002, Elizabeth A. Ford and Deborah C. Mitchell write of Cinderella and its presence in teen movies, “Hadn’t this fairy tale proved lucrative telling after telling, generation after generation? The transformation of ugly duckling to beautiful swan had a timeless, universal appeal. Didn’t every Plain Jane who slumped invisible down the high school hallways dream about being Prom Queen?”
The makeover trope recognizes and validates the insecurities that girls like Mia or Laney have about their appearances. And if that insecurity is nonexistent, it pressures girls to feel inadequate in order to then provide a solution to fix their “issues”. Watching Cher and Dionne wash out the red dye in Tai’s hair and crop her shirt demonstrates what is trendy and fashionable and insinuates that this is the Look we should strive to imitate. It offers a blueprint for our own lives, a roadmap to desirability.
The makeover scene in The Princess Diaries appears after shy and awkward Mia learns that she is royalty and as a result, needs to look the part. Paolo, the hairdresser, promptly arrives as if preparing himself for a battle. He takes his rings off and wields his hairdryer and curling iron like they are weapons. It proves to be an even more arduous task when Mia’s unruly hair breaks the brush. As they pluck her eyebrows, tame her “frizzy” hair, and polish her nails, the literal hands-on approach to Mia’s transformation assures us that being beautiful is not only obtainable but a necessary fight.
Hearing Jill Sobule sing “Everyone wants to look like me / Me / Cause I’m Young and I’m here and so beautiful / I’m gonna be a supermodel” as Tai squeals in the mirror at her new look can feel empowering. As Ford and Mitchell write, “There’s something intrinsically thrilling and satisfying about shaping another’s, or one’s own, life course through a physical transformation — especially in times of political, economic, or cultural confusion.”
The media and audiences have an infatuation with extreme transformations, especially under a constrained deadline. This is present all over social media where individuals will post TikToks of their “glow-ups” or tweet comparison photos of themselves six or so years apart. Twenty-four-hour transformation videos on YouTube show creators spending a thousand or more dollars in a short time frame in order to radically alter their appearance. Outside of YouTube, there are fitness advertisements urging you to lose x amount of weight in x amount of weeks and that you’ll only be able to do so if you invest in their program. It also appears in tv shows like Netflix’s Queer Eye and HGTV’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, where the more dramatic the transformation the more memorable the episode. We only care to see a transformation whether it be bodies or houses if it is extreme.
What is often excluded from conversations around the makeover trope is the money and access needed for a movie-like makeover. Mia Thermopolis is able to transform into a “beautiful swan” because her grandmother is a queen. Tai Fraiser and Laney Boggs had access through their wealthy, popular friends.
Makeovers require someone with wealth and resources willing to do the work necessary for an extreme transformation. While they may inspire us because they appear doable and hands-on, the truth is that beauty is a commodity reserved for those who can afford it.
However, that isn’t what keeps us returning to these classic films. Ford and Mitchell write, “Maybe one of the reasons we like the genre is the sense of vicarious pleasure we derive in seeing a screen sister find ways to control elements swirling around her. Maybe we keep returning to the makeover well hoping for inspiration.”
During times of confusion and uncertainty such as this pandemic, a makeover, or a “quarantine glow-up”, offers what we crave the most: control.
