As a child, teenager, young adult, and adult, I've discovered that my insecurities have never and probably won't ever go away. I was never thin enough, pretty enough, smart enough, dumb enough, creative enough, funny enough...just plain not enough. Society sets forth a standard. We see it on TV, in movies and magazines. We hear it on the radio and yes, we even read it in our books. It's natural for us to compare ourselves to it.
What if we could wipe that out? What if everyone was equal and absolutely the same? What if we could delete not only the tendency to notice differences, but the actual differences between ourselves?
That is what I find to be the basis of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. It isn't a new series by any means - originally releasing from 2005-2007 - but they are new to me.
Uglies was originally written as a Trilogy - Uglies, Pretties, and Specials - and later a fourth book was added, Extras. I didn't care for Extras, but the first three were very good. I normally fall in love with a book because of the main character, but in these, I don't particularly love the MC, Tally Youngblood. I found her actions to be questionable and annoying at times...no, what I absolutely loved was the world that Westerfeld created.
Several hundred years in the future, after our leaders have successfully destroyed most of the world, people have evolved into the thinking that everyone must be the same in order to live harmoniously. All children are considered ugly until their 16th birthday when they are granted the right to have the "Pretty" surgery. The surgery will give them a standard and specific nose, height, body shape, facial features, and even a specific way of thinking. In essence, they are remolded to be come the perfect specimen. And this, in itself, gives peace to humanity.
I can't tell you how many times I've looked at a magazine and thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if we all had that body?" or those clothes or even that facial structure. How nice it would be that I wouldn't feel inferior just by comparison...
This book made me challenge that way of thinking. The Pretties do have it good. They don't have to work, they party and sleep and socialize...but there's also a secret behind that life that they aren't aware of either and it's not as pretty as they think. I'm sure it's like that in real life too. That pretty life of magazines and movies and fame isn't all fun and games. There's a dark side to it and maybe I don't want any part of that. I rather like to eat my food instead of throw it up. And I rather like not injecting myself with botox on a monthly basis. Maybe I'm crazy, maybe not.
But what I do know is that if this book could challenge me to think these things at the ripe age of 31, what could it do for the young adult age range that it was orginally written for? Could these books help other teenagers with body and self-beauty issues? It's possible!
The book also addresses the issues of natural resource consumption, gene tampering, and city growth and expansion. The last book challenges the idea of fame and whether it's worth throwing away your privacy for its exchange. In essence, it takes really big ideas and puts them on a level for teens (and adults) to apply through a fictional aspect.
So, the big question that still flits through my mind is: What does it mean to be Ugly? Is it physical, emotional, or environmental? Or is it a combination of them all? Figure it out for yourself - I encourage you to read these if you haven't already.
Synopsis for Uglies - Book 1
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
