13 Movies That Contradict Their Own Message
6. I Feel Pretty
The Intended Message: Self-esteem is incredibly important.
The Real Message: Attractive people can't have self-esteem issues.
Amy Schumer's new comedy film revolves around Renee (Schumer), who after hitting her head in an accident, believes that she's far more beautiful than she actually is. The gag, of course, is that her new-found confidence and self-esteem are enormously beneficial to her quality-of-life both personally and professionally.
On the surface it's not a terrible message at all, albeit one that's undone by the film's ultimately mean-spirited and hypocritical attitude to conventionally attractive women.
The most objectionable scene sees Renee's gorgeous pal Mallory (Emily Ratajkowski) talk about her own low self-esteem, prompting an infuriated Renee to respond, "I wanna punch you right in your dumb face right now."
Though the film initially seems to be body-positive while championing self-esteem, this clearly doesn't extend to pretty people, who apparently aren't allowed to suffer with the same feelings of inadequacy that the rest of us do.