Braces & glasses do not equal ugly!

The pilot episode of Ugly Betty showed on Channel 4 today. And I did in fact watch it.

From the mild hype built up around it, I did in fact think it was going be to really funny (”Ugly Betty - the hit US comedy” were the types of things being said) but I didn’t find it really hilarious (I have an odd sense of humour though. Things like the Mighty Boosh and the IT crowd amuse me… okay, not that odd, but slightly odd)

Despite not thinking it really funny (it was quite amusing in parts), I did think that it was quite good. The characters were probably exaggerated a bit, but in my opinion, they could be related to. I found myself understanding Betty - probably because I wear glasses and have braces and have felt humilation because of appearance before (nothing to do with the glasses and braces thing, it’s just what you get from an all girls’ school) - I won’t lie, I actually had damp eyes when they were all laughing at her (sad I know and I’m not normally a crier)! I quite liked the fact that she actually looks quite pretty because it is essentially taking the michael out of this stereotype she is portraying. With this recent thing of everyone being paranoid about skinny models painting the wrong ideal of beauty, this is again possibly tackling the perceptions of what makes someone beautiful.

The plot reminded me a bit of the Devil Wears Prada in that it’s a fashion magazine, the main character is the editor’s assistant and not a fashion follower. It was quite well done and the story was alright also. I suppose I have only seen the pilot episode, so I can’t come to a full conclusion until seeing more of the series. But on first impression, not cracking-my-sides-with-laughter material, but generally, quite a good programme.