In Hollywood’s superficial world of beauty, it’s refreshing to see a movie or TV character that isn’t the normal “pretty.” But, it’s still Hollywood, so even the ugly are an attractive ugly, and are usually played by an actor who is quite good looking in real life.
Below are pictures of television characters and their more attractive real life counterparts.
Would the characters be as funny if an unattractive actor portrayed them? Would the public accept them?
Why is ugly funny, anyway?
From MadTV (left to right): Moe Collins as Stuart’s Mom, Michael McDonald as Stuart, Stephanie Weir as Dot
From The Office (left to right): Angela Kinsey as Angela, Rainn Wilson as Dwight, Jenna Fischer as Pam
Other “Uglies” (left to right): America Ferrera as Betty, Wilmer Valderrama as Fez, Amy Sedaris as Jerri Blank
In ancient Greece, Helen of Troy, the instigator of the Trojan War, was the paragon of beauty, exuding a physical brilliance that would put Cindy Crawford to shame. Indeed, she was the toast of Athens, celebrated not for her kindness or her intellect, but for her physical perfection. But why did the Greek men find Helen, and other beautiful women, so intoxicating?
In an attempt to answer this question, the philosophers of the day devoted a great deal of time to this conundrum. Plato wrote of so-called “golden proportions,” in which, amongst other things, the width of an ideal face would be two-thirds its length, while a nose would be no longer than the distance between the eyes. Plato’s golden proportions, however, haven’t quite held up to the rigors of modern psychological and biological research — though there is credence in the ancient Greeks’ attempts to determine a fundamental symmetry that humans find attractive.