I Feel Pretty

****Spoiler Alert****

The following commentary is based on the comedy, “I Feel Pretty,” starring Amy Schumer. It contains details and ideas made during the film. In the following text, I address why many of the concepts are relevant and what we all can learn about the emotion of “feeling” and in this case, “feeling pretty” which could have easily been translated into “feeling confident” or “feeling good.”

Basic Plot/Storyline:

Amy Schumer portrays a regular girl, living and working in NYC. She works for a large and successful cosmetics company that has mostly catered to high-end clients. Instead of working at the swanky Fifth Avenue corporate headquarters, Schumer’s character, Renee Bennett works in a dingy, basement of a China-Town dump along with another worker, who is content on being unseen. They basically work as the online arm of the business and have been completely ignored and removed from the glamorous, “day to day” world of the company.

Bennett is slightly overweight, wears trendy clothes and loves all things modern, fashion and cosmetics. She keeps up with the current trends and has an active social life with her 2 BFF’s, two smart, average-type girls who are also living in the Big Apple. Bennett is comfortable with these two down-to-earth girls, who really don’t have a strong interest in fashion or cosmetics. Her low self-esteem and insecurities can be put on hold when she spends her time with her two gal-pals.

I must admit that this movie made me laugh out loud. One reason is because I do think that Schumer is hilarious and because of the simplicity and relevancy of the script. Many people spend many of their young adult years trying to be......trying to be accepted, to be pretty, to be skinny, to be rich, to be loved, to be something that they perceive is missing from their lives. Some thing outside of themselves that will make them whole. This is one of the big lies of life, of living, of being and especially existing in a modern (and dare I say, capitalistic) culture. 

Renee Bennett is trying to achieve the perfect American woman dream existence, which includes being thin, being pretty with high cheekbones, wearing the latest and greatest fashions and hairstyles, all while being smart, as well as hopefully rich and clever. She is trying to do all of the right things but something is not quite right. Her friends are also trying to figure out life but they seem to be much more grounded in their “what may be seen as” mundane existence. Bennett is very self-conscious and constantly judging herself (her looks, her body and possibly unconsciously, her worth).  

Bennett’s major issue occurs when she is at a SoulCycle class, with a highly energetic and motivating instructor, who is asking all of the participants to look within themselves and to follow their inner dreams. The instructor hypes the class up to believe that their dreams are somehow tied to their feverish peddling on a bike. Instead of getting into a high-powered zone, Bennett accidentally falls and bumps her head, and passes out. When she wakes up, she looks at herself in the mirror and can’t believe what she sees. She is suddenly breathtakingly beautiful and this change gives her all of the confidence in the world. She is now happy and confident. She believes in herself and has the courage to do all the things that she wants to do.

Video by Trailor To Go

(I Feel Pretty Trailer Song-Me Too by Meghan Trainor)

Now in reality, Bennett has only changed to herself. Everyone else is dumbfounded by this new surge of confidence and cannot understand Bennett’s new love and take on her life. As she gazes at herself in the mirror, she thinks that she actually looks different than she did before and she is convinced that everyone sees this new version, when in reality, she has not changed one little bit. What she sees in the mirror is her own idea of perfection and beauty. She is now in love with the new Renee and lives completely out loud and fearless.

Renee Bennett reminds me of someone who has a body dysmorphic disorder, only her condition is actually empowering (instead of devastating and depressing) because it propels her to live the life of her dreams. Before the head bump, Renee is generally unhappy and insecure but tries to do all of the right things, like wearing trendy clothes, makeup and following you-tube video “beauty” tutorials. Afterward, she becomes completely in love with her new, totally beautiful self. She can’t believe her eyes or how beautiful she has become. She can’t get enough of herself and of course, all of this wonderfulness goes to her head and she becomes a bit of a monster/mean-girl to her old friends. (But, that aspect could take up a whole "other" post so I won't digress.....)

Bennett has so much confidence that she is able to win new colleagues and friends. These are individuals who would have never given the old Renee a chance. The old Renee would have faded into the background and wouldn't have ever been confident enough to approach, let alone, befriend this new and what she perceives as "perfect" group of people. The new Renee is not afraid to be seen and heard, which is a part of her new charm and charisma. She is finally a member of the In-Crowd, with a new job, new prospects and a new relationship on the horizon.

Mind you, Renee has not physically changed and still looks the same to everyone else. The only change that has occurred is in how she VIEWS and SEES herself. Her inner belief about herself has transformed and caused her outer life to fall in line and change.

Take Away Points:

1) What you decide to believe about yourself will be. Can you unconditionally fall in love with yourself? Can you be happy with what you see in the mirror? Can you look at yourself without judgement? 

When Renee Bennett does this, she becomes a better version of herself, and then a best version of herself when (at the end) she realizes that she has not physically changed at all. She is the same Renee that she has always been.

2) If you can find and tap into being in love with you, it becomes contagious and other people will love you, too.

Bennett thought that other people saw the version of her that she was seeing and hence, couldn’t help but love her. This statement is both true and false. People saw the image of Renee that she projected and believed about herself. Renee saw a different image of herself in her mind. The mirror displayed the same (old) Renee----everyone saw the same Renee except Renee. 

3) Renee’s confidence and positivity shines when she realizes her own self-worth.  

Bennett didn’t realize until the end that she has not changed and that her success was based on who she was ---already, unchanged. Her major change was in attitude and her approach to life; it had nothing to do with her appearance.

4) Feelings Matter.

How we feel at any given moment matters and we can learn to 

manage how we feel and what we emote.

When Renee felt differently about herself, her life changed. She felt and exuded confidence. She felt and exuded a happy and positive persona. She felt and exuded an air and attitude of possibility. She felt and exuded feeling good about life. 

What else can we learn or take away from this happy and feel-good movie?

·     We can choose to love ourselves right now, in our current  

       state. We are enough already.

·     When we FEEL good, life is and goes better (period). 

       LIFE IS GOOD.

·     We can choose to be the best version of ourselves at any     

      moment. We can love ourselves; we are lovable; we are 

      deserving.

·     We do not have to follow and be like everyone else. We can be ourselves and when we tap into that--that which makes us-us, that which makes us special, then we can tap into and share our divine gifts and talents with the world.

 Everything that we seek, we already have. We have been created out of love by the ultimate Source of Love. When we learn to love ourselves, then, we can truly love others. 

    

Video by Victor Antonio (Stephanie Mills, 1976)

"And I've learned that we must look inside our hearts to find a world full of love, like yours, like mine, like home." 

Stephanie Mills, 'Home' from the Wiz

All images are CC0 licensed and free for personal and commercial use.