Uglies Series Is Getting A Movie

You know, it’s very easy to destroy your book budget at Barnes & Nobles. The chic bookstore was a quick walk from my college campus. So I spent a lot of time skimming for books there. Although I find solace in libraries, My campus library felt like more a place of research than a getaway. So, occasionally I’d buy Young Adult Novels and Manga like Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies Series.

Why Is It Called Uglies?

We are definitely heading toward a world in which lots of people will get to decide how they look. That will change what we think of as beautiful, and what beauty means to us…So thinking these thoughts, I wanted to write a future in which these technologies were fairly common.

And in my future, the local government forces  to have an acceptable face—that is, a certain kind of pretty face. Sort of like now, when adults try to control how teenagers dress, cut their hair, use make-up, and get tattoos or piercings. This is the stuff of rebellion.

Scott Westerfeld, Uglies an Simon & Schuster’s interview for Teens Book Newsletter

In a nutshell, readers are immersed in a world where you are guaranteed to meet society’s beauty standards. Not only is it provided by the government, but young adults are expected to go through with it. So it’s a societal norm. Since it’s been over 300 years, the loss of choice is socially acceptable. Going against that makes one and enemy of the state whether they asthetically pleasing without the procedure or not. So what’s this procedure really about. If you compelled to continue, there’s four books that delve into this pretty world.

This is one of those rare times that I’d read a series over a decade before the movie. Technically, I know how this movie will end, but it’s been so long that information isn’t readily available to me. As a viewer, I can enjoy this movie without immediately noticing where writers diverted from the aoirc

Uglies Official Trailer

A Netflix Debut…

I’m surprised that Uglies is a Netflix Production. It’s a smart move. This has the potential to be an ongoing series. We’ve seen it time and time again with other Young Adult novels. However, this will have a pay wall. Netflix has cracked down on password sharing on a GPS level. The streaming service is restricting how many screens can watch at a time, as well as the devices linked to a Netflix account. Since, the Streaming service has a history of canceling popular series. These factors have led to drops in membership.

Final Thoughts

I hope that the Uglie Series gets the full film adaptation, but I’m concerned. This isn’t a theatrical release. So, it’s highly dependent on how Netflix subscribers receive. As a film adaptation, does it have enough fan support to bring in new subscribers? We’ll have to wait and see. Most book series from this genre do well on the big screen. I’m hopefully The Uglies will have a similar outcome.