Review of The DUFF (2015) by Greg B — 21 Feb 2015

"The DUFF", which stands for "designated ugly fat friend", is a movie that explores the fragile world of high school social politics and the hierarchy associated with it. Mae Whitman plays the title role of a senior named Bianca who discovers for the first time via her jock classmate, Wes (Robbie Amell) that she is merely a tool being used for social exploitation.

When Bianca finds out that Wes is failing chemistry, she undertakes an alliance with him in which she agrees to help him pass science in exchange for him helping to mold her into a more dateable, stereotypically attractive person.

Bella Thorne (Shake it up) plays the popular preppy girl who attempts to undermine and defeat Bianca at every turn. Ordinarily, I would not subscribe to a movie that perpetuated these stereotypes. I certainly don't think Mae Whitman is ugly or fat to begin with, Just because she does not look like a Victoria's Secret model doesn't make her undateable, which is a label affixed to her by mass media.

I actually thought the script was crisp and edgy and that the film rose above its stereotypical portrayal of high school politics. I felt Bella Thorne was miscast, but Whitman does a fine job capturing the dynamics of her character and she comes to embrace her newfound "DUFF" label rather than letting it define her.

I actually enjoyed the film and thought it send a good message at the end that you can't allow yourself to be defined by an objective label that someone puts on you ----------------------------------------------------------- B.