Let me tell you about my love/hate affair with UGLY BETTY. On the one hand, it’s colorful, often hysterically funny, beautifully shot (in high-def) on location in my favorite city, New York, and is set within the publishing industry, something I know a little bit about, having worked on magazines all my adult life.

On the other hand it’s infuriating: sad, bittersweet and repetitive. It’s lead character, Betty Suarez (America Ferrera), seems to have not learned a thing in her four years working at Mode magazine; she remains too trusting, unable to read others’ personalities, and thus too willing to help those who are only going to stab her in the back in return. She is frustratingly unaware of the fact that there’s a fine line between being a sweet naïf and being a doormat.

I give more credence to this argument than the one that says Betty should be a fashionista by now after being at Mode for 3 years (although the show is entering its 4th season, theoretically Betty’s only worked there for 3).  Some people just do not have ‘the eye’ for fashion, no matter how much they are surrounded by people who do.

But the mere passage of time should have ensured that some of Betty’s innocence should have worn off by now.

Don’t get me wrong – the writers have a very fine line to walk here.  Sure, they have to address concerns like this; the show does tend to get repetitive.  At the same time, to borrow a phrase from executive producer Silvio Horta, Betty must retain her “heart”, else the show will lose a major ingredient in the show’s original popularity.

Betty has to grow, yet remain likeable.  I think in the season 3 finale, the writers mostly succeeded.  Yes, Betty’s actions treated Matt badly, but at the same time she was human in a perfectly understandable way.  That’s life; sometimes that which we desire is not what is right for others we love.  It’s one of the conflicts grownups face all the time – and Betty’s getting old enough to qualify for that distinction.

Next season, Betty will finally have that editor’s job, and she’ll finally lose the braces. I think these will be outward signs of more subtle changes in her character.  We’ll see if that happens. 

Image: Newscom

Post from: Ugly Betty News