#BETTY LA FEA MAS BELLA MOVIE#

Then, the ending went the way it should, and is still giving me goosebumps as I think about it while I type.

Today, the focus groups would require them to be together. Only, she's a princess with obligations and he's a commoner reporter with no way to fit in. A young princess in the post-WWII period, tired of the trappings, sneaks away and ends up chaperoned by a reporter who recognizes her and sees the story of a lifetime. One of the greatest movies ever made was 'Roman Holiday' (the Gregory Peck-Audrey Hepburn version, not that idiot made-for-tv thing they crapped a decade or so back). There was a time in this country when we could understand and appreciate movies that were smart and didn't cop out to lowest common denominators. (Sort of like that Demi Moore version of 'The Scarlet Letter' that had a happy ending.) But apparently we nitwits didn't like it in the test showings so, Poof, let's completely violate a treasured novel. And notice I said 'the US ending.' The British version ended at a spot that was logical and fitting with the original novel. It was like the US ending of the recent 'Pride and Prejudice' that had Darcy and Elizabeth acting so completely out of character that one woman who saw it said that if they were going to screw up Austen so badly, they should have at least gotten them naked.

#BETTY LA FEA MAS BELLA MOVIE#

The movie was pure formula and even Reese couldn't save it. The novel was daring and taking a chance, producing a challenging but smart ending that didn't pander or go for the lowest common denominator simply to wring out a little more profit. Think Hollywood trusted that the audience would be able to live with the novel's ending? That maybe it wouldn't pander to the easy, the focus group-driven? That leaving the audience wondering and hoping and never knowing might actually be something that affirms viewers' intelligence? No, no, and no? Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. Nothing certain but the surprise that they didn't go for a mushy ending simply because it was easy and focus groups wanted it. He, however, upon realizing this, simply smiles and tells her something like 'let me tell you what happened' and trusts that their feelings will regrow. But the finale of the novel was simply her waking up and, as close to reality as you could get in this, not recognizing him. As you likely filled in, the ghost and the boarder also fell in love. Here's what made the novel interesting, since you were probably yawning with familiarity by the end of that last paragraph. The guy who's subletting her apartment from her relatives until they can work up the guts to pull the plug on her ends up, after being convinced that's she's a real ghost(!), helping her rediscover her past and (spoiler) getting her spirit reunited with the body before they switch her off. Driven young female doctor is first in a wreck, then in a coma, and her spirit is confused and wandering around trying to figure out who she is and why she seems to be able to walk through walls. It was just an interesting book and I thumbed through it (don't worry that I'm keeping bookstores from making a profit-I think I've built their last three buildings). I never bought the novel, not because it was a translation of a French thing, nor because its purchase would affirm my sissy boy status (that's been affirmed well back). Realized that explained as well as anything why I'm so pissed at the 'La Fea Mas Bella' turn of events. At a bookstore last night, saw a copy of the novel 'Just Like Heaven' that Reese Witherspoon made a movie out of.

Betty la fea mas bella