Masculinity and Objectification: Toxic Portrayals in She’s All That

She’s All That (1999) follows the classic popular, jock boy and nerdy, good girl trope movie. It presents the popular jock who dared to take an “ugly” nerd girl and transform her into someone worthy of prom queen. By the explanation alone, the movie immediately seems icky and problematic, but that’s the reality of it. She’s All That is a 1999 classic rom-com movie. It’s sweet, funny, and romantic, but the issues of masculinity and objectification of women are the driving forces behind the movie.

Firstly, the bet begins because of the pride between two boys, Zack and Dean, as a way to one-up each other and to prove their masculinity, to uphold their pride amongst each other. There was no other reason for Zack to take up the bet other than proving himself in front of Dean. This reflects the social pressure of performing masculinity that is prevalent amongst boys. They often feel the need to prove themself in order to be viewed as strong or as proper men. This also leads to the victimization of girls. Girls are always collateral to the behavior and issues of masculinity. In this case, a random girl, Laney, had been picked to be treated as a bet, manipulated, and objectified for the men to compete against each other.

The basis of the plot revolved around the high school boys demeaning and objectifying the girls based on their attractiveness. Their perception of these girls determined how they treated them, whether as a human or not. During the development of the bet between Zack and Dean, they go around judging and mocking the bodies of the girls around them. This is classic “locker room” talk. As they go around deciding which girl they’d transform into “prom” queen, they refer to the girls as projects, not human beings. At one point, Zack argues he can work with “fat and ugly”, but not Laney. Implying that she is worse than both features. Because of this attitude, the main character, Laney, is often demeaned and treated terribly because of her lack of “attractiveness”, characterized by the lack of makeup, her glasses, and unconventional clothing. It can be argued that this movie reflects the societal perception of women at the time. Regardless, this is how the movie begins, and it sets the tone of the treatment and portrayal of women in this movie. Laney is viewed as a freak show because of her “less feminine” attire and her interest in art and politics.

The movie itself is considered a classic, however, as I watched it, I often found myself cringing between the interactions among the characters. Almost every interaction had underlying issues, whether it be upholding toxic masculinity or anti-feminist standards.