“Sierra Burgess is a Loser” is a new Netflix original that came out Sept. 7. It was a movie that pushed the boundaries of societal standards, with the main female protagonist not being “classically beautiful” and the main male protagonist not being the traditional jock.
Sierra Burgess is a girl who is overweight, socially embarrassing, intelligent, and more importantly, not the traditional blonde bombshell that gets the stereotypical hot guy at the end of the movie.
Sierra is bullied at school for being overweight and a reject, primarily by the mean girl of the school, Veronica. Veronica gave Sierra’s number to a guy she meets to mess with Sierra. Sierra gets to know Jamey, the guy Veronica gave Sierra’s number to, and the two hit it off. Sierra struggles with revealing her true self because she believes she isn’t pretty enough. In the end, her relationship with Jamey ends successfully showing the progressive nature of modern day romantic-comedy movies.
Sierra is not the typical female love interest. Jamey is also not the traditional vapid jock who only wants to date attractive females. He is down to earth, awkward, smart, and doesn’t care that Sierra isn’t thin.
In regards to societal standards, Pleasant Valley High School art teacher, Alexandria Medenciy, proclaimed her love for misfits, “For people to be classified as weird, they are usually passionate. Having passions and interests shouldn’t classify cool and uncool. If you have no passions, you’re an average person. No one wants to be average.” Medenciy went on to speak about happiness, “…it’s better to live your life in a true way, instead of cookie cutter. [Living up to a certain standard] may make others happy, but it doesn’t matter because it’s your life.”
These two unconventional characters show the progressive nature that movies are slowly taking on. Sierra is one of the few female love interests that is rather unexpected, and isn’t how female protagonists are usually portrayed. She isn’t just another beautiful girl who is disguised as a nerd in glasses and a bad wig labeled as ugly. She is an example for young girls everywhere, showing that they don’t have fit society’s standards to be seen as beautiful in someone else’s eyes.
Jamey contradicts the norm because he is classically handsome but doesn’t have all the characteristics of a “jock”. He isn’t affected by Sierra’s looks. Jamey gives hope to young girls everywhere that boys don’t always only want the same thing. Will Brewer, a senior at Pleasant Valley High School, said “Just being a boy you have to be tough. You’re expected to be a strong person.” Brewer said he knows many guys have to deal with experiencing masculine stereotypes.
