Look, just thought of this. Tall Girl, the netflix fiasco of a movie that was a shitty teen romance movie with a post it note with low quality adhesive that says "love urself" could've been a hell of a lot better if they focused on the insecurity aspect of the "storyline".
Have in mind that I do not remember the name of ANY character so bear with me please.
I think the movie had an interesting point with tackling an insecurity that a lot of tall women have: their height.
I remember hearing of the movie about a teenage girl that was way taller than the average adolescent girl and being her main insecurity and also interrupting her love life, and I thought it was neat. Then the trailer came out and I knew from the "YoU tHiNk YoUr LiFe iS hArD?" that it was only going down from there.
So, how could this movie be better?
1) Firstly, fucking erase the "forever friend zone" and extremely jealous childhood best friend persona and replace for the actual definition of a "short king".
I think a better character would be a short himbo character. Keeping the comedy relief character and taking away that hopeless incel that thinks he's the best for her. A beefy short himbo that plays sports and is both in the football team and in the art club, someone that is a bad liar but will do anything to make his childhood friend feel good about herself and make some funny attempts at making her as beautiful as she is, and that attempt is introducing her to a teammate that has some things in common with her and seems like her type even though he likes her so much, but hey, if this will make her happy, he's happy. (Good chance for drama in the story)
Making the end of both starting a relationship feel more natural.
*In addition you can also get the lesson from himbo who's a short guy but still does whatever he wwants and plays football, a sport mainly dominated buy huge guys but he doesn't feel intimidated bc he doesn't care.
2) Let's get rid of the tall handsome foreign exchange student and replace him for someone that is in childhood friend's football team. A tall handsome sporty guy that enjoys playing the piano.
But, hey, things don't always work out. So why not make it as if both are trying to figure out how to like each other?
They are both each other's type, the have similar interests and their own insecurities...but why can't neither of them find any feelings of love? Then let's make them friends.
3) I think that instead a popular mean girl, the antagonist of the movie should be a friend of hers. But this antagonist doesn't outright bully her, or steal her boyfriend. She's someone that unknowingly fucks up the main girl's self-esteem.
Main girl is a tall, blonde, beautiful and incredibly talented girl. How does the "friend" play the role of a villain? By comments that people usually see as compliments, and these "compliments" are:
"What are you so insecure about? You're pretty; you make everyone else feel bad"
"I wish I were as tall as you"
"You two are perfect for eachother! You guys should definitely date!"
This kind of person, which I think is going to be the most relatable point for a lot of people regardless of their appearance. I myself have gone through this and the people making these comments didnāt realize how hurtful they were until I told them and then they stopped.
How many people have been told they shouldnāt be insecure because they are thin? How many had to go through feeling bad about themselves because other people wished for their attributes?
Great for drama. Maybe an argument or a fall out but in the end itās solved by character development and a journey both the main girl and her friend do about self-esteem and self-image.
4) Instead of having the all wise friend that loves themselves and only has words of wisdom, why not use a character that has their flaws and insecurities as well but has an outside perspective so they can see the good points of the main girl? And what better character than the himboās teammate?
They donāt have romantic feelings for eachother, but that doesnāt mean they wonāt try to be a good friend to eachother. He could be the one that calls out this behaviour from the āfriendā and encourages her to confront her.
Why not himbo? Easy, heās not that good with social hints and doesnāt really hang out with that other girl he never sees this or has main girl mentioned this behaviour to him. But, teammate? Heās basically her therapist at this point. He knows.
5) The movie shouldāve included a lot more tall people everyday problems than the ones showed. Such as:
Ā· Clothes shopping. (Cute pants! Wait, to shortā¦)
Ā· Spaces! (Door frames are too low, kinda awkward to stand up in public bathrooms)
Ā· Constant back pain (friends are too short to talk face to face with)
And keep the parts of bad jokes about someoneās height or guys getting intimidated by the idea of dating a girl taller than they are.
Instead of the kids making fun of her wish to become a pianist make them make fun of her height, calling her names and the only way for her to defend herself is either stay quiet or intimidate them which would get her in trouble.
6) Put a lot of focus in the fact even though sheās tall she isnāt into sports. You may not get shamed but have her go through the constant annoyance of peopleās first question isnāt āwhat do you like?ā instead ādo you do sports? Make her constantly try to evade the gym teachers from the different sports clubs because no, she doesnāt want to play basketball, volleyball or be in the swimming team. Sheās a relaxed girl, she likes to read and play piano, and sheād rather go home and lay in bed with a good series and have the time of her life.
7) We can end it with prom, but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE HER A GOOD OUTFIT NOT THAT UGLY ASS SUIT. Do you know how many good jumpsuits, suits and gowns would be perfect for a tall girl?
Also, himbo is her prom date and heās absolutely ecstatic to be with her and make her feel so comfortable and happy that none of them pay attention to the few people that make jokes about the height difference and having the friend, that went through a character arc, shush them and turn lovingly and happy for her friend finding someone thatās just perfect for her.
And thatās it, the end. Tall Girl.