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| 12 | [[quoteright:350:[[Creator/MarilynMonroe https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_dfdfdfdfdfdfdf_8751.jpg]]]] |
| 13 | %% |
| 14 | ->''"No matter what I do, whether I kick kittens, or tear off people's ears, or even commit murder... the whole world will forgive me! Because I'm beautiful!"'' |
| 15 | -->-- '''Boa Hancock''', ''Manga/OnePiece'' |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Somewhat of a DoubleStandard trope, where a conventionally attractive character gets away with morally ambiguous things, despite how similar actions usually get questioned when committed by characters that are considered ugly. The attractive character is almost always forgiven or doesn’t even get called out for their questionable choices from within the plot. Sometimes, their actions even get painted in a good light, and the plot even rewards them for them. Meanwhile, the ugly character gets shamed and villanized for doing similar things. It can be {{lampshade|Hanging}}d or never addressed. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | This kind of treatment can lead to the character being EasilyForgiven and becoming a KarmaHoudini. Quite a few times, if the attractive character is a StalkerWithACrush toward another character, other characters will excuse their questionable actions as StalkingIsLove. Other times, characters might excuse it due to assuming that BeautyEqualsGoodness (despite the character's dubious actions appearing to contradict that). |
| 20 | |
| 21 | When it's the {{fan|Dumb}}s that excuse the character's actions for this reason, the character is a DracoInLeatherPants. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Obviously, this trope has a lot of TruthInTelevision. It's actually a well-documented psychological effect. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | {{Supertrope}} to BeautyBreedsLaziness. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Related to ProudBeauty, WhatMeasureIsANonCute and ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney. IHaveBoobsYouMustObey can be considered a subtrope of this. CutenessEqualsForgiveness overlaps for certain kinds of beauty. Contrast KavorkaMan. Compare SoBeautifulItsACurse; any character who [[{{Hypocrite}} combines the two]] is just ''begging'' for a [[TheScrappy Hatedom]]. Compare and contrast also with FavorsForTheSexy and DistractedByTheSexy. Characters who fall into this trope will rarely react well to their FirstGrayHair, however; the aging process can be particularly cruel to those who were beautiful in their youth, and they may find that people start to treat them very differently as they get older. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | Contrast WastedBeauty, when a character's flaws, quirks and/or bad behaviour manage to outweigh the attractiveness of their good looks. |
| 30 | ---- |
| 31 | !!Examples |
| 32 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 33 | |
| 34 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 35 | * ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Griffith uses his attractiveness to his advantage all in the name of having his own kingdom, such as sleeping with a rich old man to get his army supplied with goods, trying to win over the Princess for his goals despite others being against it because he is a man of common birth, and getting people to trust him so he can gain support in the name of his goal, all while hiding a nasty side behind a charming facade. |
| 36 | * Boa Hancock from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is a walking {{lampshade|Hanging}} of this trope. Except, that is, around [[ChasteHero Luffy]], who is apparently the ''only'' person who doesn't buy into her beauty. All the other characters, however, forgive all the nasty things she does to them (if not that they didn't even ''notice'' that she was doing nasty things to them). In fact, her catchphrase is "Everyone would forgive me… for I am beautiful!" The thing is, she's absolutely right. This includes literally [[KickTheDog kicking puppies, kittens]], and [[CrossesTheLineTwice baby seals.]] |
| 37 | * Sagara Sōsuke from ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' has a mission to follow Kaname around and protect her from terrorists, but he must not let her know he's doing that. So to Kaname and everyone else, he's acting like a creepy StalkerWithACrush. The only thing is, she completely underreacts to his insanely creepy and scary behavior, even blushing and acting extremely shy when talking about him. In fact, hardly knowing him (other than seeing him throw himself off a train to continue stalking her), she actually starts fishing around for an answer if he has a girlfriend or lover, and is shown to be ridiculously happy when he tells her she's his "special person." It undoubtedly has quite a bit to do with his good looks, seeing how she acts towards men who don't even do nearly as much crap as Sōsuke but are ugly. It's only when he gets to the point where he's on her balcony at night holding her panties that she gets angry. In the novels, his being able to screw the rules because of his looks is {{lampshaded}}. He had always been a bit suspicious about how all the other guerrillas that were working with him treated him a ''lot'' nicer than they treated anyone else, and he got away with a lot more. Turns out that they all wanted to [[EvenTheGuysWantHim jump him]]. |
| 38 | * Rokudo Mukuro from ''Manga/Reborn2004'', who is EasilyForgiven by Tsuna despite showing ''absolutely no remorse'' for all the atrocities he committed. Despite how his ultimate goal is [[NietzscheWannabe even more horrifying than Xanxus's]], Tsuna shows much less mercy and pity towards Xanxus (who, before the ArtEvolution, was shown to be substantially less pretty than Mukuro). It's highly doubtful that Tsuna would have shown so much compassion for him if he were ugly. |
| 39 | * In ''Manga/DeathNote'', Light gets away with a ''bunch'' of crap by using his good looks to entice both women ''and'' [[EvenTheGuysWantHim men]]. Not to mention his status as a DracoInLeatherPants among fandom. |
| 40 | * Tamamo from ''Manga/HellTeacherNube'' gets away with lots of things that Nube is beaten up for, just because he's a Bishonen and Nube is pretty average looking at best. |
| 41 | * Mitsuko from ''Manga/BattleRoyale''. She's been using her body to get ''anything'' she wants from pretty much any man (or girl) ever since she was young. Her entire strategy during Battle Royale was pretty much to rely on her beautiful looks and sex appeal to trick people into trusting her and giving her everything, only to [[TheVamp betray them and kill them]]. It worked ''very'' well for her... until she reached [[TheStoic Kiriyama]]. |
| 42 | %%* The Hotel Owner in the Murder at the Hot-springs Arc of ''Manga/TheWallflower'' justifies herself with this trope. |
| 43 | %%* ''Manga/{{MW}}'''s Michio: EvenTheGuysWantHim, and he works it for his best advantage. |
| 44 | %%* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'''s Johan: similarly. |
| 45 | * ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'': |
| 46 | ** Pick any ''Tenchi'' series, and there are probably characters who use this at some point. An egregious example includes the part in ''Anime/TenchiMuyoGXP'' where four young women get away with [[spoiler:[[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale raping a 15-year old boy]]]] because they're beautiful and female (and because [[spoiler:they're [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections foreign emissaries.]]]]) |
| 47 | ** Averted in ''Anime/TenchiInTokyo'', where Ayeka, despite having this trope and ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney and ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers and ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections on her side, has to pay a traffic ticket. (Of course, there's a lesser ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney in it if she used an infinitesimal portion of her father's money to pay for it.) |
| 48 | * In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', the vast amount of attention Ayame got for his looks when he was in high school lead to him thinking ''very'' highly of himself. This led to a very unpleasant incident where he works for a year with the student council president of a sister school, only to admit at the end (as she's confessing her love to him) that he didn't even bother to remember her name. |
| 49 | * In ''Manga/RedRiver1995'', this mindset is held by a number of princesses and noblewomen, always to show them as being particularly spoiled. When Ursula is masquerading as Yuri, she's reasonably convinced that she can sway Kail to leave the real Yuri and take her as his new lover, because she's incredibly beautiful. |
| 50 | * ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'': Furuta can get away with decapitating ghouls because he's doing it in the name of justice for the CCG and humanity. Also, he's very handsome which garners him lots of fangirls who praise his actions. They don't know about his true nature as a half-ghoul either which helps. |
| 51 | [[/folder]] |
| 52 | |
| 53 | [[folder:Arts]] |
| 54 | * ''Art/PortraitOfMadameX'': The glint of a wedding ring on her hand, combined with this suggestion of sexual independence, was what made this painting so scandalous at the time; this is a married woman, but not a ''respectable'' married woman. Better yet, neither she nor her lovers care. |
| 55 | [[/folder]] |
| 56 | |
| 57 | [[folder:Comedy]] |
| 58 | * Creator/JimGaffigan has a bit where he points out that life is easier when you're attractive. "If a stranger smiles at you and they're attractive, you think 'Oh, they're nice'. But if an ugly person smiles at you, you think 'What do they want?'." |
| 59 | * Wanda Sykes, in her routine, claims that if Clarence Thomas had looked like Creator/DenzelWashington, he never would have been sued for sexual harassment. |
| 60 | * Creator/ChrisRock said the same thing, asking, "What's sexual harassment, when an ugly guy wants some?" |
| 61 | [[/folder]] |
| 62 | |
| 63 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 64 | * Eva Lord in ''ComicBook/SinCity'' uses her looks to get away with her crimes. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when she tries to get a chunk of [[TheDon Wallenquist's]] organization, only for him to tell her that just because she's beautiful, he's not going to cave-in. |
| 65 | * Selene, regular foe of the ComicBook/XMen, often says her dark and regal beauty trumps every horrible thing she does. But then again, she believes herself [[AGodAmI a goddess]] so... |
| 66 | * In Tim Fish's ''Cavalcade of Boys'' series, Gordon, the fat old troll with missing teeth and a comb-over, is universally reviled, although he never does anything worse than being a {{sugar daddy}} to a series of young hotties. The main character, Tighe, sometimes behaves in even more morally questionable ways, but since he is young and hot, not only does he get away with it, but he also even gets to pass moral judgment on other characters. |
| 67 | * ''Il Grande Magazzi'', the three-parter ''[[ComicBook/RatMan1989 Rat-Man]]'' story parodying ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', has the "Philosopher's Women", women whose personality is so horrid to be ''lethal'' (the one shown [[DrivenToSuicide causes at least one suicide]], and at one point causes [[LaughablyEvil Valdifass]] to spontaneously start electrocuting himself to death) and people just want to ''kill them'' or at least slap them silly (hence the alternative name "Sgnaccamarroni", an Italian insult that indicates they're so horrible to make testicles fall just by being around)... But they're so beautiful men turn into imbeciles the closest they get and will instead try and hit on them, enjoy when they succeed, and despair when her whims make her move on, while women watch in morbid fascination. [[spoiler:It's quite the triumphant moment when, in the middle of Valdifass' slow electrocution, [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]], another victim of that Sgnaccamarroni, ''[[SubvertedTrope kills her]]'' the way he did Palpatine in the movies]]. |
| 68 | [[/folder]] |
| 69 | |
| 70 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 71 | %%* One ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' strip [[http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/000000/30000/0000/800/30831/30831.strip.sunday.gif lampshades the trope rather nicely.]] |
| 72 | * In an early ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' cartoon, two children were playing in a sandbox at the daycare center where Joanie Caucus was working after she left her family. The boy says, "When I grow up, I will get a wife." The girl says, "What's a wife?" to which the boy describes the male sexist stereotypical view of wifely functions (''Doonesbury'' is often amusing, frequently insightful, but [[{{Anvilicious}} never subtle]]). The girl responds "That sounds good, I think I will get a wife too," to which the boy says, "Get a pretty one, they never get traffic tickets." |
| 73 | * In one ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' strip, Lucy explains that little girls don't get in trouble as often as little boys do because little girls are "so cute". |
| 74 | [[/folder]] |
| 75 | |
| 76 | %%[[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 77 | %%* In ''Fanfic/TokyoMewMewNoHopeLeft'', Sakura escapes Karma repeatedly by dressing like a stripper. |
| 78 | %%[[/folder]] |
| 79 | |
| 80 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 81 | * In ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', Gaston believes that he's the most handsome man in the entire village. One of the reasons he gives for stalking Belle and eventually trying to force her into marrying him is because she's the only one "who's as beautiful as me!" and he deserves the best in ''everything'', wives included. |
| 82 | [[/folder]] |
| 83 | |
| 84 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 85 | * Edward Cullen from ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'' stalked Bella and watched her sleep. [[StalkingIsLove She didn't mind]]. {{Lampshaded}} and made fun of in the [[http://www.the-editing-room.com/twilight.html Abridged Script]]: "Holy fucking shit! If you weren't so hot I'd have you arrested!" |
| 86 | ** The Cullens in general fit this trope, since they're able to get humans wrapped around their fingers with no effort, despite generally treating people either condescendingly or with contempt. Stephenie Meyer herself seems to believe this trope, seeing as her [[http://www.twilightlexicon.com/2007/05/20/personal-correspondence-12/ Personal Correspondence 12]] has her stating that a person can get away with a lot and have it overlooked by others if they are [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney rich]] and attractive enough. |
| 87 | * ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' subverts this when the Terminatrix uses her rather extensive equipment to give herself an "[[BreastExpansion upgrade]]". She then utters a rather sultry, "Hello, officer," and it appears that she'll use her assets to avoid a ticket. Instead, she kills the police officer and takes his pistol. [[ArmCannon Not that she really needs it]] -- it's just more discreet. |
| 88 | * "What are you going to do, arrest me for smoking?" -- Catherine Tramell, ''Film/BasicInstinct'' (after making an entire room full of officers hot and bothered by showing them [[GoingCommando she's not wearing panties]]). |
| 89 | %%* {{Invoked|Trope}} unsuccessfully in ''Film/MurielsWedding''. |
| 90 | * ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'': |
| 91 | ** Dr. Frank N. Furter from the uses his charms and good looks to get away with all sorts of immoral acts. It works quite well until Riff Raff and Magenta turn on him. |
| 92 | ** Also invoked from the other side with his attitude toward Rocky, at least initially. "But since you're such an exceptional beauty, I'm prepared to forgive you." |
| 93 | * Played straight and subverted in ''Film/TheCannonballRun''. Jill and Marcie are the racers in the Lamborghini who make use of their skintight catsuits and strategic zipper adjustment to get out of traffic tickets and/or arrests. It fails miserably the third time they try it when they look up and see the smiling face of a blonde cop who has her own assets prominently displayed by her uniform shirt. |
| 94 | * Averted, then later played almost straight in ''Film/LovePotionNumberNine''. The HollywoodHomely female scientist has a car that will stall if she stops at stop signs, and is caught running one by a cop. Her best efforts to escape a ticket fail early in the film. She succeeds after getting some of the titular potion later, though not really because she's any better looking. |
| 95 | * In ''Film/SpiceWorld'', the Music/SpiceGirls discuss that Emma could probably get away with anything due to her status as TheCutie - complete with an Creator/AgathaChristie style ImagineSpot, where Emma gets away with murder when [[WhenSheSmiles she flashes her pearly whites]] (even though she has the murder weapon slung over her shoulder). This pays off in the finale when the girls have chaotically driven their tour bus all across London to get to their concert at Albert Hall; the police are about to reprimand them for road rage, but Emma gives them a cute smile and they're EasilyForgiven. |
| 96 | * Bianca Stratford tries using this trope in ''Film/TenThingsIHateAboutYou'' in order to manipulate Cameron's feelings for her into getting him to help her date the school popular guy. Subverted, since when he finds out and [[WhatTheHellHero gives her a piece of his mind]] he explicitly points out that "just because you're beautiful doesn't mean you can treat people like they don't matter." |
| 97 | [[/folder]] |
| 98 | |
| 99 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 100 | * Keifer in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' got away with severely injuring one of his [[ExoticExtendedMarriage younger wives]] because his beauty helped in convincing the eldest sister that his victim "provoked him". |
| 101 | * This is addressed in the ''Literature/WarchildSeries'', with BigBad Falcone purposefully choosing attractive kids to make into his [[{{Tykebomb}} personal soldiers]]. He explicitly states that attractive people can get away with more, and they can use their appearances to get what they want out of people. |
| 102 | * In the ''Literature/GeronimoStilton'' book ''The Mona Mousa Code'', Thea just has to bat her eyes and talk sweetly to the museum radiology technician to get him to show them what was revealed when a painting was x-rayed. Of course, they WERE already dating... |
| 103 | * Tom Riddle -- before he became Voldemort -- from ''Literature/HarryPotter''. It's practically [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]; Harry himself notes how handsome Tom was (before he knows who he'd become), and it's made clear that Tom used the fact to his advantage. Good looks, charming manners, and cunning persuasiveness can apparently get you pretty far in the wizarding world, too. |
| 104 | * Dorian in ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'', although he probably ''wouldn't'' be so beautiful if he hadn't made a DealWithTheDevil to have his painting take on all the outward consequences of his evil. |
| 105 | * Christine in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'' is a relatively benign version, mostly because she's dumb as a sack of rocks, but she still has some of this. She gets things handed to her because she's beautiful, so she never bothers to try to improve (and she has ''very'' little talent) or to learn to interact better with other people. Agnes lampshades her ItsAllAboutMe tendencies by noticing that she doesn't even react when Agnes tells her "and my father was the Seriph of Klatch and my mother was a small tray of raspberry puddings." |
| 106 | * ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has this happen from time to time, particularly in the backstory. The main character extolling it we get to see in all her egocentric glory, however, is Cersei Lannister. And, as she quickly finds out, beauty is only ''one'' of the tools in the Game. [[DeconstructedTrope And it's no rule-breaker on its own]], however much she gives it pride of position and believes in the edge it can give her. It even becomes a DiscussedTrope, by Littlefinger, who points out that it's the only one of the sources of Cersei's power to be ''truly'' her own and it won't last forever, so there is no way for it to carry her out much longer. And by the time [[spoiler:Cersei is punished by being forced to walk naked through the capital]] it's quite obvious that he's right and a woman over thirty, having had several children and in a world with no modern beauty products should starting looking for herself for a new card to play. |
| 107 | * In ''Literature/TheseWordsAreTrueAndFaithful,'' this is Ernie's view for most of the book. |
| 108 | * In ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'', Christian Grey's unparalleled hotness is often sufficient to make Ana forget about his latest bout of physically harming her, stalking her, bullying her into doing what he wants, etc. As one meme points out, "If Christian Grey was ugly and living in a trailer, it would be an episode of ''Series/CriminalMinds''." |
| 109 | * In ''Literature/HushHush'', the only reason Nora puts up with Patch's stalking and scaring her at all is that she finds him sexy. Marcie Miller seems to have a similar mindset. |
| 110 | * In ''Literature/{{Beastly}}'', Kyle is very much in favor of this trope, arguing early on that people are only ugly because they don't put enough effort into being beautiful and that the incredibly beautiful ''deserve'' attention and adoration. When Kendra curses him, she calls him out on a number of instances in his past where he used his looks to get away with increasingly callous behavior. |
| 111 | * Deconstructed in ''Literature/MemoirsOfAGeisha''. Hatsumomo is the most successful geisha in Gion, and renowned as a great beauty. For all her attractiveness and talent, she's a completely rotten AlphaBitch - who treats everyone around her horribly. She initially gets away with it because she's so beautiful and effective as a geisha that she brings money to the okiya. However, when she bites a kabuki actor, it's the last straw for Mother; at this point, Sayuri has come into her own and Hatsumomo's looks are beginning to fade, so they kick her out with no reason to keep her anymore. |
| 112 | [[/folder]] |
| 113 | |
| 114 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 115 | * ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': Connie Brooks is free to pursue ObliviousToLove Mr. Boynton in a way that would be questionable if she weren't an attractive English teacher. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Mr. Conklin, when he wryly comments on how he was sure to always find her in Mr. Boynton's biology lab. Party [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that Mr. Boynton likes Miss Brooks, and Miss Brooks' extraordinary pursuit doesn't violate any laws. This bit of dialogue from "Student Government Day" describes Miss Brooks' pursuit of Mr. Boynton in a nutshell: |
| 116 | -->'''Mr. Boynton:''' Fate seems always to be pitching us together\ |
| 117 | '''Miss Brooks:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Compared to me, fate's only a sandlot pitcher]]. |
| 118 | * Will Schuester from ''Series/{{Glee}}''. He's presented as the mentor and pillar of the Glee club while doing some very morally ambiguously stuff at the same time. He talks down to a lot of his students, privileges the boys over the girls, shames other people when they don't agree with him, and pursues Emma non stop even when she's seeing other people. And yet, he gets rewarded within the plot by winning the Teacher of the Year award, getting the girl, being regarded as the better man by his own adversary... and have a lot of women (some students included) swoon over him. Other less conventionally attractive characters, such as Ken Tenaka or Jacob Ben Israel, get villanized and shamed (sometimes by Will himself) for doing stuff that is just as morally ambiguous, if not less. |
| 119 | * In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', both [[CreatorsPet Lana]] [[TheScrappy Lang]] and ComicBook/LoisLane have their moments. [[TheSmartGirl Chloe Sullivan]], on the other hand, usually not. |
| 120 | * In the ''Series/ThirtyRock'' episode "The Bubble," we learn that [[InformedAttractiveness incredibly hot]] people who look like Creator/JonHamm get special treatment, while [[HollywoodHomely ordinary-looking]] people who look like Creator/TinaFey don't. Kind of a DeconstructedTrope in the long run, since Dr. Drew Baird (Hamm's character) has grown up almost entirely without life skills and eventually loses both hands. |
| 121 | * Satirized in the first episode of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', when Mal tells Bendis "We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so very pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die. Huh? Look at that chiseled jaw." [[spoiler:Bendis dies.]] |
| 122 | * Throughout her time on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Cordelia was like this a lot. Initially appearing to be a shallow AlphaBitch who revelled in the fact that her beauty and father's money could get her anything she wanted, it was later subverted when she revealed how lonely such a lifestyle can be. |
| 123 | * ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' also [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in the episode "The Calzone", where Jerry's girlfriend has this quality and he takes advantage of it. |
| 124 | * In one ''Series/{{Monk}}'', Natalie said, "I can do anything I want; I'm cute." |
| 125 | * ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' parodied this with a mock "Sexual Harassment and You" TV Funhouse short. The unattractive male character played by Fred Armisen can't even say "Hello" without being hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit. The attractive male played by [[TheAce Tom Brady]] can feel up women and walk around in his underwear and be fawned over. |
| 126 | * Used on several occasions on ''Speeders'', with some drivers honestly believing the luck of the genetic draw should excuse them from obeying traffic laws. |
| 127 | * Lady Christina de Souza from the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E15PlanetOfTheDead "Planet of the Dead"]]. |
| 128 | * An episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' is all about Malcolm's first ''car'', which pulls this repeatedly on him. He picked it out because it was the best-looking one on the lot but on the inside, it turns out to be TheAllegedCar; requiring constant, expensive maintenance, and even ''then'' it remains ridiculously temperamental about when it will or won't run. |
| 129 | * Shannon Rutherford in "Exodus", Part 1 of ''Series/{{Lost}}''. |
| 130 | * Discussed in a first season episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' (paraphrased): |
| 131 | -->'''House:''' Would that upset you, really, to think that you were hired because of some genetic gift of beauty, not some genetic gift of intelligence?\ |
| 132 | '''Cameron:''' I worked very hard to get where I am.\ |
| 133 | '''House:''' But you didn't have to. People choose the paths that grant them the greatest reward for the least amount of effort. That's the law of nature, and you've defied it. You could've married rich, you could've been a model. You could have just shown up and people would've given you stuff, lots of stuff. But you didn't. You worked your stunning little ass off. That's why I hired you. |
| 134 | * Jefferson D'Arcy on ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', is a lazy man who expects his beauty to keep him from having to get a job. |
| 135 | * Employed by various villains on ''Series/LawAndOrder'' over the years, including memorably on ''[[Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit SVU]]'' when [=Supermodel=]-turned-actress Estella Warren's character declares herself to be "too beautiful for prison" after committing a series of crimes. |
| 136 | * On an episode of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', Blanche is being audited by the IRS. Blanche brags that she's been audited before and she's never had to pay a dime because they keep sending male auditors. When the ''female'' auditor shows up at the end of the episode, Blanche (decked out in a lacy gown and robe) simply shrugs and says "I'll get my checkbook." |
| 137 | * Generally subverted on ''Series/TheAmazingRace''. A lot of female teams talk about using their looks to their advantage. However, this rarely comes into play, and bringing it up pretty much guarantees a team's elimination down the line. Some female racers have gotten advantages because of their looks, but these are usually women who aren't ''trying'' to take advantage of their looks. |
| 138 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcrwJXAGqwg One clip]] shown on ''[[Series/WorldsDumbest World's Dumbest Drivers]]'' had a female driver ''trying'' to invoke this trope, but the officer wasn't playing along, with hilarious results. |
| 139 | --> '''Woman:''' I thought you didn't give pretty girls tickets.\ |
| 140 | '''Officer:''' You didn't think we gave pretty girls tickets? You're absolutely right, we don't. Sign here. |
| 141 | * Mild example in ''Series/TheCityHunter'', where prosecutor Young Joo's {{Bishonen}} good looks are able to charm a grumpy female forensics technician into checking a blood sample for him ahead of schedule. |
| 142 | * Neal Caffrey in ''Series/WhiteCollar''. |
| 143 | * ''{{Series/Scrubs}}'' has an episode where Elliot is taught to use this to get favors; for example, getting a patient's relative to agree to something because she has a SexySoakedShirt, and cutting in line at a shop and getting a free drink because she flirts with the guy behind the counter. This backfires when someone who's supposed to be interviewing her for a job witnesses this and assumes she's a BrainlessBeauty. |
| 144 | * ''{{Series/Feud}}'' dramatizes the latter years of Creator/JoanCrawford's fading career in Hollywood. Not a stellar actress, she still achieved stardom because of her glamorous image - which made her TheRival to Creator/BetteDavis, a better actress who was not considered as beautiful. Joan at this point in her career is in her fifties, struggling with alcoholism and alienating everyone on set with her behavior. It's noted that she's always been like this, but now that her looks are fading and there are younger stars ready to take her place, they no longer have as much incentive to put up with her. |
| 145 | [[/folder]] |
| 146 | |
| 147 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 148 | * In the folk song "Willie O'Winsbury," also known as "John Barbour" (and covered by East Coast Canadian band Music/GreatBigSea), a princess has gotten pregnant. When the king finds out that the father, Willie O'Winsbury (or John Barbour), isn't nobility, he plans to have him killed. But when the king sees how incredibly handsome the father is ("If I were a woman as I am a man, [[EvenTheGuysWantHim my bedfellow you would be]]"), the king gives him the princess's hand in marriage and offers to make him "the lord of my lands." (For contrast, see the folksong "Princess Dysie," in which the princess has become pregnant by Roger the kitchen boy. In this song, the king has Roger's head cut off and sent up to the princess.) |
| 149 | * Stewart Francke's ''The Beautiful Go Blameless''. |
| 150 | * Music/TheStooges' "Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell" is a deconstruction. |
| 151 | * Discussed in Music/TheAlanParsonsProject's "Eye in the Sky": |
| 152 | -->"The light in your eyes\ |
| 153 | Made some of your lies worth believing" |
| 154 | * Several Music/{{Eminem}} songs make note of how his PrettyBoy looks (during his 20s/early 30s) led to him getting a softer ride for his [[TheNewRockAndRoll controversial lyrical content]], especially in terms of keeping an EstrogenBrigade despite his {{Misogyny Song}}s and [[SurprisinglyLenientCensor his videos constantly getting play]] on Creator/{{MTV}}. He's also aware in many songs that it's not that he's ''that'' beautiful -- it's that he fits a racist beauty standard that white people like. |
| 155 | ** In "The Real Slim Shady": |
| 156 | --->Feminist women love Eminem!\ |
| 157 | "Chkka-chkka-chkka-Slim-Shady, I'm sick of him! Look at him!\ |
| 158 | Walking around, grabbing his you-know-what, flippin' the you-know-who..."\ |
| 159 | "Yeah, but he's so cute, though!" |
| 160 | ** In "I'm Back": |
| 161 | --->Became a commodity because I'm W-H-I,\ |
| 162 | T-E, so MTV, was so friend-ly, to me... |
| 163 | ** In "White America": |
| 164 | --->Look at these eyes! Baby blue, baby, just like yourselves\ |
| 165 | if they were brown, Shady's lose, Shady sits on the shelf\ |
| 166 | but Shady's cute, Shady knew Shady's dimples would help\ |
| 167 | make ladies swoon, baby! ("Ooh, baby!") Look at my sales! |
| 168 | ** In "Evil Twin": |
| 169 | --->From the first album even the girls were like,\ |
| 170 | "tight lyrics, dreamy eyes!",\ |
| 171 | but my fuckin' mouth was nightmarish |
| 172 | [[/folder]] |
| 173 | |
| 174 | [[folder:Pro Wrestling]] |
| 175 | * Wrestling/{{Sable}}, InUniverse and out. Her feud with Wrestling/LunaVachon was over the fact Sable was clearly being given more opportunities than Luna because Sable was prettier and this somehow made Luna the {{heel}}. What's more, Sable Refused to learn how to wrestle or take bumps, expecting all of the other Characters/WWEDivas to treat her with kid gloves in the ring because she was drop-dead gorgeous and posed for ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}''. WWE once fired Vachon for bruising Sable in the ring but brought her back two weeks later after she had to face Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}}, a notoriously stiff ring worker. Hell, while facing Jacqueline, who wasn't exactly bad looking, it was openly questioned on air how Sable would keep her fan support. The answer, showing off more of her body than Jacqueline would! This was most obvious when Sable won a bikini contest against Jacqueline by not wearing a bikini, though she did get called on pushing the rules too far later. Sable did [[FaceHeelTurn turned heel]] (as a defense mechanism against problems she was having with certain people backstage, out of universe she couldn't lord it over more powerful figures the ways she could women wrestlers), but it backfired, leading to her lawsuit and her leaving under very bad terms. |
| 176 | * Wrestling/TrishStratus has benefited and suffered for her beauty. She got to be in a six pack for the WWF Women's title belt with Wrestling/{{Lita}}, Wrestling/MollyHolly, Wrestling/{{Ivory}}, Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}} and [[Wrestling/CarleneMoore Jazz]], each an experienced wrestler who had more or less earned their spot through ring work, because Stratus was a pseudo celebrity fitness model whose image sold magazines. As Stratus trained to catch up with the hardened wrestlers in the women's division, her sex symbol status undermined her efforts, as less mat savvy models like Wrestling/StacyKeibler, Wrestling/TerriRunnels, Wrestling/TorrieWilson and Wrestling/JackieGayda attempted to position themselves for title shots against Stratus in wrestling light GimmickMatches based on the fact they [[NoFourthWall knew]] WWF/E would overlook their lack of wrestling credentials and the unfairness of it all in order to promote two sexy women rolling around with little clothing. Molly Holly and [[Wrestling/LisaMarieVaron Victoria]] naturally [[MisplacedRetribution blamed Stratus]] for the degradation of their division even though she was just as serious about trying to move past titillation for its own sake as they were. |
| 177 | * Attempted by Wrestling/GailKim during Wrestling/{{TNA}}'s cross promotional shows with United Wrestling Federation, where she demanded special treatment, such as ring side presence without a managerial license, because she was "The Most Beautiful Woman" in professional wrestling. When she didn't get her way she blamed UWF's Amber O'Neal and did several ugly things, [[SpitefulSpit such as spit on her]]. |
| 178 | * Sienna Duvall accused Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Ring Warriors of giving [[Wrestling/BlackRose La Rosa Negra]] and Wrestling/SuYung number one contender status for their soon to be created Battling Bombshells Championship belt because they were pretty, talking about how unfair it was she had to fight for it instead. While Duvall neglected to mention La Rosa Negra actually got it by defeating Duvall in an [[GimmickMatches empty arena]] exhibition match made after Negra crashed a Nassau Bahamas show in [[NoFourthWall protest]] to [[AdvertisedExtra Ring Warriors never booking her]], Yung really did become a number 1 contender immediately after signing "just because". While Yung did earn one title shot after La Rosa won the belt, Yung got at least two, again "just because". This also overlaps with BeautyEqualsGoodness, as Yung was the only [[TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil pure]] baby{{face}} among the three and [[DracoInLeatherPants the fans continued to treat her like one]] even when Yung shamelessly used heel tactics against Negra while trying to win the belt. |
| 179 | [[/folder]] |
| 180 | |
| 181 | [[folder:Theater]] |
| 182 | * In Karol Szymanowski's opera ''King Roger'', this is what the young shepherd (who is Dionysus in disguise) says when he is being tried for heresy: |
| 183 | -->'''King Roger:''' And who is your god?\ |
| 184 | '''Shepherd:''' My god is as beautiful as I am. |
| 185 | * Roxie Hart in ''Theatre/{{Chicago}}'' is pretty enough to get away with murder, her attempts at which drive the plot of the show. |
| 186 | * In ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', Romeo practically stalks Juliet, but she forgives him because it is love. If any less handsome person had snuck into her yard and was staring through the window at her, she would have reacted a lot differently. |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | |
| 189 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 190 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'', Beatrice Trudeau (a {{nerd}} [[DiscussedTrope complains about this trope]]. She considers it wrong that [[AlphaBitch Mandy]] and [[FilleFatale Lola]] get special treatment because they're pretty when she doesn't get special treatment for being able to recite the Periodic Table of the Elements. |
| 191 | * In ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest1InPursuitOfTheDeathAngel'', you pull over a ''gorgeous'' woman for speeding and have the choice of whether to let her off or write her a ticket. [[spoiler: You may not want to call the number she gives you, though.]] |
| 192 | * ''VideoGame/MarioParty3'': One of the attributes of the [[PlotCoupon Seven Star Stamps]] in the story mode of the game is "Beauty", and the player must duel [[GenkiGirl Princess Daisy]] for it. To quote: "There is no denying that Daisy is fairest of all! There's no need to fight." She almost succeeds in charming the two game hosts for it. |
| 193 | * In ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings II'', relations with other characters range from -100 to 100, and character traits modify your relations with other characters. If you are Just, you get +10 to your vassals. If you are Generous but another character is Greedy, the two of you get -10 toward each other. "Attractive" gives a +30 relations bonus with all members of the opposite sex (except for homosexual ones), meaning that a beautiful queen can keep all the dukes of her realm in line through her sheer appearance. |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 197 | * ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'': |
| 198 | ** Dahlia Hawthorne in the third game. It helps that the judge is an idiot, but her beauty sure helped the BitchInSheepsClothing effect. |
| 199 | ** The series also has April May from the first game, who manages to get the entire courtroom on her side (and against Phoenix when he tries to cross-examine her) until he manages to present enough evidence to turn them against her. |
| 200 | ** Along with the value provided by her foreign language skills, a certain flight attendant in ''Ace Attorney Investigations'' seems to use her relationship with the pilot to get out of doing much work. |
| 201 | ** Horribly deconstructed with Regina, in the second game. She often gets her way and has plenty of admirers because of how adorable she is, but she's very naive about it all and this causes quite a few problems. There's a fair bit of drama in the circus over who gets her hand in marriage, and it turns out that [[spoiler:her father's murder ended up happening because the killer's brother had ended up comatose doing something to impress her, and her obliviousness to her role in it all made the murderer see her as being at fault and not accepting responsibility]]. |
| 202 | [[/folder]] |
| 203 | |
| 204 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 205 | * In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000716c Megaman tries to argue that he's too pretty to die.]] |
| 206 | * [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' on several occasions, where girls can get away with stuff using {{puppy dog eyes}}. |
| 207 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Melonpool}}'', [[PunnyName Jalea Bates]], the protocol droid-turned-fembot-teen-pop-singer, has as her signature song the absurdly catchy "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful". [[http://web.archive.org/web/20070818091308/http://www.pretzyl.com/features/media/mp3/dhmbib_ebmix_clip.mp3 Listen to a sample here.]] |
| 208 | * Most of the characters in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' and its {{spinoff}} comics arguably benefit from this effect to some extent -- well, it is a lightweight sex comedy, so judging them for their behaviour would probably be too heavy-handed. Occasionally, it becomes more or less explicit, though. |
| 209 | ** Amazonian sex goddess [=DiDi=] is so beautiful that [[{{Anorgasmia}} she's unable to get an orgasm during sex]] because men only last a few seconds with her. She's also something of a [[TheDitz ditz]], who treats men with unthinking casualness that verges on cruelty, but they invariably forgive her because of her gorgeousness. Her desperate need for an orgasm has resulted in increasingly {{jerk|Ass}}ish behavior from her, and she seems to have developed something of a sense of entitlement. |
| 210 | ** International lingerie model Senna has a monstrous ego and is a [[MeanBoss boss from hell]], but ... ''international lingerie model'', you know? |
| 211 | ** CampGay actor Dillon arguably gets away with relentless flirting with straight as well as gay men, especially now he's in [[Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns his own comic]], largely because of his ditzy cuteness -- despite his borderline {{hypocrit|e}}ical pontifications about fidelity. |
| 212 | * Sven from ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' can be a douche much of the time, but gets away with it, especially in dealings with ladies, because he is very pretty. Though to his credit, [[CharacterDevelopment he has been making an active effort to be less reliant on his looks]] in more recent strips. |
| 213 | * Kharisma in ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive''. Subverted in that she never actually does get what she wants... she even tried to use this trope ''in her trial for Avagadro's murder''. She was sentenced to serve 25 to life, which was only the start of her HumiliationConga (she now has a large burn on her face that she needs makeup to cover, leading to significant CharacterDevelopment) and is currently a wanted fugitive. |
| 214 | [[/folder]] |
| 215 | |
| 216 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 217 | * [[https://youtu.be/0BA5oBCs7bU Irene]] in this episode of ''WebVideo/AppleTexts'' is a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction of this trope]]: ever since she was a child she was [[SpoiledBrat spoiled rotten]] by her parents, and as an adult survives by leeching off of her less attractive sister, Hazel. Because she is used to being spoiled due to her good looks, she is in debt from [[MoneyDumb poor money management]] and believes that being attractive means she [[LazyBum doesn't have to work for anything.]] Irene's spoiled behavior comes back to bite her and her parents once Hazel, the family's cash cow, cuts ties with them, as her laziness and wasteful spending end up ruining their lives. All-in-all, a person who's only positive quality is their good looks does not make pleasant company. |
| 218 | * ''WebAnimation/MangaSoprano'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqwrdyVPdgY&t=2m15s "Pretentious coworker with 6 boyfriends flirts with my fiancé.But it will be exposed ..."]] [sic] - Moka Kiyoi used her looks to [[TheVamp seduce and manipulate men into doing what she wanted]], especially chewing out any female coworker who dared to even suggest she do her job. However, her luck runs out when she tries to seduce Chief Kairi on the company trip, who sees through her tricks and [[spoiler:reveals [[ReallyGetsAround her secret affairs with six boyfriends]], who all turn on her after finding out about each other's relationship with Moka, with Kairi having her transferred to a remote branch with only elderly employees.]] |
| 219 | * Gaea from ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'' exploits this via very effective PuppyDogEyes in the webseries and comics. |
| 220 | * Sometimes shows up on ''Website/NotAlwaysWorking''. [[AvertedTrope It usually]] [[http://notalwaysworking.com/a-faustian-barbie/25770 does]] [[http://notalwaysworking.com/more-buffoon-than-buff/25901 not]] [[http://notalwaysworking.com/acting-pretty-ugly/25704 work.]] |
| 221 | * Original site ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' also has [[http://notalwaysright.com/snobbery-just-wont-cut-it/11953 a few examples.]] For one, there's a girl who unironically says "Beautiful people should have their hair done first! The ugly ones should wait!" Then there's another where a woman ''steals a pot full of coffee'' from a library because the librarian is apparently too ugly to have it. A florist then comes in and informs the librarian that the same woman just stole a bouquet of flowers from his shop for the same reason. |
| 222 | * ''WebAnimation/RevengeFilms'': Karen from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sswhQTMzEsE "This girl gets away with stealing our things and our ideas just because she’s pretty"]] not only had a history of stealing ideas and things from her coworkers and forcing her workloads on them, she also had the habit of littering on her desk after snacking. Moreover, she always gets away with her crap because of her beautiful looks. The last straw was when she [[PlagiarismInFiction stole Jessica's design and presented it to Mr. Smith.]] When the OP called her out for it, Mr. Smith ''took Karen's side, even when the other employees brought concrete evidence of her theft''. |
| 223 | |
| 224 | [[/folder]] |
| 225 | |
| 226 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 227 | * Jessica Lovejoy, the BitchInSheepsClothing daughter of the town's pompous preacher on the episode "Bart's Girlfriend" of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. ("I'm the sweet, perfect minister's daughter, and you're just [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation yellow trash.")]] |
| 228 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': |
| 229 | ** Peter once had extensive plastic surgery to make him highly attractive. It turns out there's an entire society of beautiful people who are given societal perks, and many characters are willing to forgive Peter's increased JerkAss behavior, at least at first. |
| 230 | --->'''Lois:''' Oh, I hate what you've become! Why don't you back to that doctor and have him suck the fat out of your head!\ |
| 231 | '''Peter:''' Maybe I will! And then I'll put it on my feet, and skate on Paul Paul Bunyan's giant skillet to cook his flapjacks!\ |
| 232 | '''Lois:''' That doesn't make any sense!\ |
| 233 | '''Peter:''' It doesn't have to... I'm ''beautiful!'' |
| 234 | ** Another where Stewie was going through a tan phase. |
| 235 | --->'''Brian:''' You're talking out of your ass.\ |
| 236 | '''Stewie:''' It doesn't matter, I'm tan. |
| 237 | ** Another example with Peter parodies this trope in a CutawayGag. When Peter gets pulled over, he shows the officer his man-boob. Needless to say, it does not work. |
| 238 | --->'''Peter:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint I had to get the one straight cop in Rhode Island!]] |
| 239 | * Roberta Tubbs from ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' uses her looks to get what she wants from her male teachers. Eventually, one of the female teachers uses slides of women young then old to show that her looks will fade in time, so she needs to develop other ways to impress people. |
| 240 | * ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': |
| 241 | ** Justin manipulates both his team and the show's staff with his good looks in the first part of ''Action'', receiving special treatment and dodging a couple of eliminations this way. Of course, in this case, it's InformedAttractiveness (the "psychotic" man-eating sharks refuse to eat him, for example). In ''World Tour'', [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Alejandro]] does the same thing. |
| 242 | ** Heather manages to use her attractiveness in the same way a few times but is still widely hated by her castmates. |
| 243 | ** Lindsay uses her extremely good looks to get away with things, but in this case, it's more shallow than villainous and doesn't usually work anyway. |
| 244 | * A gang of {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s pulled all matter of felonies in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', as no adult could resist their charms. Oddly enough, children proved to be more resistant. |
| 245 | * This trope is mentioned in the HalloweenEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'', where a MsFanservice evil witch captures ghosts, wanting to make them into a cosmetic face cream. When one of them comments on how mean she is, her response is a cocky "Yes, but I'm cute, so I get away with it!" |
| 246 | * This is amusingly used in the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "The Quietest Day Ever". Doofenshmirtz becomes handsome thanks to an inator, and people start invoking this trope. He is irritated at first because the ability to do this was exactly why he hated beautiful people in the first place. But then he realized he could take over the Tri-State Area that way, and so decided to go along with it. |
| 247 | [[/folder]] |
| 248 |
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