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SharkToast Since: Mar, 2013
#1: Oct 10th 2024 at 6:01:17 PM

Most of the examples of Plastic Bitch fall under a certain stereotype: Someone who is shallow, usually wealthy, and will often use their looks to get what they want. I noticed a few examples that don't fit this pattern.

  • Although it happens to a bitchy character in Dark Places, it serves to make her more pathetic and adds sympathy to her bitchiness. When Libby catches up with Kristy, she's a Single Mom Stripper and Jaded Washout but still expects Libby to feel sorry for her after she falsely accused Libby's brother Ben of rape (although, in fairness, she was also manipulated by corrupt police). She also has an extremely crooked boob job that she was convinced into getting by her "manager"/pimp.
  • Raising Hope:
    • One episode has Jimmy getting drunk and dreaming of a world where he didn't conceive Hope. One change is that his love interest Sabrina has gotten breast implants after her job made their female employees wear skimpy outfits. This version of Sabrina is also much more jaded and mean than in the regular timeline.

These aren't examples of the "rich and shallow" stereotype. These are sex workers who are unpleasant. My question do these fit the trope or not? Is Plastic Bitch just about someone who is unpleasant and gets plastic surgery, or is there a specific stereotype that they have to adhere to?

Edited by SharkToast on Oct 10th 2024 at 6:01:52 AM

eroock Since: Sep, 2012
#2: Oct 11th 2024 at 1:04:22 AM

The trope is written in the broader sense of using plastic surgery to make anyone look unlikeable. Applying this concept to a Rich Bitch is a prevalent subset.

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#3: Oct 11th 2024 at 8:28:47 AM

~Synchronicity adopted/launched this draft from its original sponsor. Maybe she could answer if those examples fit?

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EmeraldSource Since: Jan, 2021
#4: Oct 11th 2024 at 10:42:26 AM

The trope describes the idea of a character with excessive cosmetic surgery as having a general unpleasantness, not very specific traits. Rich Bitch is common probably because it does cost money to do those procedures, but it's more of "X and Y are often paired together" and not "X is the cause of Y."

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#5: Oct 11th 2024 at 10:47:31 AM

I associate it with fakeness and shallowness; like they're putting their money into excessive cosmetic surgeries that may only serve to make them look creepy rather than by doing anything good. And these types of characters are more likely to be bitches who care too much about looks and perfection.

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#6: Oct 11th 2024 at 11:23:07 AM

What they said... "vanity/shallowness" is the main association and meanness usually follows from that. Wealth is "common but not required" simply because the procedures aren't cheap; someone who bankrupts themselves from, or steals money to afford, unnecessary visits to a plastic surgeon would still count because they're doing it out of vanity.

Going back to the examples in the OP:

  • Raising Hope seems to count if we're considering the "real" Sabrina is nicer than the version who got a boob job.
  • OTOH, the boob job in Dark Places one seems more incidental?

SharkToast Since: Mar, 2013
#7: Oct 11th 2024 at 12:31:13 PM

IIRC the Dark Places example was grouped together with the Sharp Objects one (both were written by Gillian Flynn). Maybe someone saw a pattern there.

So, say there was an example that went:

  • Alice is a nasty person who also has a boob job.

Would that count or does there need to be an association between the character's nastiness and their plastic surgery?

EmeraldSource Since: Jan, 2021
#8: Oct 11th 2024 at 12:42:13 PM

If the question is if Rich Bitch or otherwise a sign of wealth mandatory for the trope, the answer is no. The examples given seems to be based on that but in both cases it seems to still be linking cosmetic upgrades to vanity or cruel behavior, which is the core part of the trope.

^ Sometimes just the way an example is written matters. Plastic surgery is just a specific thing that it's not an accidental thing when it's paired with a mean character. If there were examples speculating the character had work done (possibly because of the actor) but it's not clarified in the work then that wouldn't count.

Edited by EmeraldSource on Oct 11th 2024 at 12:47:22 PM

Comics are just words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures.
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#9: Oct 11th 2024 at 12:44:06 PM

I mean, if the work is telling you that they had plastic surgery it's probably for a reason which is usually just gonna be that they're vain. Like, it's not usually just an incidental thing a character does; it's gonna feed into their personality, world view, or self-esteem in some way.

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