Current film - The Duff

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The DUFF is a American teen comedy film made in 2015 based on the novel 'The DUFF' by Kody Keplinger. It is about a girl named Bianca who is a regular American high school girl who isn't the most popular girl in the school, but has two best friends Jess and Casey, who everyone knows/wants to know/is attracted to. Its not until her neighbour Wesley, a fellow student at school, a popular, good looking jock tells her that she is a duff. Duff stands for 'designated, ugly, fat friend'. Bianca is furious, upset and embarrassed that she is the duff so asks Wesley to help change her so that she can attract the attention of her crush Toby, Wesley agrees on the condition that she helps him pass science class. Aswell as trying to transform the way she looks Wesley also tries to build confidence with talking to boys. Bianca finally finds the courage to ask Toby out and he invites her round to his for a date, when she turns up all dressed up and excited she realises when listening to Toby that she might actually be falling for Wesley, then to her dismay and outrage she finds out that the only reason Toby asked her round was to find out more about her two best friends and if they have dates to the prom. She runs to Wesley to tell him she likes him but spots him kissing queen bee ex girlfriend Madison which upsets her even more. Jess and Casey agree to ditch their prom dates to go with Bianca and both help her make her own prom dress that is unique and suits her personality. At the prom Wesleys stunned when he see's how great Bianca looks and tells her how he feels and leaves Madison to be with Bianca.

http://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/webimage/1.6677958.1428490505!/image/276064930.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/276064930.jpg

http://movies.inquirer.net/files/2015/04/bianca-santos-mae-whitman-and-skyler-samuels-THE-DUFF.jpg

 Motifs:
I have written a lot about fashion motifs throughout my other film reviews so for the most recent one I decided to focus more on the idea of transformation throughout this film as the motif. In all the other films I reviewed transformation occured in more than one character but in The DUFF the idea is present from beginning till end. Bianca started out as a rather casually dressed character who didn't make much effort at all with her appearance, when she was told that in society she was the duff she became shattered by this realisation and horribly self conscious, she decided she wanted to stop being the duff and change but by doing this she realised she wasn't being herself and that when she tried to be someone else on her 'date' with Toby, wearing the dress Wesley bought her that it just didn't work out for her. Her friendship with Wesley taught her a lot about herself during her journey to transformation and at the end when her and Wesley became an item she realised she didn't care what anyone else thought of her. She attended prom wearing a dress made for her by her best friend Jess, created with her favourite old chequered shirt and looked great but still wearing a part of herself. She accepted her title as The DUFF and no longer let the label define who she was. At the end of her journey her and Wesley leave the prom together and she writes an article about being a duff, and the conclusion is that everyone is always going to be someones duff. This was her ticket to popularity as the article was celebrated by all of the students and the term could no longer do anyone any harm.