Diksha Sundriyal
If you think the beauty standards of the world we live in are bad, you should see the ones they have in Netflix’s ‘Uglies.’ In this world, world leaders have boiled the human problem down to one thing: its obsession with beauty. They have deduced that a lot of problems stem from the fact that one section of the world is beautiful while the other isn’t. To bring peace to the world, they decide to curb this disparity in looks and make it mandatory for every 16-year-old to receive a transformation surgery.
There are some, like Tally Youngblood, who eagerly wait for the surgery, and there are others, like Shay, who want to run away into the woods to join the rebels who have denounced this sick practice. With the promise of receiving the surgery, Tally is sent to infiltrate the rebels, but she ends up joining them after discovering that the regime, led by Dr. Cable, has been lying to them. The only way to get out of their control is to fight back, but that takes a lot more power and resources they have at hand. Only a major sacrifice can save the day now, and Tally is ready to do it. SPOILERS AHEAD
What Happens to Shay?
When Tally is sent to find the rebels and their hidden colony, the Smoke, she is sent for the task under the impression that this is to save her friend, Shay. Cable tells Tally that their leader, David, has brainwashed Shay and will kill her if she doesn’t do what he wants. However, when Tally arrives at the Smoke and meets David, she is forced to change her mindset. She realizes that everyone at the Smoke is of their own free will, and David and his people are fighting for something bigger than all of them.
While Tally changes her mind about ratting them out, the necklace Cable gave her does its trick and gives away the location of the Smoke. Cable arrives there with all of her forces and takes away everyone, killing David’s father, Az. Because all these people had fled the transformation, Cable’s way to punish them is by having all of them turned into Pretties. While Tally and David arrive in time to save the others, it is already too late for Shay. She is the first one to receive the transformation.
Seeing Shay turned into a Pretty breaks Tally’s heart because she knows how much Shay didn’t want to turn. She was the one who encouraged Tally to join the rebels, but now, due to Tally’s betrayal, Shay had to pay the price. As expected, the surgery does its work, leading to lesions in Shay’s brain and turning her into a deluded and happy version of herself who cannot think for herself anymore. This is when Tally realizes the stakes they are up against, seeing how easy it is for someone to lose themselves because of the surgery.
In the end, as the rest are forced to flee, Shay and Tally are taken in by Cable. Because Shay has already been turned and doesn’t show any signs of trying to fight against the effects of the surgery, she is of no danger to the regime. This means that she is simply sent back to her new quarters to live the way she was originally meant to. Her friends still plan to save her, but that’s a long time in the future. Until then, Shay is condemned to live in the fake bliss that being Pretty brings her.
Why does Tally Surrender?
When David’s parents, Az and Maddy, tell Tally about the side effects of the surgery, they also let her know about the cure for this situation. They had been part of the team that worked to better the transformation surgery, but they copped out when they discovered the thing about the lesions and their true purpose. When they ran away, they started working on a way to cure the lesions, which they knew existed because they were given that cure alongside other high-level people like Cable. It is because of this cure that Cable is adamant about finding and destroying them because she knows that the cure can undo everything that she has worked for.
What makes things tricky is that even when Maddy has made the cure, especially after she stole the key ingredient from Cable’s lab, she has no way to find out if it will work. She needs human subjects to test the cure, but the problem is that it can only be tested on Pretties who are in no condition to consent to being the guinea pig. At first, it is suggested that Shay should receive the cure, but Maddy refuses to do it because Shay has not given her consent. Even though she is not entirely herself anymore, she is still a sentient human. Moreover, she expressly refuses to receive the cure because she wants to remain Pretty.
While Tally, David, and the others know that in her right mind, Shay would have wanted the cure and probably thanked them for forcing her to take it, they cannot actually force her into anything. This wouldn’t make them any better than Cable, who wants to force them to become Pretty. This moral dilemma leads to a Catch-22 situation. They need a Pretty to be the test subject, but they can’t have a Pretty as a test subject due to their inability to consent to it.
With time running out and feeling a pang of deep guilt for her actions, Tally offers herself up for the task. She proposes to surrender herself, knowing that she will be taken to the surgery and turned Pretty. When that happens, she will be in the condition to become the test subject, and Maddy can test the cure on her. Knowing that she will not be able to consent when she turns Pretty, she makes it clear that this is what she wants, and they shouldn’t hesitate to force her to take the cure, even if she fights back as Pretty. This is the only way to salvage the situation, and Tally has nothing to lose. So, she decides to be the sacrificial goat in the hopes that her sacrifice will save her friend, Shay, redeeming Tally for all the bad things she has done so far.
What is Tally’s Sign?
Considering that they don’t have much time to discuss their options, especially with Cable chasing after them, it is decided that Tally should be allowed to be captured and turned Pretty, with the cure being tested on her when it is ready. Still, the urgency of the situation doesn’t help remove doubts from David’s mind. He knows that there was a time when Tally wanted nothing more than the surgery. While she changed her mind about it later, it doesn’t mean that she cannot change her mind again. While she is giving her consent to be the test subject now, what if she has a change of heart later?
To do away with his moral quandary, David asks Tally how he can be sure that this is what she will want even after the surgery. To this, she says that she will let him know by giving him a sign. While she doesn’t reveal what the sign will be, she already has it in mind. In fact, she had it in mind even before she met Shay and joined the rebels. The final scene confirms that she has kept her word to David and pushed through the surgery to keep a part of her past self alive.
When the others run away, Tally gives herself over to Cable and receives the surgery. In the last scene, we see her walking around her new apartment in the City, getting the very life she had craved for so long. She finally has what she wants, but then, the things that she wanted when she was a kid were starkly different from what she wants now. When asked whether she is feeling happy, Tally says she is, which would suggest that the lesion in her brain has done its job and she has lost the essence of her character. But then, the camera pans to her hand.
When they were kids, Tally and Peris got identical cuts on their hands, commemorating the never-ending nature of their friendship. Even as the wound healed, they promised each other that they would keep the scars even after they turned Pretty. This scar was supposed to remind them that no matter what they looked like, they would always be enough for each other. When Peris turns Pretty, he has the scar removed, but soon enough, it becomes clear that his true self is still around, buried deep in his brain and suppressed due to the lesions.
While Peris meets a tragic end (or does he!), Tally decides to keep her promise by keeping her scar even after she is turned Pretty. Having the scar in her new version means that she has not lost herself completely. She is still the Shay who fought beside David and his rebels. More importantly, this scar is the sign she promised to David. When he eventually comes for her, he will see the scar and know that Tally wants to be her previous self. The scar is a way for her to give her consent about receiving the cure. Above all, it is a sign of her humanity, which is not lost, even after the surgery.
Read More: Uglies: What are the White Tiger Orchids? What do They Do?
