A literary analysis of beauty and visual attractiveness in the shatter me universe because yes- it is that serious to me.
This will mainly focus on how Rosabelle is described in the books but Aaron, Juliette, James, Adam and Nazeera will obviously be mentioned for evidence purposes.
First of all it’s essential to note that the first book came out in 2011, which is before booktok and bookstagram became obsessed with conventionally attractive main characters, this is obviously not to discount all the beauty standards in media at the time and why making Juliette to be so stunning despite being abused her whole life was likely just a stylistic choice in the moment but as the series progresses we realise it’s a little more than just the author’s perception of beauty.
Let us look at the re-establishment, a tyrannical government run by exploitative leaders operating under an authoritarian regime, in the original books they’re objective was to eradicate any and all cultures in order to bring ‘peace’ in the form of perpetual similarity. But now you’re asking me what does that have anything to do with these characters being super models?
That’s the fun part, they aren’t.
All the people in the original cast who were born to or made by re-establishment leaders are described to have god like appearances because I THINK they were genetically altered to look that way as to make the transition towards a complete iron clad fascist government easier for the general public. It would also make sense narratively because they almost look inhuman. It’s even said in the books that Ella’s mother essentially made her ‘too pretty’. Juliette doesn’t even look like a person at times but a killer doll, Aaron is still dealing with the public sexualising him well into his thirties , Adam and James are an interesting case because they’re illegitimate but Rosabelle consistently describes James to be disturbingly handsome (that could also just be her experiencing a crush for the first time tbh) Adam is described as insanely charming in the first two books.
This becomes more apparent when we read the new republic and understand why Rosabelle is described the way she is, everyone can instantly tell why James is so affected by her, because despite being tortured her whole life she’s absolutely beautiful, to quote watch me she ‘looks like an oil painting’
But that doesn’t give her a leg up in any social situation she’s put in because she’s also described as looking, walking and talking like a corpse. On paper she’s a model citizen, perfectly stunning and consciously brain dead.
So basically what I’m trying to say here I guess is that all the original re-establishment characters aren’t beautiful because the book needs to sell, they’re literally trying to DIY build visually ‘perfect’ humans in the Ark and I don’t know about you but I find that absolutely horrifying. It’s like replacing real actors in movies with AI, they still look like people but it’s unsettling, the proportions aren’t right, the movements are too perfect, slowly forcing you to internalize it until you can’t distinguish beauty from oppression. I think that’s why certain characters look the way they do, why Rosabelle’s appearance is disturbingly pretty.
TL;DR There is deep rooted symbolism in beauty in the shatter me franchise and it shouldn’t be discounted as ‘booktok slop’ because a lot of thought has gone into making those books and I would consider it a cornerstone of the dystopian genre, all essentially ‘perfect’ characters aren’t made to make the reader feel insecure rather explore how those in power exploit appearances in order to push people into compliance.
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