Idea for a book/movie I had in the shower
A Romantic Comedy called Keeping Up Appearances. Protagonist Female has worn glasses all her life, been teased about it, does theatre but never gets lead roles because of her glasses, doesn't get dates, etc.
Eventually she sees an audition for a show, say, a Shakespeare play being modernised and she wants to make a good impression so she decides to dress to impress. Contact lenses, makeup, hair styled, wearing a dress and maybe a heel instead of trainers or boots. Meets Protagonist Male at the audition, strikes up a conversation with him and really starts to like him. Gets the part she wants, he gets cast as her love interest or even just as another large role in the play so they start spending more time together.
Female Protagonist realises she has to always look that way now because that look got her the role, not strictly true but after the compliments she receives she decides "Fuck it, I guess this is how I dress now."
Protagonist Male asks her on a date, they have fun, cuteness and jokes, blah blah. Female Protag runs out of lenses, has a date on Saturday, lenses won't arrive by Tuesday. Best friend suggests just going in her glasses, Fem Protag refuses, saying he won't look at her the same. Fem Protag stupidly decides today is a good day to test her awful eyesight on a date, squinting at everything, nearly falling over things until Male Protag sees her glasses in her bag and tells her to put them on as she explains that she ran out of contacts. She puts them on, he is in shock. He thinks she looks gorgeous, they frame her features so well, they magnify her eyes effortlessly, he falls head over heels for her.
Slowly she stops dressing as dressy around him, going to rehearsals in less makeup, no one bats an eyelid until one actor says some very catty remarks right after a rehearsal to break her confidence. Male Protag tells her she's gorgeous with all the makeup and effort and without all that.
Also the play? Twelfth Night.
I am so sick of movies and books where the protagonist takes off their glasses and suddenly they are gorgeous. They loosen their ponytail, rip off their glasses, stop wearing dungarees and become super models. It destroyed my self esteem as a kid. So yeah I dreamed this up in the shower. Do with it what you like. And I have actually lost roles because I wear glasses. True story
TLDR: Movie/book where character is actually liked more for wearing their glasses than for removing them bc I hate Hollywood's obessesion with making glasses ugly and unattractive.
