By: Nola Sommer

Adaptational attractiveness is when a character in a book is described in an unattractive way but is played by an attractive actor or actress in the adapted movie. Attractive villains have taken over our movie screens in recent decades: Anakin Skywalker, Draco Malfoy, Tom Riddle and now… Coriolanus Snow. Many believe that this change in looking for these villains ruins the story being told because it causes audiences to distract themselves from the true actions of that character. Many fans of the new Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie have taken to TikTok to express their attraction towards the once-hated President Snow. These fans will acknowledge the horrific things Snow does in the movies that are set 60 years after Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but they seem to ignore them while watching Snow’s much younger self in the new movie. Others who admit to his wrongful actions will just refuse to believe that young Snow and 80-year-old Snow are the same people. 

Eagle Eye News says that directors employ attractive actors “to make them seem more appealing” so that “antagonists are favored over the ideal hero just because they are good-looking.” Students at Springfield High School have also agreed with this statement that people around them have idealized Snow just because he is attractive. Nicholas Reed, a junior, says he thinks “young people have absolutely romanticized him but I have seen a bunch of people who are hot become bad people, and people crush on them too.” He then adds, “I say people can still be hot and crazy.” Nick has not been able to see the movie yet but has still seen “many, many edits” all over his For You page. Even when people have not seen these specific movies, the fandom that crushes on these characters includes so many people that they are taking over everyone’s TikTok pages.

Many authors describe the villains in their books in a specific way that is undesirable so the audience will not glamorize them. When adapting the book, many film directors cast actors and actresses who do not fit the description from the book just so they seem more appealing to the audience. Olivia McGuire, a junior at Springfield High School, admits that “many people, including myself, romanticize Snow because of his looks even though he is a bad person… but I think a lot of people try to see the good in him.” Like Olivia, many young girls want to think they could “fix” President Snow so that he would not turn into a bad person. This idea of fixing boys who treat us badly has been growing in the TikTok community and has even blended into other media– Olivia Rodrigo featured the lyric “but I am my father’s daughter, so maybe I could fix him” in her song “get him back!” This movie is a perfect example of this want to turn any bad but attractive guy into our perfect type. Lauren Wilson, a freshman at Illinois State University, thinks that Snow being played by an attractive actor actually added depth and even made the movie better to watch. Olivia McGuire agrees, saying “he was so beautiful to look at and it kept me entertained the whole time. Him being shirtless in the beginning really got me.”

So while most of us do not realize the trap we are under of the intentional casting of attractive people, I’m sure none of us are complaining about all the actors and actresses blessing our screens. 

Photos courtesy of Google