Last Friday night evolved as most weekend nights do at Columbia University—in a basement. Not, like, in a creepy way, but in the basement of my friends and I’s dorm, where—with nothing else to do on a Friday night—we chose to watch a movie. There is a flat-screen TV down there equipped with Netflix and other features (thanks CU Housing, though I’m not sure if it makes up for the lack of ACs in dorms or the black-mold plague that has been terrorizing our seniors). Anyway, my friends and I chose to watch Sierra Burgess Is a Loser. The trailer looked good and Noah Centineo is in it, and that was about all the reasoning that went into our choice.
Sierra (Shannon Purser) is a high-school outcast that is used to not getting a lot of attention, unless it’s taunts from the queen bee Veronica (Kristine Froseth). Cue some The Hunchback of Notre Dame jokes. Veronica is hit on one day by Jamey (depicted by the man of the moment, Noah Centineo), so she jokingly gives him Sierra’s number. Sierra and Jamey get to know each other through the phone and begin to fall in love. To keep the ploy going, Sierra enlists Veronica in her plan and the two become unlikely friends.
On its surface, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser is a catfish story taken way too far, but there’s a lot more hidden in the film’s core. Once you suspend your major-disbelief that a teenage girl could catfish someone this hard without him suspecting a thing, you get insight to the characters of the film—you see Sierra’s insecurities, which provoke you to empathize with her even as she lies to Jamey and eventually betrays Veronica. You see Veronica’s disastrous home life and understand why she works so hard to convince others of her perfection at school. And you see Jamey’s—well, he’s just a nice guy with a crush who feels a little simplified by the label “jock.” The point is, these characters are relatable and are captivating. You want to explore their depths and see how the story unfolds.
The problem with the film is not entirely the believability and/or morality of catfishing someone as most argue, but with the narrative itself. A beautiful friendship develops between Sierra and Veronica. Sierra provides a safe space for Veronica and Veronica gives Sierra acceptance for who she is, eventually dumping her mean-girl friends to show Sierra off at a party. Instead of the story focusing on them, the filmmakers chose to follow every romantic movie plotline ever and have Jamey welcome Sierra for who she is on the inside—the girl he fell for on the phone. It would have been more plausible, interesting, and authentic, however, if Veronica and Sierra had developed a romantic relationship together.
After the climax of the film, Sierra has her “epiphany moment,” which consists of her embracing her musical talent and writing a song about how supermodels belong in magazines. This scene is the most impactful in the movie because Sierra decides to embrace her imperfections. However, after Sierra sings her song, the priority of the film is put on regaining Jamey’s trust—which is unrealistic and should not have been the focus of the film. The movie reaches its conclusion when Veronica reasons with Jamey, who then goes to Sierra’s house to take her to the prom...and all is right in the world once again. Therefore, the final issue with Sierra Burgess Is a Loser is that the writers clung to a “happily ever after” ending that matched Jamey and Sierra together, though it is unfeasible, unfitting, and—more importantly—distracts from the message of the film: to accept yourself for who you are.
I am not saying that people shouldn’t watch this movie; it was decent. I just believe that this film had an enormous amount of potential to demonstrate the importance of loving every part of yourself, but took away from that theme by focusing on Jamey and Sierra’s relationship—especially when a more beautiful relationship had developed between Veronica and Sierra. The filmmakers chose to adhere to a plotline blueprint that everyone would like, but in the process of doing so, they romanticized catfishing, didn’t give enough attention to the relationships that mattered, and lessened the poignancy of the film’s message.
Kate Hefner (@katehefner) is a junior in Columbia College.