Sierra Burgess IS a Loser
Sierra Burgess is a Loser had the potential to be a really great movie that had a heart-warming message of body positivity. However, Netflix’s latest big release has left a lot of fans feeling angry, upset and disappointed due to some questionable plotlines and moments that offended many. People were left feeling uncomfortable after spotting several problematic and controversial moments in the movie.
The main plot of the story is about Sierra Burgess, whose number is purposely given to the adorable jock Jamey by mean-girl Veronica. Jamey is lead to believe that he’s talking to Veronica, but Sierra is too insecure to tell him the truth. So, in exchange for Sierra helping Veronica with her studies, Veronica helps Sierra to trick Jamey into thinking that he’s talking to and falling in love with Veronica. Primarily, Sierra thought that she didn’t have a chance with Jamey if he knew what she looked like.
Sierra’s insecurity about someone loving her despite her body was one of the big problems within the movie. But of course, it wasn’t the only big problem.
I think we can all agree that catfishing is wrong in every single way possible, so a film that romanticises the subject would obviously get some attention from the media. Throughout the film, Jamey is lead to believe that he’s talking to Veronica, when in reality, Sierra is getting Veronica to Skype and go out on dates with him whilst she’s hiding in the background, observing everything that takes place and texting Veronica the right things to say. When watching this film, I really felt for Jamey as not only does he get catfished, he is borderline sexually assaulted by Sierra. The scene began when Jamey asked Veronica if he could kiss her, but she made him close his eyes and keep them closed. Once Sierra emerged from under Jamey’s car and approached him, I can imagine many people, including myself, began to feel very uncomfortable at this moment. I’m imagining that the creators of this movie were aiming for a funny yet cute scene between Jamey and Sierra, but the massive problem with this scene is that Jamey never gave consent to kiss Sierra. With the #MeToo campaign spreading around the world, this is a massive issue as Sierra and Veronica were never really held accountable for what they did.
Another huge problem with this movie is the faking of a disability. Early in the movie, Jamey says that he could easily identify Sierra’s voice, so when facing him in person, when Jamey is unaware that Sierra is the girl he’s been speaking to this whole time, Sierra pretends she is deaf and fakes sign language for a ‘comedic effect’. This is obviously wrong on so many levels as faking a disability should never be acceptable, so the fact that this film is broadcasting this means that it will clearly get some attention from the media.
Towards the end of the film, Veronica and Sierra fall out. It’s in the middle of a football match between Jamey’s school and Sierra’s school. Sierra’s ‘genius’ retaliation strategy obviously raised some issues. Sierra manages to log into Veronica’s Instagram that is followed by thousands of people and exposes her messages and private photos with her on and off ex-boyfriend Spence to the entire football field to humiliate and hurt Veronica. Just when you thought that Sierra’s horrible doings couldn’t get any worse, they do.
Once Jamey finds out who he’s really been opening up to, he did the right thing and avoided Sierra at all costs. However, him deciding to forgive Sierra angered loads of viewers, including myself. Sierra views her body as an obstacle for finding love, so instead of properly apologising to Jamey and facing the consequences of her actions (spoiler alert: she never really does face those consequences), she uses her body image and her insecurities to earn Jamey’s forgiveness for the slightly psychopathic actions she took throughout the film.
In conclusion, Sierra Burgess isn’t just a “Loser”, she’s also really manipulating and really mean.
The main plot of the story is about Sierra Burgess, whose number is purposely given to the adorable jock Jamey by mean-girl Veronica. Jamey is lead to believe that he’s talking to Veronica, but Sierra is too insecure to tell him the truth. So, in exchange for Sierra helping Veronica with her studies, Veronica helps Sierra to trick Jamey into thinking that he’s talking to and falling in love with Veronica. Primarily, Sierra thought that she didn’t have a chance with Jamey if he knew what she looked like.
Sierra’s insecurity about someone loving her despite her body was one of the big problems within the movie. But of course, it wasn’t the only big problem.
I think we can all agree that catfishing is wrong in every single way possible, so a film that romanticises the subject would obviously get some attention from the media. Throughout the film, Jamey is lead to believe that he’s talking to Veronica, when in reality, Sierra is getting Veronica to Skype and go out on dates with him whilst she’s hiding in the background, observing everything that takes place and texting Veronica the right things to say. When watching this film, I really felt for Jamey as not only does he get catfished, he is borderline sexually assaulted by Sierra. The scene began when Jamey asked Veronica if he could kiss her, but she made him close his eyes and keep them closed. Once Sierra emerged from under Jamey’s car and approached him, I can imagine many people, including myself, began to feel very uncomfortable at this moment. I’m imagining that the creators of this movie were aiming for a funny yet cute scene between Jamey and Sierra, but the massive problem with this scene is that Jamey never gave consent to kiss Sierra. With the #MeToo campaign spreading around the world, this is a massive issue as Sierra and Veronica were never really held accountable for what they did.
Another huge problem with this movie is the faking of a disability. Early in the movie, Jamey says that he could easily identify Sierra’s voice, so when facing him in person, when Jamey is unaware that Sierra is the girl he’s been speaking to this whole time, Sierra pretends she is deaf and fakes sign language for a ‘comedic effect’. This is obviously wrong on so many levels as faking a disability should never be acceptable, so the fact that this film is broadcasting this means that it will clearly get some attention from the media.
Towards the end of the film, Veronica and Sierra fall out. It’s in the middle of a football match between Jamey’s school and Sierra’s school. Sierra’s ‘genius’ retaliation strategy obviously raised some issues. Sierra manages to log into Veronica’s Instagram that is followed by thousands of people and exposes her messages and private photos with her on and off ex-boyfriend Spence to the entire football field to humiliate and hurt Veronica. Just when you thought that Sierra’s horrible doings couldn’t get any worse, they do.
Once Jamey finds out who he’s really been opening up to, he did the right thing and avoided Sierra at all costs. However, him deciding to forgive Sierra angered loads of viewers, including myself. Sierra views her body as an obstacle for finding love, so instead of properly apologising to Jamey and facing the consequences of her actions (spoiler alert: she never really does face those consequences), she uses her body image and her insecurities to earn Jamey’s forgiveness for the slightly psychopathic actions she took throughout the film.
In conclusion, Sierra Burgess isn’t just a “Loser”, she’s also really manipulating and really mean.
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