Video Essay: She’s All That and the Power of Transformation

Talkhouse Film's senior video essayist Kentucker Audley highlights the pleasures (and faults!) of yet another classic movie

By Kentucker Audley

6:00 AM EDT on April 24, 2017

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She’s All That introduced American teenagers to high-stakes bets in their high school halls. If Freddie Prinze Jr. was gonna make the dorky Laney Boggs prom queen, he was gonna need to give her an extreme makeover because as it is, she’s ugly — she has glasses, a bad haircut and she doesn’t tweeze her eyebrows. This movie shows us her transformation in a highly entertaining 90 minutes. At first, audiences must sit there and think, “There’s no way,” but by the end you’re seeing she’s actually pretty hot and has a decent shot at beating Taylor Vaughn for prom queen. So sit back and relax and enjoy my video essay and make sure to watch till the end as I edit together a special “what if” ending. Also, be sure to go re-watch this iconic movie from 1999 that was made by Miramax Films.

Kentucker Audley

Kentucker Audley is a filmmaker, film programmer, actor and (former) Movies hat salesman. His debut album, Old Amateur, is now out. His latest film, Strawberry Mansion (co-directed with Albert Birney), premiered at Sundance 2021. His previous directorial effort, Sylvio (also co-directed with Albert Birney), debuted at SXSW and was named one of the Best 10 Movies of the Year by The New Yorker. As an actor, he's starred in indie films such as Christmas, Again and Sun Don't Shine. He also founded NoBudge and Movies Brand.