While researching for this article, I came across the question on Quora “Is it wrong for an ugly loser to like a hot girl?” A cashier at Chick-fil-A offers the profound response that we are all, in fact, ugly losers in our own way. Both Tucker and Dale vs Evil and The Babysitter provide are some fine examples that back up the cashier’s insight. The movies are similar in other ways, in that most of the cast meet a nasty end for the sake of humor and extensive damage is inflicted upon an abode, but this article will focus primarily on the ugly loser connection.
There’s an attractive blonde girl who “gets” the awkward protagonists in both movies. In Tucker and Dale, Dale is a sensitive hillbilly with a good memory for trivia. He falls for a college student, Allison, vacationing out in the woods with her schoolmates. Allison isn’t as shallow as her friends, and eventually understands that Dale is not the brutish backwoods dimwit that he appears to be. The rest of the group, however, is convinced that the title characters are homicidal maniacs who kidnapped Allison. What follows is a comedy of errors in which Allison’s classmates all die grisly deaths whilst attempting to rescue her. Tucker and Dale are clueless as to what’s going on. The Babysitter involves a similar situation where twelve year old Cole discovers that his gorgeous, fun babysitter, Bee, is actually a Satanic murderer. Her gang of cultists also die unpleasantly while trying to kill Cole.
Dale and Cole suffer from self-esteem issues. Dale believes himself to be dumb and ugly, while Cole feels that he is too weird to fit in. Still, they are attracted to Allison and Bee. Now, going back to the Quora question, the cashier, Summer, explains that one is only truly an ugly loser when deficient in kindness and confidence. Both Dale and Cole are good-natured, so they cannot be deemed ugly by Summer’s definition. This is what draws Allison and Bee to them. Even being a Satanist doesn’t deter Bee from finding Cole endearing. Being a Satanist (and much older than Cole) does pretty much rule out any romance between the sitter and her charge, however. There is some sort of close relationship between the two, but the prospect of them hooking up never seems likely. On the other hand, Dale and Allison have no such restriction on their forming a love union other than Dale being less attractive than Allison. Which doesn’t bother her. Bee is quite ugly on the inside. I suppose there is a lesson to be derived from that. Cole does have an alternative to Bee, though, who lives in his neighborhood. She is nice, cute, and seems confident enough. The whole package, really.
The major message (aside from the “ugly loser” one) in both movies is that a person should go after what makes them happy. Actually, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” probably works, too. Both Cole and Dale, who start out as losers, go fore the gusto at the end. The primary attractive characters turn out to be the true ugly losers. This, of course, is not a revelatory message, particularly in motion pictures. At least the gore is good.
The Flickchart Stats
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
- Global ranking: 1208
- Wins 57% of matchups
- 7 users have it at #1
- 96 users have it in their top 20
The Babysitter
- Global ranking: 22595
- Wins 50% of matchups
- 1 user has it at #1
- 2 users have it in their top 20
