I have become a bigger fan of this show than I thought I would. Maybe it’s the fact I come from a Latin family background but I realise that one can relate to the main character, Betty Suarez, for many reasons. However, the fact the show pokes fun of the fashion and media industries is also why the show works on various levels.

Let’s look at Maude magazine and the characters who work there. The magazine is owned by a rich family who is as dysfunctional as ever: murder, deceit, a transsexual daughter (former son) and another son who’s had trouble with drugs, sex and alcohol. Pretty picture? Well, that’s only the beginning. There is the creative director Wilhelmina Slater, played superbly by Vanessa Williams. She plays this bitch character with flare; her assistant Sean is also very well cast. Every week we see the process of putting a fashion magazine on the stands. We see bitchy models, jerk photographers, the sometimes ridiculous clothes and accessories used in the many spreads and of course, the way media tries to tell the rest of us that we should aspire to look like these people. What is interesting is that amidst fun, “cheesy moments” and laughter, we get to see how all of these beautiful people have empty and dissatisfying lives. So why is it that we all strive for an ideal that really doesn’t exist? When in fact, we all have some sort of “issues” to work out…

So why does Ugly Betty work for me? Well, because I see the title character want to make a difference, follow her goals while maintaining her culture… She looks “different”; she is clumsy and loves to make her family and friends happy. She lives with her father who has had immigration problems, her sister who is a single mother and a nephew who is obsessed with fashion and everything to do with glamour. They live in a very small house but somehow, they make ends meet and seem happier than other characters on this show.

We have seen this character before but we also get to see a different culture on television. The family values Betty has are reminders of how I grew up. I see some of myself in her… Sometimes she is the “voice of reason” and other times, she compromises herself to help family and friends. So she is not perfect and well, not one character on that show really is. Even though there are many other shows on television with a smarter sense of humour, Ugly Betty still has appeal for a mass audience. Once the writers’ strike is over, I am looking forward to more of her “funny” antics.