# Movies where the fat/nerdy/annoying guy could realistically get the girl. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751 "2009-05-27T00:14:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/21 "2009-05-27T17:56:05Z")
It was quite plausible in _Real Genius_, mostly because the girl was just as nerdy as the guy. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/22 "2009-05-27T18:57:01Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > It got me thinking, that is a pet peeve of mine. Bummer! ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/23 "2009-05-27T20:20:52Z")
_Knocked Up_ is a great example. Believable premise, drunken one night stand forces two people to into a relationship after a pregnancy. Rogan’s character was a slacker and a bit selfish, but likeable and I can truly see how she would have fell for him. _Superbad_, however, is another one I simply cannot buy into. Jonah Hill is not only hella unattractive, he’s a complete douche bag. No way would girl fall for that schmuck. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/24 "2009-05-27T23:17:06Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > ICan you guys think of any movies where it’s within the realm of possibility that in real life the guy would get the girl? By guy I mean nerdy/fat/annoying. and By girl I mean attractive AND interesting.. I’ll let you guys know in about six weeks 🙂 There is no way that I should even exist to this chick, but… Declan ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/25 "2009-05-27T23:41:19Z")
For some reason I found that I totally believed in the romance in **Juno**. I can imagine some people would disagree, but there was something about it that worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/26 "2009-05-27T23:52:41Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > _Knocked Up_ is a great example. Believable premise, drunken one night stand forces two people to into a relationship after a pregnancy. Rogan’s character was a slacker and a bit selfish, but likeable and I can truly see how she would have fell for him. > > _Superbad_, however, is another one I simply cannot buy into. Jonah Hill is not only hella unattractive, he’s a complete douche bag. No way would girl fall for that schmuck. Oddly, I while I didn’t believe it in the movie, I could believe in it in real life. And not because he was a douche and “girls go for douches”. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/27 "2009-05-28T01:40:12Z")
> [@sjc](#): > > For some reason I found that I totally believed in the romance in **Juno**. I can imagine some people would disagree, but there was something about it that worked for me. I don’t think that really fits the criteria. Juno and Paulie are both misfits in their own ways, and neither is unattractive. I agree that it’s believable, but not unrealistically so. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/28 "2009-05-28T01:50:07Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > **Miri and Zak make a Porno** …perfect example of that “mismatched” couple. However, I think the mismatch is the rule, rather than the exception. In real life, there are very few even matches. nitpick: _ **Zack and Miri Make a Porno** _ And that was the one I came in to say. Not only is their just-friends-turned-into-more relationship believable, I was astounded to find that Seth Rogan was capable of doing a really steamy, loving sex scene! I completely believed the chemistry between the two. Heck, it made \*\*me \*\*want to sleep with Seth Rogan, and there is no way in which he is generally attractive to me! ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/29 "2009-05-28T01:57:25Z")
The people at College Humor thinks that this is mostly impossible. The only place this happens is [In An Apatow World](http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1909368). I also want to add that _Knocked Up_ seemed believable to me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/30 "2009-05-28T07:06:27Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett Yeah, it’s amazing how she could land a hot guy like Lyle Lovett. Guess he just has bad taste in women. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/31 "2009-05-28T10:04:58Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > nitpick: _ **Zack and Miri Make a Porno** _ > > And that was the one I came in to say. Not only is their just-friends-turned-into-more relationship believable, I was astounded to find that Seth Rogan was capable of doing a really steamy, loving sex scene! I completely believed the chemistry between the two. Heck, it made \*\*me \*\*want to sleep with Seth Rogan, and there is no way in which he is generally attractive to me! Yeah, I realized that as I was boxing up the DVD to return it. My take exactly. There was that “inner spark” between them that totally overrode the fact that he’s not my type at all. Well, he _wasn’t_, anyway! ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/32 "2009-05-28T12:40:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Forgetting Sarah Marshall was ridiculous. The odds of one hot chick finding Jason Segel attractive were low. The odds of two of them doing it simultaneously were nearly infinitesimal. You forget the way women’s minds work. I agree with you that normally that guy is a loser who has no shot with either of those girls. But remember, he got with Sarah before she was famous, so that’s at least plausible. Now, once she is hot and famous, it is simply enough that he had dated her to make him attractive to women. Something clicks in women’s minds and they think: if _she_ dated him, then he must be desirable. It’s the David Spade effect. That guy is not slightly attractive, but once he scored Heather Locklear he was all of a sudden able to pull down all sorts of hot chicks. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/33 "2009-05-28T13:45:35Z")
I read an article about Segel in Rolling Stone - supposedly he is a huge player (and not the kind that’s only one because he has a lot of money.) Why is it so hard to believe that women would find Siegel attractive? He’s certainly more conventionally handsome than the other “leading men” in the Judd Apatow crew of actors, except for Paul Rudd I guess who is the “hot one” of the “Ap Pack.” The article about Segel made him seem like a pretty cool guy. Good sense of humor, very confident, and charming. He’s also fairly tall, something like 6’4 and also height-weight proportional; this does generally give men an advantage with women, compared to shorter men, although not an enormous one. I thought Forgetting Sarah Marshall was a horrible movie and I don’t think that many women would find _that character_ that Segel played in the film to be attractive. But he is acting, after all. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/34 "2009-05-28T14:28:50Z")
Wait, [this Jason Segel](http://www.popentertainment.com/segel01.jpg)? How is that not, mathematically speaking, attractive? He’s [adorable](http://funkmagnet.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/jason.jpg). I want to take him home, cook him dinner and do naughty things to him all night long. If he played an unattractive character, then we have more a case of “Hollywood Ugly” than “Ugly Guy Gets The Hot Girl.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/35 "2009-05-28T14:51:49Z")
I thought Jason Siegel was hotter than that other one…er, James Franco, on Freaks and Geeks. I guess in terms of personality, Franco had the brooding thing going on, but just in terms of looks, I though Siegel was cuter. ETA: I still liked Siegel’s character better. Even though he was a bit clingy over Lindsay and couldn’t drum his way out of a paper bag. SO CUTE! ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/36 "2009-05-28T14:54:18Z")
[Hitch](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0386588/). The Kevin James character. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/37 "2009-05-28T14:56:01Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I thought Jason Siegel was hotter than that other one…er, James Franco, on Freaks and Geeks. I guess in terms of personality, Franco had the brooding thing going on, but just in terms of looks, I though Siegel was cuter. > > ETA: I still liked Siegel’s character better. Even though he was a bit clingy over Lindsay and couldn’t drum his way out of a paper bag. SO CUTE! I loved Freaks and Geeks, but all the freaks were . . . well, freaks. Nick – Segel’s character – was the worst to me. He was way too needy, and it came off very creepy. He also looked greasy all the time. In my opinion, Lindsay, Sam, and Bill were the only really likeable characters. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/38 "2009-05-28T16:12:48Z")
Ricky Gervais, who is plump (if not fat), but definitely nerdy and annoying, plays a misanthropic, introverted jerk of a dentist in _Ghost Town_ and ends up having Tea Leoni fall for him. And I bought it! Great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/39 "2009-05-28T21:04:02Z")
So, what have we learned? Everybody wants to fuck Seth Rogan! **Zack and Miri** is another good example, it seems Seth has cornered the market on realistically do-able misfits. I’m also in the anti-Jason Segel camp. In _Forgetting Sarah Marshal_ it was the first relationship I found unbelievable. I didn’t see too many character traits in him that would allow me to believe that she would have dated him, even before she got famous. That being said, the second chick was a no-brainer. As someone else stated, once he’s dated a movie star…he’s got instant attractiveness. Perhaps it’s my judge of character, but I wouldn’t bet the odds on him scoring Sarah Marshal. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751/40 "2009-05-28T22:53:09Z")
Little Shop Of Horrors All Audrey wants is a nice guy who believes in true love and happy endings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-fat-nerdy-annoying-guy-could-realistically-get-the-girl/497751.md?page=3)