You hadn't been thinking about a social media platform where people would be editing their faces to the extent they do now, right? A lot of people respond to Uglies now as a metaphor for Instagram rather than a more literal cautionary tale about plastic surgery. In the 15 years since then, something else has appeared on the technological horizon that's less literal and I think is more interesting, which is our presentation of our virtual selves: the way people use Facetuning or a bit of Photoshop-or whatever the latest app is that changes the way your face looks online-and the way that creates a lot of the same kinds of anxieties and performances that plastic surgery does. It was about the prevalence of plastic surgery and about the fact that there's going to come a time in our species' history, fairly soon, when we get to decide how we look, in the same way we decide how we dress. Scott Westerfeld: When I first wrote, like when it came out, it was very much a literal thing. VICE: What about Uglies do you think is the most resonant today? Our conversation has been edited and condensed for length and clarity. The world of Uglies doesn't feel dissimilar to what the New Yorker's Jia Tolentino has dubbed "the age of Instagram face." For the book's anniversary, Westerfeld talked with VICE about Uglies' resonance and why he's decided to revisit its world in his new series, Imposters.
Fifteen years later, face filters that slim some parts and plump others are a social media norm, and start-ups seek to make cosmetic procedures as commonplace as a blow-out.
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