TV REVIEW : Scattershot Approach Hurts ‘I Hate the Way I Look’

Feeling ugly, fat and nerdy, magnifying every real or imagined flaw--that’s adolescence. So is the conviction that success comes only with the right body, the right clothes, the right makeup, the right friends.

Peer pressure and daily media messages reinforce those anxieties, and increasing numbers of teens are succumbing to self-hatred and self-destructive behaviors.

That’s the subject of “I Hate the Way I Look,” today’s scattershot, downbeat “ABC Afterschool Special” hosted by Oprah Winfrey (at 3 p.m. on Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42).

Teens in the studio audience speak of cruel remarks about their looks from peers and parents. Some have had plastic surgery, others are or have been bulimic and anorexic. When asked, most say they would rather be good-looking than intelligent.

Short clips feature Tempestt Bledsoe, supermodel Paulina, rapper Queen Latifah and others talking about their own problems growing up. The general advice is “it’s what’s inside that counts,” reassurance that rings hollow when, in another clip, a psychologist says in passing that some people have difficulty in a society where “great looks are an advantage.”

Parents in the audience complain about trying to keep up financially with their fashion-obsessed teens. They are not asked why they feel they can’t say no to $150 sneakers.

A fitness author says adolescent Angst can be alleviated by exercise--”find the best you”--but no one points out that eating disorders are often accompanied by obsessive exercise.

The author then earns applause by supporting teens’ fashion choices if they’re using their own money. That students who hold down jobs often have trouble with schoolwork isn’t brought up.

The big picture is sketchy here and the advice is limp; this “Afterschool Special’s” biggest plus is in letting teens know they are not alone with their concerns.