Mae Whitman Is Over Being The DUFF

We don't really want to live in a world where every group supposedly has a DUFF — an acronym that stands for "designated ugly fat friend." According to Urban Dictionary, however, we've been inhabiting said world since 2003. We thank our lucky stars we were only recently made aware of the term because of Mae Whitman's new film.  The movie is a modern-day high school tale of trying to break free from the little boxes to which we are all confined. A voiceover in the beginning reminds us that we've made some strides as a society. Once upon a time, high schoolers could only be jokers, brains, beauties, recluses, or rebels, as typified by the members of the Breakfast Club. These days, lines are blurred and teens can be many things. One obstacle that cannot be crossed, however, is the most superficial one of all: looks.  The DUFF wants to send the message that no one should consider him or herself a group's designated ugly fat friend. Or, that everyone should take ownership of the fact that we are all someone's DUFF. It gets a bit confusing when it comes to reappropriating the term or ditching it all together. Mae Whitman has been one of our favorite actresses for a long time (just try to watch an Amber-centric episode of Parenthood without shedding at least one tear), and she gives the movie the heart and humor it needs to surpass bland high school comedy territory. In this exclusive clip, Whitman's character Bianca, still fresh from being told that she's the DUFF of her friend group, confronts her two BFFs. Why didn't they tell her she was their DUFF? Uh, maybe because it's a stupid social construct defined by an online dictionary anyone can edit? Bianca is in the irate stage of the stages of grief, though, and she makes the rash decision to dump her friends rather than the stupid term. Kids these days!  The DUFF arrives in theaters February 20.