TVLine Pet Peeves: Why Do Female Characters Always Wake Up Looking Flawless?

Welcome to TVLine Pet Peeves, where our editors go to town on TV’s bad habits. Tropes, plot details, dialogue tics, continuity issues — if it grinds our gears, you’ll see it here.

We’ve all found ourselves in disbelief watching our favorite female characters wake up in the morning after a long night’s rest. Not a single mascara smudge? Not even the slightest suggestion of a disruption to that perfectly carved-out lip line? No redness on the nose or dried drool in the corner of the mouth? If you, dear reader, have experienced that type of whiplash while watching your favorite TV shows, you’re in the right place: We’re lodging our complaints about wake-up makeup, a phenomenon from which only TV characters benefit, never real-life women. 

We’ve seen it in the latest season of “Bridgerton,” when Sophie — more than once! — wakes up perfectly primped next to Benedict after what we can only assume was a night of passionate physical exertion. Her hair is combed back, shiny and slick like she just stepped out of Drybar; her eyebrows are a pair of perfectly drawn-on twins; and her lips and cheeks share the same shade of flush. 

While “Bridgerton” has fallen short of showing Sophie arise in full glam, the woman is clearly adorned with oils, creams, and products that give her a perfect morning-after glow — it’s almost more insulting to trick us with these kinds of covert techniques. Though “Bridgerton” does a lot to tell honest stories about its female characters, in this particular case, we aren’t fooled: This is a woman wearing a fresh application of makeup, without an eye crust, sleep line, or tangled strand of hair in sight.

Wake-up makeup has long been an annoying TV trope

“Bridgerton” has, perhaps, learned from its long line of foremothers who committed even more egregious offenses when it comes to wake-up makeup. “New Girl” would notoriously have Jess rise from her slumber with perfectly loose curls and freshly blown-out bangs — wouldn’t the hair hanging over your forehead become stringy, greasy, and sweaty during sleep? Not on TV! In one Season 1 episode, Jess and Cece wake up on the beach — where they fell asleep after an evening of escapades — without even a single grain of sand to be seen on their visages. 

In “2 Broke Girls,” Max would frequently wake from slumber with sharp, winged eyeliner that could cut a pillowcase — and this was before the advent of the viral One/Size setting spray! We know how those cosmetic products of the 2010s performed, and next to nothing could’ve kept that sharp black line from smudging, crumbling, or disappearing altogether. Other shows that have been known to commit the sin of waking up in undisturbed makeup include “Scream Queens,” “Gossip Girl,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” — the list goes on. 

It’s time to wake up, TV!

Of course, our female protagonists deserve a good night’s sleep — and we aren’t even advocating that our beloved characters perform an elaborate nighttime routine before bed to take off their full beats. In fact, it’s very realistic that some of our favorite chaotic central characters wouldn’t take off their face before hitting the hay. But then, let’s be real about the outcome of such a defiant act: Lipstick smudges! Eyebrows go from daytime twins to morning-after cousins! And mascara crumbles off your lashes, collecting in every crease and crevice you didn’t previously know you had!

All we ask is that TV pays closer attention and delivers relatable morning scenes that better reflect the realities our beloved protagonists would actually face — which includes putting on their face after they wake up like the rest of us!

Are you also annoyed by wake-up makeup on TV? Which shows are the worst offenders? Let us know in a comment below! (And if you’re looking for more of our biggest pet peeves, head here!)