Retreaded story, jokes leaving viewer unsatisfied

"What a Girl Wants" is not marketed toward a college age male as much as maybe a middle school girl, but with the body types shown one might think it was. The movie was nothing special. It was at best cute if even at times a little cliché and over sexualized. \nAmanda Bynes, of Nickelodeon's "All That" fame, plays Daphne, who lives with her mom in Chinatown. After her 17th birthday, Daphne decides that before college she needs to find herself and travels to England to find her father, the politician Lord Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth). A Cinderella story ensues as she attempts to fit in as an English girl and act proper while at the same time contending with her father's money grubbing fiancee and her daughter. \nThe story is nothing new, aimed at young girls' fantasies of becoming a princess. Much of the humor is a retread, either making fun of how rigid the British act or how out of place an American seems in England. It's full of stereotypes, with Brit-bashing jokes like "Don't hug me dear. I'm British," and the portrayal of English girls who wear bulky unattractive clothes, whereas an American girl wears a tighter form-fitting outfit. \nFirth actually does a good job and delivers a sincere and genuine performance while being funny. Bynes does better in her moments of slapstick humor, but sometimes over dramatizes her more serious dialogue. Despite that, it was never overwhelmingly shown, Bynes has a screen presence and future potential.\nOne thing played up in "What a Girl Wants" is that Bynes is hot. Apparently everyone from the English media to Prince William believes this. Keep in mind when she made this, Bynes was only 16. I was 16 once and I remember girls my age being attractive, but Bynes is heading toward the route of when Britney Spears first emerged or when the Olsen twins suddenly grew up. All these ladies are attractive but the main audience is young girls, and over sexualizing these youthful girls just perpetuates the idea that girls must look a certain way. One can't blame any of these actresses for looking the way they do, but when part of the drawing power is their looks, problems arise.