Me, Natalie

Natalie Miller spends her childhood in Brooklyn, convinced she is plain-looking. She absorbs her mother's belief that she will eventually become pretty, even as her confidence falters. This self-image sets the tone for her early ambitions and insecurities.

She trains to be a cheerleader and seeks to impress a blind date. She also hopes to attend her graduation dance, but these efforts repeatedly fall short. The experiences reinforce her sense of not fitting in.

Uncle Harold tells Natalie that someday a man will look beyond her face and see her inner qualities. He tries to bolster her confidence just as life pulls her down. The scene plants a fragile optimism in her heart.

Harold announces his engagement to Shirley, a sexy go-go dancer, which makes Natalie feel excluded and skeptical about love. She suspects Harold chose Shirley for her looks, not her heart. The engagement marks a turning point in her hope for a different future.

Harold dies unexpectedly, leaving Natalie to confront the loss. She chooses not to attend his funeral, feeling betrayed and hurt by the life changes around her. The death intensifies her sense of loneliness and questions about love.

A year after Harold's death, Natalie encounters Shirley, who has turned to drugs in her grief. Natalie sees that Harold and Shirley's love did not bring happiness to Shirley herself. The moment reframes beauty and attraction as not equating to happiness.

Natalie's parents worry that she is expelled from college, has no steady job, and no prospects for marriage. They begin arranging dates in a bid to fix her life. The family dynamics highlight the social pressures Natalie faces.

Her father even tries to bribe Morris, an awkward aspiring optometrist, to marry Natalie. The bribery scheme reveals the family's desperation for a conventional life. Natalie reacts with anger and a desire for independence.

Hearing about the bribery plot, Natalie moves out of her parents' apartment. She plans to move in with Shirley in Manhattan to escape the pressure and reinvent herself. This shift marks the move from her old life toward a bohemian future.

Upon arriving in Shirley's bohemian building in Greenwich Village, Natalie learns that Shirley has died from a drug overdose. The tragedy shocks her into a new reality about the people she once admired. She begins to rebuild her life in Shirley's absence.

Natalie rents the vacant Shirley apartment and is hired as a cocktail waitress at the Topless Bottomless Club. This job exposes her to a grittier, adult world than she expected. It also places her close to her downstairs neighbor, David Harris.

David Harris, an architect who has left his job to paint, lives downstairs. Natalie initially dismisses him, labeling him a sex pervert because of his nude models. Their first impressions collide before they begin to see potential in each other.

Their friendship deepens into romance as David supports Natalie while she encourages his painting dreams. The relationship grows in a circle of trust and vulnerable self-discovery. Both find in each other a sense of self-worth they hadn't felt before.

Natalie discovers that David is actually married to a wealthy woman with two young sons. The revelation shatters her idealized romance and triggers a confrontation. She must reassess the meaning of love and commitment.

After the confrontation, David assures Natalie that he will leave his wife. She waits, torn between love and responsibility to others. Eventually she writes a farewell letter and chooses to take responsibility for her own happiness.