Fat Amy from the movie Pitch Perfect
Fat Amy provided comic relief in the movie Pitch Perfect. This Is Us’s character, Kate, is constantly battling seen battling with her weight. The main character from Insatiable turns to revenge against those who fat-shamed her after achieving the ultimate ‘hot body’. Fatness in media, particularly through movies and shows, define their characters by their weight or weightless. Their weight remains a focus of the character and their respective development, or lack thereof throughout the story. Yet, why do these character’s weight need to define their storylines? Why are the characters shown to struggle with weight all female? Why are the characters and their stories all defined by their weight?
Television and movies with an overweight character always seem to focus on the weight of the person. The media’s fatphobia is like a double edge sword in that the portrayals of fat people, specifically women, not only is developed due to a fear of fat, but also continues to perpetuate the disapproval of fatness. Fat is always seen as a vice of a character. It is something they struggle to overcome yet feel pressure to overcome it. It is how they, specifically women, are defined. The constant fatphobic portrayals of fatness, specifically fat women, not only reflect the patriarchal view of beauty, but also cultural beliefs of fat women.
Bridget Jones is a character looking for love and trying to turn her life around, through finding a boyfriend. While this may seem like a typical storyline, there are numerous comments about her weight throughout, posing her weight as an issue that must be overcome in her quest for happiness. Her concern about her weight is a tool the writers used to demonstrate her unhappiness in life and with herself. However, the implications of her bumbling efforts to improve her life imply that she needs to lose weight to be happy and accepted. Despite not actually being fat or overweight, the feeling that she needs to lose weight is a reflection of how many women in real life feel about their own weight. Being overweight is not considered beautiful and instills a sense of unworthiness as seen through the character. The fear of being considered or labeled as fat holds a lot power over how people perceive and accept themselves and others.
Fat Monica from the television show Friends
The labeling of fat is evident in several media portrayals. For instance, in the show Friends, Monica is constantly teased for being fat growing up. Her fatness in adolescence is a running gag intended to elicit laughs in various episodes. The other characters within the show constantly insult and make jokes about ‘Fat Monica’. However, the storyline of Fat Monica is problematic for a number of reasons. For one, it defines and labels her character’s past self. It intends to make being fat something that is funny and to be laughed at. Also, it insinuates that her fatness was an issue and something that she had to change to overcome her laziness. Additionally, the label of Fat Monica puts her character in a box. It limits her character to simply being defined as fat and nothing else, while also carrying with it the negative associations we make in regards to the word fat.
Labeling people as fat, diminishes their other qualities as a person and prevents people from looking at an individual, especially women, as a whole. People are more than simply fat; they have personalities and feelings that go beyond the number on a scale. However, when television or movies define their characters by their weight, it perpetuates people in real life doing the same to others. Simply limiting a person because of their size takes away their power to exist in the same manner a person of a ‘normal’ weight would.
To advocate for fatness, it must be addressed properly in the media. Television and movies are huge influences on its audiences. They hold the ability to revolutionize how we as a society approach fatness and fight fatphobia, but yet continue to perpetuate the cycle of it through its characters. Media must move past simply showing women struggling with their weight and using fatness as a means to elicit laughs. Fat acceptance must start by improving the portrayal of people in media and ensure they are given the same level of depth as other characters so that they can be seen as more than just their size.
Images taken from:
I love how you dive deeper than just fat people. Women specifically are targeted and more scrutinized for being overweight because of the way women have to navigate the world on a daily basis. I also love the show insatiable and think it’s a great reference to this issue. I am glad you talked about it because the concept of her losing her weight and the whole society treats her different because of it shows in a clear way what is wrong with the society.
ReplyDelete