Can we stop making Anne Hathaway say she's fat?
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 11:26AM This past weekend I watched Rachel Getting Married, the movie that Anne Hathaway was nominated for an Oscar for. The hubby was working and I was enjoying a rare night at home alone with nothing to do so I borrowed this from the school library (free!) and settled in for the evening.
(Side note: I'm so used to having a hundred things to do that I actually couldn't sit and watch the movie straight through. I got up, cleaned the bathtub, baked cookies, cleaned the kitchen, and a few other small things, all while going back and watching a few moments of the movie, then pausing it to do something else. I really need to learn how to just SIT and do one thing at a time, but that's not the main point today.)
In the film, Hathaway's character is fresh out of rehab and makes a point of saying several times how she's fat because rehab makes you fat. Considering she's probably a size 6 (4?), this was annoying and aggravating. Similarly, in The Devil Wears Prada, she is made fun of for being the "fat, ugly" girl because she's a size 6 (not 0/2) and doesn't wear designer labels daily. Yes, this is a commentary on that particular realm and how a size 6 is nightmarishly fat for fashionistas like that, but it's still disconcerting and aggravating.
Later in the film, she beams with pride as she informs Stanley Tucci's character that she's now a size 4. In Bride Wars, Kate Hudson (!!) is the fat (!!) one. *sigh* For the filming of The Devil Wears Prada, Hathaway said, "I was thin for my height. I basically stuck with fruit, vegetables and fish. I wouldn’t recommend that. Emily Blunt and I would clutch at each other and cry because we were so hungry." That's pathetic - utterly sad and pathetic. But she's also said, "I've had directors say to me, 'You're the best actress for the role, but you've put on weight recently.' If people can't understand you've put on five pounds, I don't want to deal with them."
I hope she expands this idea to no longer taking rolls that force her to say she's fat, even if the film is trying to make a point (because I don't think either Rachel or Prada accurately make the point that she's NOT fat). Can we please recognize that actresses who are thinner than one of my thighs are NOT fat? Can we please write films for them that don't ask them to state that they are? Can we please write films that don't explain fat as a state that comes about from eating too much chocolate or going off of drugs? Can it not be an automatic personal failure?
By the way, as I type this and have Hathaway's IMDB page open, there is a Slim Fast ad running down it's side proclaiming that you, too, can kick your cupcake habit if you join the Slim Fast plan. Oh, yes, of course - why didn't I think of that? A small shake in a can would be SO much more fulfilling than a hearty salad or bowl of soup or light sandwich for lunch. That must be why I'm fat. Or maybe it's the drugs I quit taking or all the chocolate I eat. I don't mind commentary about what is/is not fat in films. In fact, I welcome it. However, what I object to is clearly thin actresses having to play the fat role because they're a size 6 instead of a 2. I know we're not used to looking at normal sized women on screen, but how about we use a size 10 as the normal woman, even though size 14 is the norm? Or wait, I know - how about we properly represent the full range of sizes and shapes women come in? If I lined up all the women I see regularly, you would see a full range of heights, weights, and fitness. You'd see thin and out of shape and you'd see plus-sized and in shape. You'd see tall, short, thin, heavy, average, pudgy, slouchy, insecure, bold, casual, dressy, stylish, and style-challenged women. And I hate when people say things like this and then close with, "But they're all beautiful" - but guess what? They are. They are beautiful on the inside AND the outside. They are all loved and treasured by the people who know them. They do wonderful things for people. They work hard at their jobs. They raise precious, loving children. They are fierce competitors. They're nerds and geeks, shopaholics and spendthrifts, great cooks and kitchen disasters. What they are not are women who need to be continually told that a size 6 is fat. They ARE beautiful, so there.
Reader Comments (2)
I completely agree with you. It is really sad how this is just one more way we as a society contribute to the growing epidemic of eating disorders.
wow people consider her fat? o_O