Fat and Female on Film
Grace Barber-Plentie’s body-positive celebration of how being fat and female on film has evolved from a lazy punchline to a reflection of the reality of so many beautiful women.
From images where fatness is the butt of a joke, to thin people wearing fat suits, to people using the word "fat" as an insult: Grace Barber-Plentie asks what is cinema telling audiences about fat women - and is that ok?
In the last few years, the body positivity movement has gone mainstream, with celebrities like Lizzo openly discussing the issues surrounding fatphobia, and people starting to celebrate a range of different body shapes reflecting the variety of sizes embodied by real women. The word “fat” itself has been reclaimed by fat activists as a badge of pride.
But laughing at fat people has always been one of the easiest and laziest jokes in cinema, with bigger women in particular portrayed as lazy or unhealthy, or undesirable because of their size. It’s not all bad - some of the most compelling supporting roles in films have been fat female characters, from fabulous female villains like Ursula in The Little Mermaid, to lusty Italian sex worker La Saraghina in Fellini’s 8½.
But fat female actors are too often relegated to comedic support, despite working tirelessly over the years to craft inimitable performances. And when they are the centre of the story, that story is often tied to weight. Maybe things are slowly getting better - more body positive films like Dumplin’ and Isn't It Romantic are being released, introducing incredible new characters for the world to fall in love with. Maybe one day, when we think of fat women in film, we won’t think about comedians in fat suits - we’ll think about Willowdean, and every beautiful girl like her, taking her rightful place in the spotlight
More episodes
Previous
Next
Featured in...
Inside Cinema: For Movie Fans
Short films taking you to the heart of the movies.