Shallow Hal - What did you think?
 

Has anyone seen "Shallow Hal?" I watched it and was wondering how anyone felt about it. It's about a man who gets "brainwashed" into only seeing a persons inner beauty and doesn't realize he's fallen in love with a "300+ pound" woman.

I was really disgusted with this movie. It smacks of fatism up and down. And all of the site gags of broken chairs, tidal waves in the pool etc, can be nothing but a disservice to anyone of size. And yes, i know that in the end he loves her "even though she's fat" but I mean think about that as a premise, it sucks, even though she's fat, like he is doing her a favor...

And what REALLY pissed me off is that he's a chunky actor himself, F^$&$in double standard chaps my @SS!

And a abig thanks to Paltrow for donning a fat suit, that will come back to haunt her when fat suits are looked at like the black face is now.

So I had a STRONG reaction to this movie, anyone else???

I had mixed emotions about the movie. I liked the idea of people seeing the inner beauty of a person, but at the same time I think that the outer beauty of a person no matter what size is important as well. I also didn't like the way they showed the plus size girl breaking all the chairs, almost sinking the canoe, and some of the other things that they blew way out of the water.

I think that if they had just showed a plus size woman as more realistic it would have been better. But I did like the way it showed Hal that even if the outer shell isn't perfect, the inner shell may be what you want.

Hope that makes sence
Bella23

I didn't see the film, but I remember seeing the trailers for it and thinking "oh please, Jack Black is no prize, where does he get off".

Well.... I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who was conflicted about it.

For starters, yes... the guy playing Hal was chunky and IMHO - not very physically appealing himself. Added to that, his insides were pretty ugly so I sort of thought she was getting a "dud" and that the movie made it seem that she was sooooo lucky to get any man - lets face it, because she's fat and undesirable.

I too thought it was just in poor taste of Gwynneth Paltrow to get into a "fat suit" for the movie. Why didn't they select a heavy woman to play the part, and let Gwynneth be the woman in his imagination?

Perhaps fat people aren't very good actors/actresses either. Maybe I'm reading into this too much.

Didn't see it & have NO desire to see it. The actor who played "Hal" is not attractive. He is pudgy himself. I really felt this movie was saying the Gwyneth Paltrow character was "lucky" to have anyone at all. How sad :(

I think you need to think about this one a bit more.

The point of the movie, the hook if you will is that it's funny to see gorgeous skinny macrobiotic chompin' Gwynneth in a fat suit... It is most deffinitely not a a question of finding a fat woman for the role of the outer woman.

This movie In my oppinion had absolutely no merit, it is a meanspirited under the guise of some sort of "message" that Hollywood has no business trying to teach.

I'm sorry if i sound a bit rabid about this but i work in film and television and this stuff makes me nuts, and I'm a closet activist as well...

Chunky Spice, thanks for starting this discussion, I feel that addressing some of the roles that the media play in the "Fat woman's experience" is very important.

Respectfully,
Sundrop

I guess I'm going to be the only fat chick that thought this movie was funny as anything. I'm not going to get into a big discussion about it as clearly I am outnumbered here. I really don't think the people who made the movie were really poking fun at fat people in a snide way. I thought the movie was about seeing past the blubber to the inner beauty and that a person who is fat can still be lovable. If jack black was a gorgeous guy there would be no movie because all the gorgeous women he was going for at the beginning of the movie would have been interested in him. The girl that was his neighbour seemed to like him as a friend but had no interest in going out with him because he was shallow.

I guess I don't take my fatness as seriously as others to get all worked up about it.

That movie...was something else. I thought it was OK, but I thought that they went over-board. All the chair breaking. At over 300 lbs, I've never broken a chair. And the HUGE underwear. Just bugged me.

The movie actually made me cry, but not about being fat. When I saw the little girl, the burn unit girl, it made me realize how tragic life can be. I just burst out in tears. I didn't expect that.

I'm with Jen, I thought it was pretty funny. I guess I just have thick skin when it comes to my size. The only thing that grossed me out was the whole "tail" thing! YIKES. They did show the woman that did was the body double (on some TV show), and she was fine with the whole thing.

For me, I think it just hit too close to home. I have been where the Gywneth Paltrow character was, but in real life. I really felt the pain of the character, and the self-doubt, and the frustration. It was just a painful movie for me to see, emotionally. It wasn't even a catharsis, like some emotional movies can be. It was more like picking at the scab of a wound that just won't go away. It still dredges up tears, just thinking about it.

I didn't see it. The trailers made it look like a very juvenile, one "joke" plot. Didn't look like it would be funny at all.

I don't think it's bad to be able to laugh at oneself a bit but I think this was painted with so wide a brush (no pun intended) it seemed it was going to handle Hal's shallowness in a shallow way.

Anyway, saved my money.

I loved the movie!! I bought the dvd and it is funny. Some parts made me angry but still...I weigh 336 an I never broke a chair yet.. sometimes I think I am going to. I think Jack Black is very cute... Probably because my hubby looks like him!!! I am serious! I dont think it made her seem like she is lucky she is the one that left him he came crawling back,... Hope I didn't upset no one...