My husband and I saw this movie and we really enjoyed it. We thought it was rather funny and yet sometimes harsh.

I just talked to my husband about most of your points(about the thing about a bad portrayal to fat people because of the big splashes and the chair/seat breakings), and my husband made a good point of why they would put this in the movie. He said it was because even though Hal is seeing the inner beautiful of Gwyneth's character, it needed the reality parts that she really isn't small like he was seeing her, so thus putting those parts in the movie(I hope this makes sense of what I just said).

I myself also think Jack Black isn't great looking and definitely not Jason Alexander(YUCK)....but they needed guys like this because if they were the hot looking kind, they would've had dates no problem right.

I did not see this movie, but it made me think of part of another movie that had parts in it about an overweight woman. Death Becomes Her. Goldie Hawn played the part of the overweight woman, and one scene showed her eating icecream out of a container with her fingers ~ just shoveling it in. I don't know ~ it just made me feel sad to see an overweight person portrayed that way.

glynne

That is the only part that really bothered me a lot about the movie Shallow Hal.....Gwenyth's character kept eating all the time. The funny thing is that a lot of overweight people really don't eat a lot...most of us tend to eat the wrong foods, and/or eat most of our foods at the wrong time(just before bed). Also a lot of overweight people are overweight because of very low metabolism because of not eating enough but also eating the wrong types of foods and leading a sedentary life.

A lot of thin people think very wrongly of how an overweight person got that way.

Yeah the bit with the tail and the guy with spina bifida were a little strange.

I really like the bit where her character is wearing the bikini at the pool. I don't weigh as much as that character and I would never even consider it. I think we are supposed to see that the character is very strong, that being fat doesn't affect everything she does.

Just for a little information about the characters. There was a real "fat" girl playing as a double for Gweneth. They added some to her but that was to try to make her look more like Gweneth. She was doing an interview and said that some of the things like breaking chairs and what not made her uncomfy but they did it for the affect. Gweneth, in the interview, also said that after wearing the "fat suit" she had more respect for heavy people. I think that the fact that I knew they had a fat double and that she liked the movie, made it easier for me to watch.

Hope this clears some stuff up.

Bella23

I think this is yet another case of us taking ourselves WAY too seriously... and I think maybe a lot of us saw more of ourselves in the character than we really wanted to... I loved the movie, it made me laugh, and it made me cry too, for the kids, for her... even for him, being brainwashed into thinking he had to have a *perfect* woman, at such a young age... but you know what? Just like we're brainwashed that we NEED to be pefect, little boys are brainwahsed that they need to find perfection, that women should look like supermodels, and a few more could stand to be brainwashed OUT of that mindset. I think EVERYONE needs to step outside of themselves and have a good giggle every once in a while... I crack jokes about myself all the time....why shouldn't I get a giggle from another perspective of it... yes, the huge panties were ridiculous...the chairs breaking, the water in the pool... but it was to pound home the point that there was something he was missing about this girl...and quite frankly, I was lmao, and then some...