Movies with a message about fat ...
 

I have a little thing I do with my netflix account. I collect movies according to a theme, and I watch several of them in succession. Themes thus far have been: Victorian literature, Marie Antoinette, Hunter S. Thompson, Greece, World War II, BDSM, etc.

I'm interested in doing a "fat" theme, which would include movies that send a message about fat, whether it be positive or negative, directly or indirectly.

Can you please list any movies you can think of for me to add to my list?

One I've seen recently, which was phenomenal, is one called "Fat Girl". It's about a young teenage girl who is overweight, and how her body image plays out with her emerging sexuality. VERY interesting, and I recommend it.

I haven't seen "Shallow Hal", but it sounds kind of awful. I suppose technically it should be part of my list. Has anybody seen this? Is it as bad as it sounds?

Please share your movie ideas! Thanks!

Real Women Have Curves

Babycakes

Yes, Shallow Hal is as bad as it sounds.

I watched one recently called "Disfigured", which is about an overweight woman and an anorexic as they form a weird sort of friendship. It's...interesting. Not sure it's *good*, but it's worth a look.

There's also "Real Women Have Curves", which stars a pre-Betty America Ferrera.

I am mixed on Shallow Hal. It was funny in some parts--but brutal as well.

I absolutely LOVED Real Women Have Curves.

"Fatso"
Some parts were funny,some not.
It is an old movie ,maybe from the eary 1970's.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape..

There are tons of movies I can think of that just messages about being fat--WallE--Lord of the Flies--Stand By Me--etc.

Muriel's Wedding?

Oh, I did see Real Women Have Curves!! I loved it!

Stand By Me .... interesting. I saw this movie years ago and I don't recall it addressing weight (although I wasn't overweight at the time, so that might've caused me to overlook).

What's Eating Gilbert Grape was another really good movie.

Thanks for the input! Keep them coming! :)

Stand By Me - it's like a scene within a movie. Gordie tells a story about Lard ***, the pie eating contest and revenge.

Since we are all trying to eat healthy, reduce weight, exercise, why not watch movies with the "thin" theme or healthy theme. Watching "fat" movies is kind of like jtrying to justify it.

Good point, Annie. I don't think of it as a way to encourage fatness, but more of a look at what messages are being sent in movies (current movies or old ones) about weight and body image/acceptance.

Perhaps I will do a thin/healthy series next ... or perhaps, I will put movies down and go exercise. :)

Heavyweights!!!!

This movie is adorable and doesn't get enough love IMHO.

Shallow Hal was terrible - completely unfunny and stereotypical. It made me cry it was so mean-spirited - this coming from a woman who thought the South Park Movie was hilarious.

"Ruthless People" (Bette Midler and Danny DeVito) has a fat-to-thin storyline.

Bridget Jones's Diary !

BTW, I think that's an interesting thing you're doing - watching movies by theme.

ETA: And Shrek, sort of.

Hairspray
Babycake (TV movie)
both with Ricki Lake

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

Oh, I can't believe I forgot Heavyweights. I have that one on DVD, even. Paul Feig FTW.

Haven't read through the thread yet. Babycakes comes to mind.

Linda Hamilton's arms, in pretty much every scene of Terminator 2, have a starring role in the "fit" category ;)

I agree, I liked the movie. I didn't think it cut down fat people, but rather cut down "shallow" people who can't see beyond the weight. I'd like to see it again now that I'm not fat and reevaluate how I feel about it now.

What about Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? One of the girl's was dealing with weight issues and not fitting in with her father's new "perfect" family.

"The Mirror Has Two Faces", Barbara Streisand - not specifically a weight theme, more of a restructuring of her entire person after years of not making a lot of effort. I remember a lot of exercise scenes. Though really, IMO she wasn't overweight to begin with.

Sorry to go a bit off topic but I just have to say how much I always hated the theme in all Streisand's movies that she is an ugly Jewish girl - I mean in all her movies from her younger age. I just hated it so much - You could bet a $100 that it would pop up sooner or later.

I forget, Is my Big Fat Greek Wedding weight related at all? I loved that movie, but I can't remember if was weight related.

Tomato - I have to admit this is the only Streisand movie I have ever seen... I wonder why she plays that same character type so often?

Shallow Hal didn't really offend me (except for the breaking furniture jokes)...but Date Movie did....ugh. Date Movie had a lot of "comedy" about being overweight.

I think Big Fat Greek Wedding is related. Also...it is way back there in my brain, but I think The Tao of Steve involved some weight issues.

Bumbleberry - For some reason, this topic made me think of Linda Hamilton's arms too...

I think in First Wive's Club, Bette Midler plays a wife who was chubby and her hubby goes after a skinny young chick; but Midler loses the weight and wins her wandering DH back ...

I thought HEAVYWEIGHTS was a cute movie too.


RE: Barbra Streisand ~ her real father was Jewish and when she was in her early teens, her own mother told her that she wasn't attractive enuff to go into show business and that should learn to type instead. I read her bio, and she is the most successful US female singer ever, and that's not even mentioning all her TV and movie acting and directing successes ... geepers, was mommy dearest ever wrong!

Probably because Barbara has a big nose and distinctive looks. She works in an industries (music/film) that celebrate beauty to an extreme degree and she's not classically beautiful. She probably endured tons and tons of "helpful" suggestions from friends/agents/directors that she should just give up - she wasn't attractive enough to make it. I would think that constant bombardment of "great voice, great moxie - too bad you aren't better looking" would have an effect on anybody.

disclaimer - I don't think Barbara is unattractive.

There was a movie about Barbara Streisand playing a prostitute and Dreyfus (first name?) as the attorney defending her. It was a good one and none of that repeating ugly theme.

but that is way of the original topic ;)

And I did not think SHallow Hal was about fat haters but more about what society majority says beauty should be and what happens when those blinding glasses are removed.

good thread, thanks for starting :)

I second the movie The Truth About Cats and Dogs. What I found interesting (read: was livid at) when the movie came out was that Jeneane Garofalo had to lose weight to play the unattractive one. It's been awhile since I've seen the movie itself, but if I recall correctly, the message is a postive one in terms of self-esteem.

A tenuous connection but it's there: Ever After. The second step-sister is constantly snipped at for eating 'too much.' Spoilervision [highlight to read]: The step-sister ends up with the guy who eats too much too! It's cute, and non-judgey.

Oh, Muriel's Wedding too, I think. Doesn't that one have some weight issues in it? I haven't seen it in so long that I can't remember.

I agree with Annie. I remember the movie "The mirror has two faces" All the food that Barbara Streisand are taking, they all look healthy. After watching that movie, I tried eating carrot stick and I enjoyed it.

I love Shallow Hal...I could probably watch it every day and not get sick of it.

There was that lifetime movie, I think it was called Queen Sized that had an overweight girl as the main character.

Circle of Friends - I wouldn't consider Minnie Driver fat by any means but she was dealing with weight issues in the film.

Phat Girlz with Monique - a little cheesy but awesome! It definitely celebrates the bigger girl and its a cute story.

There's also this awesome Korean mini-drama called "My Name is Kim Sam Soon" This girl is not even close to being big but she does have some body image issues. Also, it's a great story if you're up for 16 hours of an excellent K-drama.

Don't really have any movies to add but wanted to say that I discovered Fat Girl on Netflix too and it's one of my favorite movies! I actually brought a personal copy off ebay a couple of months ago. Netflix got me into foreign films. :)

I second Bridget Jones and Circle of Friends. Also Just Friends (character was formerly overweight),

Have you considered adding documentaries onto the list? There are some wonderful ones about eating disorders and body image, like "Thin", which originally aired on HBO. There was another 2007 documentary about body image called "America the Beautiful". Both are available on Netflix.

I've also heard really good things about Disfigured, but haven't seen it yet. The plot is intriguing, to me...again, it's available on Netflix.

To be Fat Like Me (not released to DVD yet so it would be in your Saved queue). It's a Lifetime movie about a teen who dons a fat suit to weigh 250#s believing that she will be just as popular as her thin self. After all, it's personality rather than appearance that accounts for popularity. Right??? Yeah, right. NOT.

I liked Shallow Hal a lot as it depicted how shallow people are about physical appearance. Unfortunately, I doubt the shallow people of the world get it. :no:

With Circle of Friends, I really must insist: Skip the movie and go straight for the book, by Maeve Binchy. It's easily one of my favorites and is so beautifully written. WAY better than the movie!