Fat Politics
In an attempt to produce a movie with the message of the true nature of beauty, the Farrelly brothers end up completely contradicting themselves while proving with fat jokes, empty swimming pools, and broken chairs that appearances are everything. Rosemary was only seen as beautiful when Hal was hypnotized to believe she was slim. It was after the hypnosis wore off that he convinced himself that big actually is beautiful. In People Magazine’s article “Weighing in on Hal�, former fat women discussed the film Shallow Hal. While they were disgusted by the portrayal of obesity, they were also hurt by the memories it brought up. They all agreed that the film was unrealistic and hurtful yet Emme pronounced the more positive comments than those of Holliday and Wilson.
Emme claims that fat is the “last acceptable prejudice�. I do believe it is important who supports this claim and who voices his or her opinion because celebrities can influence the public. However in this case, I think it is interesting to note that while these women are speaking out against Shallow Hal for its depiction of true beauty, all these women have attempted to conform to the norms of beauty in out society. Holliday and Wilson both underwent a radical method of stomach-reduction surgery and are between 135 and 145 lbs. Emme has made a career showing off her now 200 lb body as a plus-size model. While I don’t think its right to make fun of someone for his or her body type, the public does. And it is evident by the production of movies such as Shallow Hal. Oppression also occurs with sexism and racism with violent attacks. While it is no one’s place to judge which is more important and what marginalities should be accepted and which condemned, it does happen