From the Renaissance to 1910, women who were overweight were a sign of wealth and prosperity. They were viewed as beautiful and the ideal type for a woman. In today’s modern societies, women’s bodies and the objectification of them have been a problematic issue in the entertainment industry. The female body is either hyper-sexualized or judged for the way it looks by both men and women. Fat shaming, in some entertainment industries around the world, has become the norm where women who are overweight are used as comic relief for the public.
The idea of laughing at someone because of how much they weigh is the problem. It is deeply rooted in beauty standards that are created by men and enforced by both men and women. The idea of laughing at another woman because she is overweight means that her body and her existence are there for the amusement of other people. She becomes the joker or jester of society. Her beauty, her agency, and identity are erased and she is labelled as being the ‘funny’ person. She serves to make the rest of the public feel better about themselves and she becomes a ‘pick-me-up’ for people who are down and need a good laugh.
Two movies that play on the idea of overweight women being a comic relief is Norbit and Pitch Perfect. In Norbit, the character Rasputia is an overweight woman who spends most of the time in the movie being a spectacle of not only the people in the movie, but the audience, because of the size of her body. She is portrayed to be aggressive and an angry person because of her weight. This is used as the comedy gag of the movie. The other character, Norbit, spends most of his time running away from her because she is ‘ugly’ because of her weight and gluttony. For some reason, her being overweight also makes her an angry person which gives the incorrect idea that overweight women are not happy people because of how they look. It also illustrates overweight women to be seen as nothing but greedy people who have no self-control.
Growing up, I remember being made fun of by the children at school because of my weight. I would often be ridiculed and compared to Rasputia or ‘Big Momma’ because both of these movies made use of ensuring that the overweight women are viewed as a grotesque site and nothing attractive. Apart from the movies trying to be comedic, children, upon watching the movies, do not simply view it as being funny. They internalize the hidden problematic ideas of overweight women. But, what is shocking, is how adults do the same.
A synopsis of the movie, Norbit, on IMDb says, “A mild-mannered guy, who is married to a monstrous woman, meets the woman of his dreams, and schemes to find a way to be with her”. The overweight woman’s body is viewed as not only humourous, but a monstrosity. She is viewed as something to run away from and emphasizes how true love can only be found in a thin woman’s body who is seen as well-mannered and ‘feminine’ in comparison – every man’s dream. All this is embedded and sold under the falsehood of comedy and the public consumes it without paying much attention. Fat shaming and body shaming has been hidden in plain sight in many movies and TV shows and the entertainment industry makes large amounts of capital on this annually.
Pitch Perfect has a character named ‘Fat Amy’ who spends most of her time in the film commenting and making jokes about how ‘fat’ she is as well showcasing comedic clapbacks for people who comment on her weight rather than her just being purely a funny or comedic person. This is not necessarily a problem, however, why is her whole character centralized on her weight rather than her singing abilities like everyone else in the movie? She too, like Rasputia, is portrayed to be loud, aggressive, and not ‘ladylike’ or well-mannered.
It is the problematic notion that in order for an overweight woman to be seen as accepting of themselves, they need to laugh at themselves and get the other people around them to laugh as well. Why must self-acceptance be centralized around humour? There is nothing wrong with humour, however, it becomes a problem when it is used to further degrade women and hide under the falsehood of being ‘comfortable’ with one’s body. This opens doors for a lot of people who watch these entertainment shows or movies to think that it there is nothing wrong with making ‘fun’ of overweight women because these women always make ‘fun’ of themselves.