Kat, a character in the new HBO show, “Euphoria,” exclaims, “There’s nothing more powerful than a fat girl who doesn’t give a f**k.” The message of Kat’s soliloquy seems clear — more TV shows and movies are beginning to cast overweight women in roles that serve as other than the comic relief; but, by doing this, the industry is doing the opposite of empowering women. Instead, they continue to reinforce the outdated concept that characters like Kat should be portrayed as a fat girl, rather than just a girl.
Overweight female characters have a long history of being booted to the back in TV shows and movies based on their appearance. They’ve often served as a target for negative commentary, particularly from male characters. In a study conducted by Dr. Susan Himes and Professor Kevin Thompson, they discovered from earlier research on TV shows and movies that “heavier characters were more likely to be in minor roles, were less likely to be involved in romantic relationships, had fewer positive interactions than thin characters and were often the objects of humor.”
By comparing more recent TV shows and movies to this data from the early 2000s, there have been noticeable leaps made in casting more overweight women into the spotlight. The problem we now face is the trending idea that overweight female main characters are a chance to exploit the “harsh realities” of what a fat woman “must” go through every day.
Take Kat’s character who becomes so obsessed with maintaining a bad bitch facade about her body, that she ends up neglecting all the other things that make her powerful — her kindness, intelligence and loyalty. Is this the image of women that the industry really wishes to spread?
I remember the way it made me feel to watch a movie like “Trainwreck,” starring Amy Schumer, that contained a main female character who was driven, funny, beautiful and desirable without once insinuating that the way she looked was the most important form of adversity her character would have to face. Never before that movie did I feel like a woman who looked similar to me could successfully follow her dreams and deserved to fall in love.
I was disheartened to find out that following her appearance in “Trainwreck,” Schumer starred in a movie years later called, “I Feel Pretty,” that basically embodies the “let’s bring social awareness to fat stigmatization” model previously discussed. Although this model is a lot more progressive, it will never come close to representing the full truth of everyone.
There are so many beautiful women in this world inhabiting all different shapes and sizes, who are living their own interesting and heartbreaking lives. They are successful, happy and most certainly, they are loved. This is the reality I wish to see represented more in TV shows and movies in the future.
In order to end the fat stigmatization of women, it’s about time the movie and TV industry recognizes their casting bias against overweight women and makes a conscious effort to open up all roles to each woman, regardless of their body type.
Alyssa Menko is a third-year student majoring in English. AM893706@wcupa.edu