Meredith

So as everyone has undoubtedly heard, Julia Roberts is starring in a new chick flick opening this weekend called Eat, Pray, Love. I've never seen much beauty in this particular actress, and was delighted beyond words when her character lost to Cameron Diaz's much, much more appealing character in My Best Friend's Wedding.

However, a short (if rather cynical) blurb about her new film makes me think that Eat, Pray, Love could have something to offer size celebration. I say could have, not will have, because the film is hampered by the usual problem that besets any Hollywood project when it attempts to deliver a size-positive message. More about that later.

First, here's the link:

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010...ake_muffin.html

It caught my attention, to say the least, when I read this passage:


I had to read that sentence twice to make sure that I'd understood it correctly. That sounds like a Judgment of Paris mantra, not a Hollywood message (Hollywood being known for delivering the opposite theme).

But wait -- it gets better:


Okay, after I read that description, I thought that I'd entered an alternative reality in which Hollywood had started creating the kinds of movies that they would have always been making if the timeless ideal of full-figured beauty had never been displaced. Ingenue actresses indulging in food for the sheer pleasure of it, and then enthusing about possessing fuller figures? "Dream come true" is about the only way to classify a film that delivers such a message.

Alas, one cynical remark on the part of the article's writer brought me back down to earth. It correctly identifies how the film undermines its potentially size-positive message because of its too-thin casting choices:


All too true.

Imagine if we could have seen a plus-size beauty like Kelsey Olson or Christina Schmidt (who is an actress as well as a model) or another Judgment of Paris favourite acting out such a scene, saying those words, enjoying her meal and then expressing delight at her fuller figure. The mind boggles at how rapturously beautiful such a scene could be.

Nevertheless, while the film's casting does severely undermine its potentially subversive effect, I am still inclined to believe, or hope, that hearing those words in an A-list picture will help some women feel better about their curvier figures, and will prompt them to indulge freely and eat whatever they like, knowing that they will become even more attractive upon doing so, and will live a more enjoyable life in the process.

TGreer

I think it's great to see a movie that shows that life should be about building memories and not about weight. Some people struggle their whole lives and don't enjoy the little things because they feel the need to always see a specific number on the scale. That's not the life I wish to live.

Thanks for sharing!