Fat jokes: How often do Hollywood movies body shame?
On Groundhog Day, actor Bill Murray tops the list of Hollywood actors for the highest number of body shaming remarks made in films over the past 90 years, according to a new body image study.
The study, 鈥�,鈥� analyzed 1,223 film scripts since 1925 and found that comedies tipped the scales on derogatory remarks about weight and body image.
鈥淒idn鈥檛 we do this yesterday?鈥� Mr. Murray鈥檚 character聽聽of a man which the IMDB film database references as聽聽when he first begins to realize that Feb. 2 has repeated itself. 鈥淒on鈥檛 mess with me, porkchop! What day is this?鈥�
The study was performed by researchers at聽, a for-profit marketing platform that seeks to connect those diagnosed with eating disorders with treatment options. The study takes aim at Hollywood鈥檚 influence on how American society views body聽image.
鈥淏ody issue and weight are emotionally charged issues in our culture right now, as exemplified by聽Barbie changing聽her look to be more sensitive to the impact on the culture,鈥� says Erin Hogg a member of the marketing team that sought to promote Bulimia.com, in a phone interview.
The study comes at a time when there are efforts underway that reflect a shift in concepts of idealized Western beauty and body size. Plus-size models, including Tess Holliday聽last year, have emerged as a niche within the fashion industry. Pop singer聽Meghan Trainor's聽hit song 鈥溾�� became an anthem of the movement to embrace beauty in all sizes. And one of Hollywood's brightest stars, Jennifer Lawrence, said she has struggled with an industry norm that initially expected her to be thinner. Last summer, Ms. Lawrence indicated that :
"I had a conversation with somebody about the struggles with weight in the industry - I know that's something I talk nonstop about," Lawrence said. "And they were saying, 'All of the main movie stars aren't very underweight.' I said, 'Yeah, because once you get to a certain place [in your career], people will hire you. They just want you to be in the movie, so they don't care.' It's more about the struggle for the actors and actresses who听丑补惫别苍'迟聽made it to a certain place."
But her comments also imply what the study found: It's still an issue for Hollywood.
罢丑别听聽study looks at which movies and genres mention weight the most. It also looked at which actors most frequently appear in these films or play characters with weight-related names like 鈥淔at Lou鈥� and 鈥淐hubby Man.鈥�
Overall, the study finds that comedies聽聽with 23.86 percent of weight-related remarks. On average, the study finds, Bill Murray remarks on someone鈥檚 weight eight times per film throughout his career. 鈥淭here is a very fat pair of pants hanging on the flagpole this morning,鈥� Murray says as Tripper in 1979鈥檚 鈥淢eatballs.鈥�
Remarks tallied in the study may also be self-deprecating like those made by actresses Rebel Wilson who famously played 鈥溾�� in the聽听尘辞惫颈别蝉.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kinda sad when you have characters with names like 鈥楩at Amy鈥� who calls herself 鈥楩at Amy鈥� so people won鈥檛 call her that first,鈥櫬爏ays Ms. Hogg.聽鈥淚t鈥檚 no laughing matter.鈥�
Comedienne :聽鈥淭hat鈥檚 the reason people become funny is to overcome pain. The most basic is the fat kid making the fat joke first.鈥�
Adrienne Ressler, vice president of the聽, says in a phone interview,聽聽鈥淧eople will often make fat references and jokes about themselves and it鈥檚 defensive.鈥�
鈥淒espite political correctness, it just seems that laughing at fat people or making fun of fat people just hasn鈥檛 made the cut there [in Hollywood],鈥� Ms. Ressler adds. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e [Hollywood鈥檚] just not getting the message.鈥澛犅�
After comedies, action films are a close second holding 23.51 precent of mentions of weight.
Nicolas Cage鈥檚 2011 action film 鈥溾�� mentions weight the聽: characters referred to weight 31 times during the 104-minute-long film.
Hogg says she hopes Hollywood gets the message, 鈥淲e need to raise awareness and gets people thinking about how body weight and body image are talked about in pop culture. It鈥檚 an interesting time, especially for kids, who are being fed a lot of messages. A lot of the stuff out there is just unrealistic.鈥�
But, as recently as Monday, Hollywood鈥檚聽Central Casting Agency聽drew fire on聽Facebook聽for a casting call for聽background players聽that critics say flies in the face of the movement against unrealistic body images.
Central Casting鈥檚聽聽reads: 鈥淲e are looking for men, 6鈥�2鈥� or taller-NOBODY shorter, that have abs for days. I鈥檓 talking about washboard abs, a defined 6 pack! (please don鈥檛 waste your time submitting, if I cannot use your abs to wash laundry on.)鈥�
The post concludes, 鈥淵ou will be shirtless鈥� Please include a picture of your abs!鈥� Central Casting did not respond to request for comment.
鈥淭hat is a part of compartmentalizing your body,鈥� says Ressler. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the things, in terms of body image, that really keeps people from seeing themselves as a whole or complete. They鈥檙e just a series of body parts. What鈥檚 interesting is that this is for background players, not even lead players. It鈥檚 like everything is reinforcing that image here and there鈥檚 no escape.鈥�
"Give me a break! Central Casting is looking for smaller and smaller sizes, like they come from a magazine," ubiquitous film and television Background Performer聽聽posted on Facebook in response. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not looking for real people. It's all about the perception of reality...鈥�
In an interview Mr. Redding adds,聽鈥淪ize definitely matters. Working as a background actor in Hollywood, the emphasis on weight and size can either make or break you. Many times, production teams ask for specific sizes when casting background players, and 鈥� if you aren鈥檛 careful 鈥� you can, literally, eat yourself out of a job.鈥�
