Jackie Keith

Blog 2

Fat on Screen 

       Take a moment and think about some of your favorite actors and actresses. Now think about what roles they play on television or in a film. Did you think of a main character with a love interest or a powerful role with a skinny body frame? Or did you think about the funny sidekick who is over weight? Media has a huge influence on how one views themselves. Media tends to stereotype body frames which people start to believe about themselves.
       “Fat people experience the same range of emotions and demonstrate the same variety of personality quirks and foibles as any other human being, yet the vast representations in the entertainment media are one-dimensional, with the person’s size being the only characteristic that is shown or highlighted.” (Weston, M., & Bliss, D. Pg. 265) In media the over weight character is usually the clown, caregiver, and best friend role. Fat is funny to audiences. Since overweight characters are misrepresented in media, audiences tend to think that what they see on screen, is how overweight people are in real life.
        For example, overweight actress Melissa McCarthy plays all three of these characters in the films Bridesmaid and The Heat. In the film Bridesmaid, Melissa McCarthy plays the soon-to-be sister in-law Megan. She was also the only over weight character in the movie. The character in this film is the funniest of all of the bridesmaids. Her personality is a little unusually and aggressive and that is what makes her funny. There was also a sex scene at the end of the movie with her eating a sandwich off a mans body. This is playing into her body weight and her being a “fat” women. If a skinnier bridesmaid did this scene it would not have had the same reaction. People might not have thought it was as funny as it was when the character Megan did it. When people think of an overweight person, they usually connect them with food even though there can be other causes for a persons weight. Therefore, having food in the bedroom is agreeing with a fat stereotype.
      In the film The Heat, Melissa McCarthy plays officer Shannon Mullian along side the skinny and beautiful Sandra Bullock who plays officer Sarah Ashburn. Officer Mullians is not the most liked officer in the department. Most of the other officers laugh because she is a fat cop. There are scenes in this movie where they show officer Mullians obviously struggling while chasing a criminal. Audiences find this funny because of her weight. There is also another scene where she has an old sandwhich in the fridge that she tried to give to officer Ashburn. This scene is funny because of her weight and clownish attitude. These actions would be viewed differently if officer Mullians was skinnier and was not associated with food when looked at.
       In Bridesmaids, Megan is also seen to be a caregiver. The grooms bosses wife,Helen (Rose Byrne) was also a bridesmaid. When Annie (Kristen Wiig) felt defeated and over shadowed by Helen, Megan gave her a pep talk. Megan told Annie to not back down and give into Helen. Megan made sure that Annie went to the wedding. Megan was also shown as a caregiver when she took all the free puppies that were wedding shower gifts. Although this was hilarious, this action shows that Megan was going to give all these puppies a home which is what a caregiver does.
       In the film The Heat, Officer Mullians is seen as a caregiver in the way she protects her brother. Officer Mullians sent her brother to jail just for his protection. She also risks her life to save him later on in the film. In this film, Officer Ashburn does not have family and it does not really connect with anymore. In the end of this film, Officer Mullians and Officer Ashburn connect and become like sisters. Officer Mullians even goes as far as finding Officer Ashburns missing cat that is not actually hers. This shows Officer Mullians being able to help someone open up and feel loved.
        Lastly in the films Bridesmaids and The Heat, Melissa McCarthy’s characters become best friends with the other characters. Even though she has a funny, quirky, and crazy personality, the other characters learn to love her. This is common with overweight characters. Overweight characters are seen to be more easy going and “cuddly.” The other characters find it easier to open up to a person like this.
        Since audiences only see a minimal representation of overweight people they believe that this is who overweight people are in real life. Overweight people are complete misrepresented. Luckily, a few actors and actresses are trying to break this mold. Melissa McCarthy actually is starring in a television show along side Billy Gardell which is called Mike and Molly. This show is about a married couple who are overweight. This television show represents that overweight people are the same as anyone else and their weight should not define who they are. Melissa McCarthy also constantly shows her fans how normal she is on her Instagram. The picture below shows Melissa McCarthy with her husband with Star Wars characters. This picture illustrates that overweight people can be happily married. This picture also shows that overweight people go out and live their life just like a “skinny” person would.

Work cited

Weston, M., & Bliss, D. (n.d.). Changing Media Images of Weight (Chapter 19) Pg. 265-267.

Melissa McCarthy’s Instagram @melissamccarthy