The Mary Sue: As the conversation around diversity and inclusivity continues in Hollywood, people are expanding the definitions and boundaries not only who gets represented, but the forms that representation takes. James Corden spoke about being a “chubby person” in entertainment during an interview on David Tennant’s podcast.
12 comments:
I remember a couple of years ago there was an episode of Empire which including a sex scene involving Gabourey Sidibe, which according to this article would fall under the category of 'chubby person.' This episode received backlash because she was "too large." This is absolutely ridiculous, and an issue James Corden seems to be echoing as well now. Pop culture sets an ultimate standard that while is achievable by a few, is unachievable by most. We don't seem to be aware of this particular fact, even though it would probably help improve our own self esteem when it comes to having to live in our own bodies day after day. Romance and sex are just parts of life, that everyone can experience. It's absolute bs that the media would only show these scenes with cultivated bodies and persons. It's not that they shouldn't show that, because body positivity is about trying to show all types and sizes, but we need to be more body inclusive. People live their lives based on what they see in television, and if someone sees in the media that because of how they look or how much they weigh they can never be loved, then, sad as it might be, they'll believe that.
I've noticed that frequently in TV we see bigger men portrayed as the fun middle aged dad type with the tiny "out of his league" woman. Rarely do we see normal women portrayed at all, and rarely are men ever placed in any position under the age of 30, or outside of a comedic relief role. Some of our media has started diversifying, but we have yet to really see true representation on TV. I think we like to think that if there is a "bit" part on TV that it is an adequate representation of an entire community or group of people, when in reality that's just a small piece of these people, who are being relegated into a tiny position that barely represents them, and they aren't allowed out of that. One thing that Corden doesn't really acknowledge is that there's more space for so called "husky" men, but there is no space for any woman above size 5. I could rattle off men who are bigger on tv, but can count on one hand a list of women. Every aspect of the industry needs a complete overhaul on what we consider to be a "regular person"
This article addresses something that is a huge problem in social media and television. I am glad that there are more and more shows and movies now that include people who do not just fit the warped “ideal,” but I think there is still a lot of work to be done. I have noticed that when there are movies that feature people who do not look like the typical movie stars, the main topic of the movie is their body. While most movies never address or acknowledge the bodies of the characters, because they are accepted as the norm, movies about plus-size people are often solely focused on their journeys towards loving themselves. While there is value in showing that plus-size people exist and can love themselves, which honestly should go without saying, I still wish that there were movies and television shows that never acknowledge anything out of ordinary with their leading characters and can explore the same features of life as any other form of entertainment.
I agree with everyone who has already posted that this is definitely a problem in our society and I am glad that there are starting to be more articles like this and more people are pushing for better representation for all body types. This article brings up a very good point that bigger white men are portrayed more often than those of other races or women and if James Corden is recognizing how hard it is for him in this industry to play roles other than the funny friend, imagine how hard it is for bigger men of color and women to be represented in film and TV. The industry is making some big steps forward with some of the shows and movies that were talked about in this article, and yet like Elizabeth mentioned about the show Empire, they are still getting backlash because they are putting bigger people in these roles. At some point, this is a problem of the industry and of society itself. But, if the entertainment industry can redefine what they consider a “normal person” then that would be a good step in society reconsidering it too.
“Then ban it from being performed” ? How is this legally possible to ensure no one anywhere could do this. This is a load of crap. I am far too lazy to actually listen to the songs back to back to form my own opinion but something tells me coincidences do happen. Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber is well known for copying or modifying themes of famous pieces of music, most of which are not copyrighted anymore. Heck, the motif in Beauty and the Beast is a derivation of Carnival of the Animals which Alan Menken happily acknowledges. I side with Lauper on this case, it seems like they are way to excessive in their demands which usually seems to me that they are scrounging for lots of money and not because they want a wrong righted. I really hope they fight this to the end, but if they do discover a purposeful misuse of a melody, I would hope they get what’s coming.
Everything he says is true. I experienced this a lot on the football team as a lineman where the stereotype is that we are big, gentle, and oafish. Anyone who knows me knows the last two are not true. And most of all you are never the attractive ones, the quarterback and receivers get the girls not the 250 lb lineman. I console myself by watching old films where the great character actors like Charles Laughton, Robert Morley, and Peter Lorre were large men who were classy and well respected men in society, not sloppy beer filled frat boys. I have very much respect for James Corden and what he is trying to do because no one talks about male body positivity, because I “should never have a body image issue.” And to be quite honest I have a huge body image issue. I never feel comfortable enough and luckily I have a few men to look up to as an example of how to deal with it.
It is unfair that plus sized people have so many obstacles to jump through to be a part of anything. Like there are so many social constructs that are not really important and I think there should be less because it is so unfair. I know that I am skinny enough that I don't have to deal with any of this but I am so mad for them. Like "plus sized" models are not actually that plus sized. There should be more representation for them in the industry because the average size of a woman in America is like a size 16. I really think that there is not a fair distribution of representation in this country and other places are doing better and I really hope that we can learn from example and be better in the future. There are so many plus sized people that are amazing and they deserve more.
Representation is something which many people nowadays seem to agree is important, however it seems few actually take the actions to implement it. I find it really exciting when someone in media looks kind of like me; I say kind of considering the likely hood of a mixed east asian person being on TV as slim. And as much as its pleasant to be shown and to connect to that character, the humanizing aspects that come with being represented are far more exciting. I like this article because it is absolutely true, that the majority of our population is of greater sizer than what we see represented. Since I was a child, I, like my friends, aspired to be the young thin beautiful smart characters. That is because so often, the characters actually given any depth, were those of conventional attractiveness. This leaves an after effect, of us believing that the people we want/want to be are those who are conventionally attractive. The “good” characters. Representing bigger, more realistic bodies will make movies truly art. They will help us learn to love ourselves more, and expand what we are taught to feel about our own bodies, and help see the people around us as real people as well.
It is interesting (and a bit unexpected) to read James Corden discussing this issue. I missed the part where the author of the article is quoting Corden’s remarks from an unrelated podcast, and I was a bit confused as to why they were interviewing him for this particular topic. The article has a line about how if white men have it hard, everyone else has it much harder, and using a white man as a herald for this issue is a bit antithetical to the purpose. The rest of the article is about body diversity, mostly of women, in romantic roles in film and television. I think if the author were to discuss body diversity in the media more generally, Corden might be a fine jumping off point, but he does not seem like the right ambassador for the issue. I have little doubt that the women playing the roles mentioned elsewhere in the article, among many others, would be glad to speak truth to the matters at hand.
First of all, I love James Corden. All the late night shows are really funny and really entertaining, but he is doing things that I honestly could just watch for hours. I think he himself, as a brand and for commercial purposes, is the perfect face for anything. He looks like your average nice man and then turns out to the from the UK and very funny. I also think it's important to have representation of every kind in the industry and everyone. I also think that when people stop actively trying to represent everyone and just consider the normal people instead casting the same atypical character, then there won’t be such a need for representation because it’ll be happening naturally and on its own. That’s the ideal goal but obviously it's much easier said than done, but I don’t think it needs to be that difficult, as if casting directors would consider normal people, everyone would be represented.
This is really an unfortunate side effect of the media and the way they portray beauty and sex. It truly doesn’t represent reality, and I don’t think there’s a good way to reverse what one hundred years of Hollywood idealized beauty has set the beauty standard. Even now, with the surge in diversity and representation in the media, there’s still a bias towards slim, tall, supermodel women and men. The only way to create a new beauty standard is to constantly and repetitively have more representation of every race, body type, and gender. The problem, is that conventional beauty sells, and Hollywood is fueled by money. The industry would take a significant hit but no longer casting “gorgeous” people. However, I feel like this is the price to pay to change and progress the entertainment industry. By casting people who represent the majority of America, we will be supporting body positivity and help people feel more connected to the people they see on the screen. Maybe we’ll open up doors to people to believe that they can do anything they set their minds to by showing them that you don’t have to be stick thin and gorgeous to experience all the joys in life.
I’m fairly slim, and I have been for my entire life, so seeing more thin people in movies or media being the only ones who were able to be romantic or sexual had never registered as not being normal. More recently I’ve been becoming more aware of how the media likes to show, or refrain from showing, different types of people and understanding more about how it affects them. I’d come to realize it had affected me not seeing much representation of myself, which then made me understand how leaving out other body types would make people with those characteristics feel awful as well. The way ‘beauty’ ideals are being glorified as being the major point in being able to bond with people or be intimate isn’t right. Beauty isn’t something that’s just skin deep, and there are many levels of complexity to forming meaningful relationships what happen between all different types of figures. You can be loved and wanted without being insanely skinny. I know there’s been a little bit of change recently with certain body positivity movements, but there’s still a very long way to go before Hollywood’s perfected facade isn’t seen as normality.
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