fatphobia

“Men putting on weight is different from women putting on weight.” So says the boyfriend of Rika Machida, a Tokyo-based journalist on the verge of “becoming the first woman to make the editorial desk” at her newspaper, the Shūmei Weekly, and the protagonist of this delicious offering – a bestseller in Japan – from Asako Yuzuki. In taking a cleaver to such comments, Yuzuki exposes the misogynist gristle, resulting in an incisive, at times thrilling novel about fatphobia, the pleasures of consumption and the often murky…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain In a society that is chronically online, the term "fatphobic" is often used to describe certain public figures, pieces of media and industries. One example is Taylor Swift's video for "Anti-Hero." Another is a movie titled "The Whale," which opened late last fall to wide critical acclaim and details the struggles of an obese man played by Brendan Fraser, who was recognized with the Oscar for…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeMaybe The Whale was doomed from the start. Darren Aronofsky’s mawkish Oscar-bait drama – starring Brendan Fraser as a morbidly obese man reeling from the death of his partner – seemed to break all the rules of contemporary good taste. And not deliberately. For the role, Fraser gained a significant amount of weight, and augmented this with prosthetics; The Whale is built entirely around…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeDarren Aronofsky has defended his new film The Whale against accusations of fatphobia.The film stars Brendan Fraser as an obese and reclusive English teacher who has a troubled relationship with his daughter, played by Sadie Sink. While the film has garnered mixed reviews, Fraser has been praised for his performance, which saw him gain weight for the role and wear and elaborate…

Brendan Fraser wants everyone who sees him in The Whale to know that his appearance isn’t some sort of a stunt or a joke that uses a fat suit as a punch line. The Doom Patrol actor, who is already looking at the Academy Award shortlist due to his critically- acclaimed performance in the film, is hoping that the movie will help bring serious attention to Hollywood’s often fraught relationship with body image and obesity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D30r0CwtIKc “I think we can do a lot better as a society to…

The video for Taylor Swift’s song Anti-Hero, the lead single from her new album Midnights, has been altered days after its initial release to remove the word “fat” from one of its scenes.In the original clip, directed by Swift, the 32-year-old singer and songwriter steps on to a bathroom scale whose dial spins to the reading “Fat”. In the new version of the clip, viewable below, Swift steps on to the scale, receiving a look of disapproval from a doppelganger also played by Swift, but no reading is shown.Taylor Swift’s…