Oh Apatow, I have a bone to pick with you… Now don’t get me wrong, Bridesmaids is absolutely hysterical. You know when you hear from everyone you know how great a movie is and you’re so excited to see it only to be utterly disappointed? Well that won’t happen with this one, Bridesmaids IS as funny as everyone says, I was literally in tears, BUT…
I was very disappointed in how plus size women were portrayed. When I saw Melissa McCarthy on the posters looking awesome in her hot pink satin dress I thought, “Yes! finally a fat girl in a movie.” Turns out she isn’t the only one either but I don’t want to give away too much of the plot. Unfortunately, McCarthy is portrayed as a butch, burping, farting, disgusting mess. The other big blonde girl in the flick is a diary reading, low life, freeloader, with no boundaries. Would it really have been so difficult to let a big girl be beautiful? I know it’s a comedy and stereotypes are usually exaggerated, but come on!
My one consolation is that McCarthy’s character, despite her revulsion, has self esteem up the wazoo. She never thought for a second she was any less than the hottest woman in the room. But it would have been nice if a few other people could have agreed. Still, you should see the movie and form an opinion for yourself. Am I totally off base here?
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Amanda Villegas is a proudly curvaceous woman living in New York City. She is an opera singer and marketing professional with a passion for empowering people to never be afraid of who they are. You can read more of her thoughts at www.curvaliciousdiva.blogspot.com.
Amanda Villegas -- Daily Venus Diva.
Hi Amanda! No, you are not alone in your thoughts on Bridesmaids. I felt EXACTLY the same way. I was filled with glee to see two plus sized actresses on the screen but wondered why neither could have been depicted as faaaaabulously as all of the plus sized women I know. Is that how the character was written? Did the stylist go shopping and think “I can’t find anything, i give up!”???
Melissa McCarthy is an wonderful actress, and I can’t wait to see more of her. In fact, I even thought her character in this movie could spin off into her own movie. The men from SNL have those opportunities with their characters so why not do one with this one?
Regardless, I’m looking forward to more inclusion and I’m taking this movie as a step in the right direction.
I thought the movie was hysterical and all of the women were a hot mess when you think about it. No one was without flaws….it’s just that Melissa’s character was fighting the obvious weight prejudice because you had the external visual and the character traits to add a little more repulsion to the mix. But I like that all of them “got what they needed/wanted” in the end no matter what convoluted ways they went about getting….
stop whining
I am not sure how the character was written, but Melissa McCarthy herself drove the look of the character. After reading the script, she decided what she thought the character would look like and showed up to the audition like that. I say kudos to her for playing that role to the hilt.