Saturday, May 15, 2010

New film: Fat

A filmmaker named Jennifer Jonassen sent me a link to this trailer for a new documentary, FAT, due out later this year. I think it looks pretty interesting. What do you think?


11 comments:

Myndie said...

Looks very interesting! I wish I had the confidence those women have.

Thanks for sharing.

S. said...

It looks excellent. I'll see it, for sure.

Paolo said...

It's really something, let's support it!

Paolo
(Italy)

Rita @ Fitblogger said...

That was awesome, thanks for sharing that.

Kati said...

Very interesting! Would love to see it in its entirety.

~Kati

familyfeedingdynamics said...

I enjoyed much of the message and content but think that some of the images are so over the top intentionally off-putting that I'm not sure I will see the whole thing. I wonder if it's a mistake to show the snake image over and over, or the close-up of vomiting (I'm still feeling a little queezy) or a fairly explicit sex scene. Will it turn people off, is it intentionally in your face to make a point? I don't know, I just know I had a strong emotional reaction to the visuals, and not in a good way. Will that muddy the very important message?

Harriet said...

I had very similar reactions to yours, family. In fact I nearly didn't watch the whole trailer because I was really put off by some of the opening images.

Danielle said...

That was a mixed bag for me as a fat woman...

I think that the part that is the hardest is, even as someone working so hard to accept myself- I fall into the defensive trap of projection, and find myself upset with the message because I am uncomfortable with MYSELF (ie: my body, fat).

Since we, as a society, are so scared of fat, I am sure it illicits that feeling is more than just a fellow fat person. I am sure many of all sizes will feel that creep up.

I know that is not what I am SUPPOSED to say, but it is a large part of the truth. With the "war on obesity" raging, I believe that the average american fears being fat more than actual war.

The preview felt a little campy, and a little gross. The obvious scenes of puking, but it there also seemed to be a bias towards showing fat people sweating in this piece, and I feel like the person doing the production or editing is either oblivious to the stereotype of sweaty fat people, or purposefully doing it?? It just seemed excessive. I guess I expect a little more consideration and class in a documentary trying to explain the pain behind the way obese people are treated- the serious nature of the hate.

Phew. That really was a rough one for me!

paper lanterns said...

I thought the same thing you did. it is hard tos wallow. good luck.

Jessica said...

I recently read your book Feed me!.
I lost alot of weight from a chronic illness. I lost my apetite and just couldn't eat. When I ate I was struck by intense nausea. I got tons of compliment on my weight loss. Many said that oh, that would be a wonderful dieting method, just lose your apetite and not crave anything. Well, what I craved was apples, mineralwater and an occassional grape. What I had and still have is a rare syndrome affecting the way the body can balance and regulate its need for nutrition. The pivotal hormones and enzymes necessary for eating and nutrition was now gone. I struggled, I was in the hospital on IV's, I was treated for mineral deficiency. And yet, all though people knew I was ill and couldn't really function well, I kept getting compliments on my looks. My hair was a mess, my nails had softened, I slept all the time.
I was in the hospital for a looong time because there they served 3 meals a day, I had lost any semblance of feeling natural hunger.

I've yo-yoed in my weight since my initial diagnosis but I eventually put some of the most critical weight loss back on. I got comments on how unfortunate that was. To this day I am at a loss. I was sick, had I gotten an infection or somehow gotten critically ill and required life support I would not have survived.

I am prohibited to diet. The biochemistry being so fragile that if the exclude one food item, when everything can fall down again. I still need to time myself. I still see a dietician and when the craving for the apples, mineralwater and the occasional other fruit and digestive crackers, I go to the ER.
Yet, my underweight and how sick I was, it was and still is encouraged. I can't understand it, I will never be able to.

Anonymous said...

actually its Julian Dahl who is the film maker. Jennifer is starring in it. Great comments!
www.fat-film.com