The Movie Norbit And Stereotypes

A majority of television shows and movies characterize plus-size people as gluttonous eaters, aggressive, overtly funny, bullies, the reassuring best friend, or sloppy dressers. Sadly, those stereotypes still exist today. To understand what is wrong with the overweight stereotype, one must first understand why being overweight is considered a negative thing. Of course, the negative health-related side effects are a big part of it. Hypertension, type two diabetes, heart disease, stroke, sleep apnea, and respiratory problems are all potentially fatal side effects that come from being overweight. (obesity bad) People have taken this stereotype and twisted it to also imply that obese people are lazy, stupid, sloppy, gross, and a number of other …show more content…
Hollywood has found entertainment in not only the real lives of overweight people, but think it is funny to make a profit off of others that are pretending to be overweight in movies. They are meant to portray what some are supposed to find humorable about others. In the movie Norbit, the main character is an overweight woman played by Eddie Murphy in a fat suit. This movie is centered around how demeaning, disgusting, and large she is. The humor is found in every other line as characters make blatant and obvious fat jokes throughout the movie. (norbittttt) Proving that the media finds humor in the disadvantages of obese people, this movie could not be more accurate. If they were to have cast an actual overweight person as the character, it would not have been found funny or humorable. Or maybe it would have, because Hollywood has showed society that “fat people are funny because they are …show more content…
Hairspray was originally released in 1988, and then remade in 2007. Tracy Turnblad, the main character, was always ostracized from society for being a little bit bigger than everyone else. She goes through many trials and tribulations of loathing and self doubt throughout the movie. (hairsprayyyyy) When reading the blurb about this movie, none of this will be mentioned. It only includes the good details of the movie where she gets a spot on a television show and becomes a well-loved dance sensation. This movie is supposed to be about how dancing on the show brought much needed integration into the world around her. However, it fails to mention the other half of the movie that includes her crying to her mother because the other kids do not like her because of her size. Other articles about this movie include the term “pleasantly plump” to describe Tracy. This is another ploy that shows how Hollywood thinks that they can sugar coat typically negative words and make them sound