Fattitude

For many people, attitudes about fatness are ingrained by preschool. That's how Yale Professor Rebecca Puhl puts it in Lyndsey Averill and Viridiana Lieberman's media-focused documentary, which examines the influences that shape those attitudes, like animated, horror, and science fiction villains on the heavier end of the spectrum. Actress and talk show host Ricki Lake remembers that she wanted to star in musicals, like Annie, when she was younger, but her mother told her she "wasn't the starving orphan type." Fortunately, John Waters' Hairspray would provide her with the perfect music-oriented role. Producer Ash Christian (Fat Girls) mentions the other side of the coin: the heavyset sidekick. Granted, some of the examples speakers cite aren't especially heavy, like the average-sized Tom Arnold in James Cameron's True Lies. Other speakers, like author and activist Sonya Renee Taylor (The Body Is Not an Apology), talk about the way race enters the picture in the form of large black women who serve as caretakers. In these cases, they're often asexual and happy to attend to the needs of white people. Fat female characters of all races often play for laughs if they're self-confident or sexually assertive. Speakers also talk about times throughout history, like the extravagant reign of Henry VIII, when full-figured bodies exemplified ideals of wealth and status. Now, the opposite is largely true as fat has come to be associated with poverty and poor behavior. Other topics include reality dieting shows, the weight-loss industry, and disordered eating. If the documentary focuses primarily on women, a few men talk about the ways they have felt disenfranchised, too. The range of voices here allows for a comprehensive look at a timeless topic. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)