Dollhouse, Fat Willow, And Joss Whedon
Nonk sent in a post from Alas, A Blog about Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse—the character of Mellie, in particular. Mellie is played by Miracle Laurie, who is like, a size four, instead of the size zero of co-stars like Eliza Dushku, Amy Acker, and the absolutely fantastic Dichen Lachman. Miracle Laurie is quoted in the post:
Let me start by saying thank you to those of you who have said ridiculously kind and sweet things about my work on the show, but also about my figure. It’s a very satisfying feeling to have one of the most influential creators, producers and writers in the industry fight to have “normal-sized women†on his shows. To have Joss Whedon say, “You’re beautiful, sexy, strong and normal and there should be more women like you on TV and I don’t know why there aren’t†feels incredible, as you could imagine. I think everyone wants to be skinnier than they are, it’s just the way it is.
Before I get to my critique of Joss Whedon, Maia from Alas has some thoughtful things to say about Miracle Laurie’s place on the show:
For most women, looking like Miracle Laurie is just as much as an unattainable beauty standard than looking like Amy Acker (who is an awesome actress, and I’m just using as an example because she’s also in Dollhouse). Miracle Laurie is somewhere round the bottom 15% of American women when it comes to height and weight ratio and her body is of a particular type (plus her hair looks like shampoo commercial).
But Miracle Laurie as Mellie, given her [sexual] story arc, does disrupt an idea that advertisers rely on. I think any single image of what is attractive is damaging (particularly for women, given how we are taught to view our attractiveness as a primary factor in our value). But one of the things that I think is particularly damaging about the standard of beauty in our society is that there is no end, there is no ‘thin enough.’ Our society has an anorexic vision of women – where any flesh, any fat, any space is too much.
I loved reading this post, but I hardly think Joss Whedon is someone to be applauded, based on his history. The leads of his shows are tiny, thin women. He in fact loves tiny, thin women: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Amy Acker, Emma Caulfield, Dushku, etc. etc. In the original script for Firefly (which I read, because my sister worked on the show) Kaylee was described as “voluptuous”; she ended up being played by Jewel Staite. Cute, but thin. And he recast Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who was originally played by Riff Regan, a fat chick. And not only that, the “fat Willow” was more insecure:
Willow represents the biggest difference between this piece and the actual series premiere. The original pilot Willow is an insecure girl who provides Buffy with someone to rescue. She stands up for herself at the end, but she does not possess the official Willow’s helpful computer skills. Granted, her character might have been developed further had she kept the role, but she frankly lacks the chemistry that Alyson Hannigan immediately establishes with the others. She is, however, more convincing as a high-school geek girl. Regan ultimately would appear in the series as an extra.
I’m not saying Riff Regan was better for the part than Alyson Hannigan, or that Jewel Staite wasn’t great in Firefly, or any of that. I’m just saying that Joss has biffed many opportunities for body diversity; at the very least, he could have done better for Riff Regan than “extra.” The fact that he cast Miracle Laurie and she’s not a size zero is just not enough, as far as I’m concerned.
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What’s more, there’s no way Whedon could even play the ‘Hollywood pressure’ card because the skinny chicks ‘r us theme extends into the graphic novels as well! Season Eight of Buffy, in the comics, where every potential slayer in the world becomes part of team Buffy. Guess what? Not a one even leans towards breaking the slayer-typing. Plenty of nods to cultural diversity but basically no size variation.
Sure, I get they’re meant to be stunningly fit and such but c’mon already. We all know there are plenty of plus-sized potentials out there who’d very likely kick some serious Vamp arse if given the chance. I’d just like to see it, is all. There have to be more options than waif-like cheerleader and slim, sex-goddess ninja! I’m all for those, too but a vague nod to diversity might be nice, now and again.
It is my understanding that Jewel Staite actually gained about 20 pounds in order to play Kaylee. I read that several years ago and had to look up pictures of her to see if it was true. Believe it or not, I think she was significantly bigger on Firefly. Such a sad state of affairs when actors have to gain wait for a role, still end up on the small side of “average,” and STILL get grief for being too chubby. (Not that that necessarily happened to anyone mentioned in the article, but we know that it does, unfortunately, happen.)
While I like Dollhouse, actually, I’m a bit more cynical. I thought that Joss Whedon chose her to contrast with Eliza Dushku in the average viewer’s mind; where Miracle is supposed to represent the girl next door, reality, a relationship that’s reachable, and Eliza Dushku represents a fantasy. So while I really like Miracle as an actress, I got the sense that Joss Whedon picked her more because she looks ‘too fat’ based on society stereotypes. Which is kind of depressing, I’ll admit.
He doesn’t really use fat actors either. All the men are thin, if not emaciated, at least normal to thin.
I really felt like on the show they dressed Mellie often to make her look fat, almost matronly. (Which, y’know, didn’t really work and was vaguely insulting) The clothes she wore were often big and tent like and less flattering, and y’know, she’s NOT AT ALL FAT.
But I still feel a little better about myself when I watch Dollhouse than I do when I watch… say… Bones, or TrueBlood. At least he’s TRYING a LITTLE.
Did anyone else see Exploitmercials that aired between Dollhouse and Terminator episodes with Summer Glau and Eliza Dushku? They are both SO skinny, it was depressing in soooo many ways.
I really felt like on the show they dressed Mellie often to make her look fat, almost matronly. (Which, y’know, didn’t really work and was vaguely insulting) The clothes she wore were often big and tent like and less flattering, and y’know, she’s NOT AT ALL FAT.
The same thing happened with Tara on Buffy. They dressed her, most of the time, in the most ridiculously unflattering clothing, as if to emphasize that she wasn’t as extremely tiny as Buffy and Willow and Anya. It was as if they wanted to create the impression that Tara was fat, when Amber Benson is a pretty thin woman.
My main problem with Joss is how directly and totally his shows tend to play into the myth of redemptive violence, but beyond that I just don’t find his shows that impressive in terms of gender. (I do enjoy his shows a lot, but I just don’t consider them particularly groundbreaking or progressive.)
My husband was talking the other night about how funny it is that we’ve come, as a culture, to equate being skinny with being strong and healthy that we actually don’t even consider it ironic any more when a really, really skinny character punches a larger character across the room. We just think that OF COURSE an extremely thin woman could kick the ass of anybody, because obviously thin people can do anything. In real life? There’s a reason why they divide boxers into weight classes, and it’s not because the thinner boxers would be beating the crap out of the heavier ones.
As long as we have this belief that being really thin makes you stronger and fitter, then it’s not even transgressive or ironic to have really thin heroines kicking ass; it’s just buying to the same stereotypes society at large is selling us.
@LilahCello — that’s correct. I saw Jewel at a panel last July and she talked about Joss casting her and saying something along the lines of “Shooting starts in two weeks, so let’s see how much weight you can gain by then.” Jewel went on to say that she’s naturally a very slim person and putting the weight on and keeping it on was difficult for her.
I personally think that’s really interesting in the context of the GateFail discussions — if he wanted Kaylee to be bigger than Jewel, why couldn’t he have found an actress bigger than Jewel? I mean, she’s a fantastic Kaylee and I honestly can’t imagine anyone else in the role, but I think it comes down to that there aren’t many roles for fat actresses, ergo there aren’t any fat actresses, so when it comes time to find a fat actress, there aren’t any.
Of course, I think when I say “fat actress,” I really mean intermediate-size. There are definitely fat actresses who play mammy roles or really extreme examples of fatness but it really seems like in Hollywood everyone is either a size 0 or a size 30. There isn’t any in-between. I’m not sure whether that’s a product of our anorexic culture or an intentional choice, but either way I think it goes a long way towards contributing to that dichotomy– my two options are size 0 or fat cow, and I’m not a size 0, so I must be a fat cow, even if I’m only a size 4.
Speaking of size 4s, I was thrilled to see Miracle Laurie as Mellie/November– especially since when she and Paul first started having sex, it hadn’t been revealed that she was a Doll. I didn’t like that she was presented at first as sort of pathetic– always hanging around his apartment and stuff– but her inclusion at all is really a step in the right direction. Especially considering that her love interest was a pretty skinny guy.
I think in general, Joss has a history of having really good intentions with women, minorities, etc., and then falling short. But I think he’ll get there eventually. And fans are always quick to correct him, haha.
Pretty much just word to what you all have already said. I love me some Whedon-verse, but the (SMALL) amounts of size inclusivity that have been present are really just including folks who are larger than their own norm, not anyone truly plus-sized. (In the finale, one awakened slayer was a girl whom I’d put as a size 12-14, & it made me SO happy. Still, she wasn’t really *large*, and to hear that they’ve backpedalled totally in the graphic novels is disappointing, but utterly unsusprising given Whedon’s track record on body sizes.
Jewel Staite did gain weight to play Kaylee on the show; she didn’t gain that weight for the film, so she’s slimmer in Serenity. However, you can totally see that she’s only ‘voluptuous’ based on the Hollywood Thin model.
Complete ditto on the matron-izing of Tara and Mellie; some of it went with their characters, but they kept it up long past when that was relevant in both cases. I still remember being stunned at how clasically pretty Amber Benson was when she was in the musical episode – she was given clothing with shape! How weird!
V. interesting to see Riff Regan as Willow – I remember that they kind of vacillated on Willow’s character a lot in Season 1, & now I think that part of it may have been due to the fact that they no longer had her weight as a character element.
I really like Whedon’s writing & the ways in which he writes women, given the current climate in Hollywood. However, he’s far from perfect, and I think that he sometimes gets a pass b/c he’s so much better than most of the mainstream writers and producers out there. For Miracle, I’m sure that it *is* refreshing to work for someone who doesn’t see her size 4 body as ridiculous; we just need to get to a place where that’s true of size 8, size 12 and size 30 bodies as well.
Hi all. Apologies for commandeering the thread. I would like to ask BFDers a favor. Would you please read this article, and write a respectful, educational response to Kevin Coupe (the blog’s author)? Mr. Coupe writes this daily overview of the retail industry and, even though his is a narrowly-targeted site, he often – in mainstream media fashion – dips his toe into fat=unhealthy territory.
Today, he comments on the story of Jason Newsom — the Florida doctor who lost his job for posting sayings like “French Fries = Thunder Thighs†on an electronic sign outside his office. A search through the blog’s archives will uncover plenty of other retail industry stories on which Mr. Coupe reinforced the fat=unhealthy message. In the past, I have submitted comments to try and convince him to address the food/health connection without reference to body size and/or weight. He, like so many others, has swallowed whole the fat=unhealthy pill. That said, he occasionally makes comments that lead me to believe that he is open to learning about things.
Wouldn’t it be grand if he received so many intelligent, well-written comments about the reality of fat health (and, conversely, the myth of thin health) that he started to see the light? Thanks!
So a size 0 is healthy and fit and a size 4 is big fat cow? Wow, that’s a lot to live up to.
I have a theory that most people, left to their own devices will find a weight that’s comfortable and healthy for them, but instead we are forced to starve ourselves, which can lead to overconsumption, which leads to gaining weight, which leads to starving themselves, messing up their minds and bodies trying to reach the unattainable.
AMEN. I love Joss Whedon’s shows, but I am beyond pissed with him for his treatment of size in his shows. In every single show, he casts tiny women in most of the lead spots, then writes in a token “fat” (generally sweet and maternal) character who is invariably played by a size four in frumpy clothes. Much as I enjoy watching Miracle Laurie, its hard for me to view this as great size acceptance progress. Don’t get me wrong: Tara and Mellie and Kaylee are all great characters, but suggesting that they represent the average woman is just crazy.
And thanks for the info on the original Willow…I had no idea!
I really loved the fat slayer too, especially since her awakening happened at a moment of helplessness. I’m beyond pissed that she didn’t make it into the comics, but maybe she’s busy being too awesome for words.
If size 4 is a big fat cow, then I am four-and-a-half big fat cows!
Mooo.
I have family in LA, on the fringe of the movie industry and it makes me so very sad when one of them strikes up a conversation on “how does one raise children to avoid body issues?” and I realize quickly that they mean “how does one raise children that will never ever be over 120lb?”
The thing is there is no “normal-sized woman”, but if anything were “normal” it should just mean that you are the size your body is meant to be.
Getting people to accept that they aren’t really meant to be whatever tiny size they wish they were is probably harder than getting them to think of larger sizes as acceptable…
Thanks for the link. I wasn’t trying to praise Joss though. Rather argue that the problems are structural, rather than about individuals. That there is very little lee-way that is acceptable to networks and advertisers. If you have to fight for Miracle Laurie, then actually getting something dificult is impossible.
The example of Willow actually underscores that. Riff Regan was recast because Joss and the studio couldn’t agree on an actress
I don’t think it’s enough either. I love television, but if supporting women hating their bodies is a condition for making network TV, then people who decide to make network TV are making a pretty fucked deal.
I still feel that Joss Whedon is someone to count in the body acceptance movement. Kaylee is a good example of that: Jewel was cast because she completely embodies the essence of the character, even though her physical form does not fit the original vision (I would say the same about Hannigan). In the Firefly commentary, Joss states that he had to really push and convince Jewel to gain weight for the role, to physically become closer to what he had originally envisioned for Kaylee. In another commentary track, Jewel reiterates his statement. In the film Serenity, after having moved on from Firefly, Jewel lost weight and went back down to the size she usually was for other acting jobs. Comparing the two appearances, Jewel in Firefly was significantly heavier/curvier.
Also, while Hannigan is very small, he had to fight to keep her appearance as the “nerd”. In Buffy-related commentary, he spoke of how the studio kept trying to push to make Willow cooler and more like Buffy. While weight was not the issue, he had to fight to prove that showing a woman onscreen who isn’t in the “hip and sexy” clothes and wearing supermodel levels of makeup is worth watching.
P.S. Can you tell I know WAY too much about Joss Whedon related projects?
Sorry, but when a size 4 is considered “fat” or even “normal,” we have, as a society, officially gone out of our tree. Give me Marilyn Monroe or Jayne Mansfield over any of the skinny-minnies, any time.
BTW, James Marsters, who was on “Angel,” talks quite openly about how hard it is to stay at his current weight. He says that he basically has to resign himself to “being hungry all the time.”
That is NOT normal!!!!
But a size 4 is normal for some people. Marilyn Monroe? She was about an 8/10 and the difference between a size 4 and a size 8 is only about 3 inches.
The best body type for anyone is the one they are meant to have, saying a certain size isn’t normal for any reason is just putting down the people who are actually meant to be that size.
I met Joss Whedon once and asked him the question about why all the women in the Dollhouse were so skinny. Interestingly enough, the original premise for the series was to have women of all shapes and sizes as he said that “everyone’s fantasy is different”. Unfortunately, Fox would not support that vision.
I personally believe that Joss Whedon is a huge advocate of the body acceptance movement and is sadly constrained by the commerical, narrow-minded system around him.
I probably would have never watched Dollhouse if it wasn’t for this post, so thanks for pointing me towards a good show. I’m really enjoying it so far.
I don’t know if it’s the way things look on tv (or movies) or if it’s the fact that when you group people of a similar sizing there isn’t much to compare against, but it does mess with your perception of the size of actors. If it wasn’t for the way Eliza Dushku’s bones show in her chest when she gets up I wouldn’t have thought she was very thin at all, maybe even average. I probably would have thought her to be atleast a 4 and Miracle Laurie an 8 or maybe even 10.
The media messes with your head more than you notice I guess…
To be fair, I don’t know that we can blame Joss Whedon for the portrayal of all Slayers as super-skinny in the comics. There are a bunch of other writers involved, and the tendency in comic book art right now is for women to look like Barbie dolls. But I haven’t read the comics, so I’m generalizing.
I love Miracle Laurie, but Dollhouse gave me the epic creeps. Ugh. And whoever mentioned the lack of good costume choices is right on.
Yes, Jewel Staite gained a couple of pounds for Firefly (the series), but if you have seen her bee ultra-thin in the movie Serenity or Stargate Atlantis, you won’t argue that natural Jewel + 20 pounds is still significantly smaller than even Miracle Laurie. It is nowhere near “voluptuousâ€. Plus one other character Whedon officially identified as fat (and repeatedly called the actress euphemisms such as “voluptuous†and “womanly”) is Tara, Willow’s girlfriend (see also Dead Lesbian Syndrom). Whoever played her (the name escapes me right now) is equally as not fat as Jewel, Miracle and anyone ever in any Whedon show. Maybe he tries, but his perception of fat is just too skewed to be helpful at all.
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