Does this new show strike you as fatist or fat positive? And why do you think so?

Filed under: Advertising, Dance Your Ass Off, Hairspray, TV, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 28 Comments »

The New York Times did an article a few days ago about A-list male stars gaining weight. Amid jokes about extra chins and such, the article lists Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, John Travolta, and Leonardo DiCaprio as examples of male stars who have fattened up. Hugh Grant, 48, who played the skinny cad to a [...]

Filed under: Angelina Jolie, Celebrities, Feminism, Gossip, Gwyneth Paltrow, Media, Movies, Renee Zelwegger, Sarah Jessica Parker | 19 Comments »

The Zaftig Thespian, Jen Ponton, has a fabulous interview up at Plus Model Magazine, about being a fat actress. And not the self-loathing, Jenny Craig joining, Kirstie Alley kind, either. Jennifer Jonassen: Any dream roles? Jen Ponton: My dream role? I have the soul of a leading lady, not a sidekick–so a dream role ?(that [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Celebrities, Fat Positive, Kirstie Alley, Magazines, Movies, TV, Theater, Tidbit | 5 Comments »

Matt sent along a bit of interesting celebrity news last week. He writes that according to Aint It Cool News, Jim Carrey is going to gain 40 pounds to play Curly Howard. He adds: In the FA community, it’s pretty accepted that fat actors have a better shot at success than fat actresses, but here’s [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Gossip, Humor, Movies, Tidbit, Video | 5 Comments »

So my feelings about celebrities who lose weight are well documented and I believe could be summed up as “conflicted.” Seth Rogan totally gets it, though. Actor Seth Rogen is struggling to accept his newly svelte figure – because he’s let down the legions of chubby men who looked up to him. The funnyman slimmed [...]

Filed under: Beth Ditto, Celebrities, Cold Hard Cash, Comics, Feminism, Gossip, Movies, Nikki Blonsky, Queen Latifah, Ricky Gervais, Seth Rogan, Weight Loss | 43 Comments »

I now completely forget who first told me about the Photoshop diet. But with this trifecta of great posts about pictures and bodies collected over at Shapely Prose, it sprang to mind. Before I get to that, though, the trifecta is as follows (and each link is well worth a read): 1. Improving Aphrodite, a [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fashion, Fat Positive, Fatism, Feminism, Jennifer Aniston, Lindsay Lohan, Madonna, Magazines, Media, Movies, Music, Personal, Photoshop, TV, Weight Loss | 9 Comments »

From the set of… Pearl Harbor? Eight years ago? Well, I guess Kate Beckinsale just did an interview with SELF and talked about the stars being forced to lose weight, and her resultant dizziness. And they did it to Ben Affleck, too! “I remember going to the fitting and trying on a few swimsuits for [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Exercise, Gossip, Magazines, Movies, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 3 Comments »

We all know that I love Kate Winslet. I also happen to love Kate and Leo (BFF!), and I am so excited to see Revolutionary Road, even though I’m sure the movie won’t be as good as the book but WHATEVER, it has Kate and Leo. (My husband’s comment upon seeing the trailer was, “This [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Gossip, Kate Winslet, Meta, Movies | 14 Comments »

I’ve been critical of Ricki Lake in the past for her attitude towards her weight loss. Last October, here’s what I said: It’s not that I begrudge Ricki Lake losing weight (even though she’s only eating 1,200 calories a day, which seems tragically low to me); if she’s happy, then great. But the quotes about [...]

Filed under: Gossip, Hairspray, Kids, Movies, Ricki Lake, Weight Loss | 40 Comments »

BFDude Matt saw Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist this weekend, and wrote in with some observations about the film. (I love his reference to Kermit and Miss Piggy; I totally related to them back in high school.) Hi Monique, something I noticed while watching Nick & Norah tonight that might be BFD related. Kat Dennings [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fat Positive, Feminism, Media, Movies | 27 Comments »

We had an office party today involving cake. And as I stood around with my co-workers making awkward conversation and enjoying my slice of cake, I overheard comments that felt very familiar. “This cake is sugar free and fat free, right? Ha, ha!” “Hey [Guy Doing South Beach], is this South Beach cake?” “Oh, can [...]

Filed under: Humor, Movies, Personal, Question, Video, Work | 70 Comments »

A fun article on the amazing personal style of America Ferrera (I love that top outfit by Diane von Furstenberg) and how you can totally try to work it yourself, if you have a similar, hourglass body type. Miss. Ferrera has been popping up on more and more “best dressed” lists recently, and it’s no [...]

Filed under: America Ferrera, Celebrities, Fashion, Feel Good Friday, Movies, Tidbit | 8 Comments »

Thanks to Lucinda, who sent in the following review! I didn’t see Wanted this weekend, but my students have told me it’s really good. Did you guys see it over the holiday weekend? Did you have the same reaction as Lucinda did? I was psyched to see WANTED, the new summer blockbuster action flick — [...]

Filed under: Angelina Jolie, Art, Celebrities, Fatism, Guest Post, Movies | 26 Comments »

Sorry for the sporadic updating this week. There were some back end issues with the blog (they should be resolved for now), I had a couple of interviews to do (one for Japanese television, which I definitely will need to write a report on at some point, especially because I’m pretty sure one of the [...]

Filed under: Feel Good Friday, Meta, Movies, Tidbit | 52 Comments »

Originally uploaded by mo pie Character: Hillary, played by Emily Nelson Credits: It looks like she’s only been acting a few years, although she looks really familiar to me. Maybe I saw her on ER? Plot points: She plays one of the bridesmaids in lead character Hannah’s wedding, along with Bitter Cousin Bridesmaid and Extraneous [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Emily Nelson, Fat Positive, Fatism, Meta, Movies, Wide Screen | 15 Comments »

In the spirit of Michael Apted’s Up series, a documentary is following the lives of children born in the year 2000 until they’re 20. Obviously, here and now, they’re around seven years old, giving us a glimpse into the lives of the millennial generation. Here’s the part that struck me especially: These seven year old [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Kids, Media, Movies | 52 Comments »

In 2004, Aishwarya Rai was called the most beautiful woman in the world. And hey, I’ve seen Bride and Prejudice; I don’t disagree. But apparently, she’s… well, Bollywood Fat. In 2005, one source posted a picture of her showing her belly and said in tones of shock and horror: Is this is the petite, pretty [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Gossip, International, Movies | 29 Comments »

hyacinth hippo Originally uploaded by mo pie Those of you out there who have seen Fantasia and who fondly remember the hippo ballet sequence might appreciate this rare glimpse into the history of Disney animation: photos of actress Hattie Noel, who was the live action reference for Hyacinth Hippo in the film. I don’t know [...]

Filed under: Art, Fat Positive, Fatism, Movies, Question, Race & Ethnicity, Theater, Video | 17 Comments »

So, I listen to this Disney podcast called Magical Definition (hey, I enjoy Disneyland) and they were talking about an upcoming Pixar movie called WALL-E; perhaps you’ve seen the previews for it? It looks super cute. Jim Hill talked about the test screenings for WALL-E on the podcast, and he also mentions it on his [...]

Filed under: Fatism, Humor, Media, Movies, Question | 52 Comments »

A gossip tidbit courtesy of La Wade that is very appropriate for Feel Good Friday: next season’s cast of Dancing with the Stars will include Marissa Jaret Winokur, the original Broadway Tracy Turnblad! I don’t even watch the show, but I admit, now I’m tempted. Also Sean Hayes will be on, and I love me [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Feel Good Friday, Gossip, Hairspray, Magazines, TV, Theater, Tidbit | 3 Comments »

I was going to save this for Feel Good Friday, but instead it will be here, on Feel Ambivalent Thursday. First the good news: Norbit has been nominated for a ton of Razzies: Murphy’s “Norbit,” released amid a film-honors season that earned Murphy an Academy Awards nomination for “Dreamgirls” last year, received eight Razzie nominations, [...]

Filed under: Fat Suits, Movies | 7 Comments »

I loved reading this article about workout playlists. I’ve worked very hard on my playlist, which is incredibly cheesy and includes things like “Pop Goes My Heart” (Hugh Grant) and “I Think I Love You” as performed by American Idol’s Constantine. (I can’t help it; my response to that one is now Pavlovian.) I need [...]

Filed under: Exercise, Movies, Music, Personal, Science | 31 Comments »

From the fine network that brought you such titles as Mother May I Sleep With Danger? and Baby Monitor: Sound of Fear comes a film that may be of more interest than usual, as it stars Nikki Blonsky of Hairspray fame as a plus-sized girl. The movie is called Queen Sized. Unlike Hairspray, which was [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fat Positive, Hairspray, Movies, Nikki Blonsky, TV | 27 Comments »

When I got to work this morning, I had alerts in my mailbox from Shawn and Erin, who wanted to make sure I found out that… I can barely bring myself to type it… Queen Latifah is going to start shilling for Jenny Craig in the new year. “We are thrilled to have Queen Latifah [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Celebrities, Fashion, Food, Movies, Queen Latifah, Weight Loss | 55 Comments »

Maybe we can declare this fat suit week at Big Fat Deal! We talked about J. Love in a fat suit (in the wake of Tom Cruise and Posh Spice fat suit news, oh god, is this a trend or what) and now, there’s more! First of all, there’s a Santa in Scotland who is [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fat Suits, Fatism, Hairspray, International, Kids, Movies, Renee Zelwegger | 9 Comments »