Character: Megan, played by Melissa McCarthy

Credits: Before Bridesmaids, probably best known for Gilmore Girls and Mike & Molly, though she started off in the Groundlings. As far as her reputation among comics goes, this interview is worth reading.

Plot points: Megan is one of the eponymous bridesmaids in this female-centric, Kristin Wiig-centric comedy. At first you might think she’s the obligatory token fat bridesmaid that is going to be the butt of a lot of fat jokes, but she is really an astonishing character who basically steals the movie. (Or she would, if Kristin Wiig weren’t also so good in it.)

Stereotypes: The trailer had me worried. She’s the one most excited about the food at the Brazilian restaurant, and the first one to have gastrointestinal distress (though it eventually strikes everyone, her “I’m not confident which end that came out of” line is the one in the trailer). But ultimately, the character defies stereotypes: she’s smart, she’s independent, she’s rich, she’s brave, and she’s sensible. She is the character who (literally and figuratively) knocks some sense into our mopey heroine, Kristin Wiig, in one of the movie’s best scenes. She is honestly a joy to watch.

Sex/Romance/Attractiveness: In the sequence on the plane, she’s shown aggressively hitting on her seatmate (played by her real-life husband) and this sexual aggressiveness is played for laughs. There’s also a joke in which sex involves a sandwich, although by the time this joke comes up, my sense is that the audience is totally on Team Megan, and you’re laughing with her, not at her.

Fat jokes: There are a few (like “I naturally just don’t bloat” at the restaurant, which is meant to be ironic). Again, the reason I found them forgivable is because fat is not the be-all and end-all of this character, and most of the jokes involving her (and there are a lot) don’t involve fat at all. (My favorite one is probably her driving past Annie after the bridal shower, which I won’t spoil.) Admittedly it’s been a while since I saw the movie, so if I’m forgetting anything, hit me up in the comments.

The bottom line: McCarthy is basically playing the Zach Galafinakis part in this movie, and she does it brilliantly. There are a few jokes involving size or food, but Megan never, ever feels like a generic “fat girl” character. She feels like a real comedic creation. In that same interview, Rose Byrne says, “Melissa is nothing at all like Megan. That’s not hiring someone to do what they do; that’s a real performance. Melissa’s beautiful and feminine, but Megan’s tone—it’s almost like she’s a coach. There’s no doubt in her voice. For me a lot of the comedy comes from the tension between the wildness of her ideas and the way she would say them with such authority and confidence and speed.”

Rating on the offense-o-meter (10 being Norbit): 2

But how’s the movie?: You can probably already tell that I enjoyed it. In fact, I laughed so hard my water broke! (Okay, that’s probably not true, but my water did break in the parking lot right after we saw the movie. I was really glad we’d made it all the way through; it would have sucked to miss it.) Really hilarious, and a terrific rejoinder to the “women aren’t funny” trope. I can’t wait to see Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids 2. And congratulations to her on her Emmy nomination! Now that I know what McCarthy can do, I almost want to watch Mike & Molly.

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 Third Bridesmaid. She announces at brunch that she wants a “size 8″ bridesmaids dress. The other bridesmaids choke on their food and ask if she wouldn’t be more comfortable in a 12. She says no, because she’s on a diet, which consists of no food, but a strange concoction of season salt and apple cider or something. Throughout the movie, she’s seen drinking this concoction. Patrick Dempsey’s character, Tom, mentions a couple of times that he thinks she should eat some actual food, and she nearly passes out a few times. Tom says something like “oh, the things you women do to fit into a dress.” (As the “good guy,” he never makes fun of her or singles her out for being fat.) On the day of the wedding she looks the same size (which is much bigger than 8, or even 12, I would think) but zips into the dress, which later rips up the side.
Stereotypes: She’s shown dieting and desperate for a man; her clothes are too small for her and her dress rips. She’s also really perky the whole time, but I don’t know if that counts as a stereotype.
Sex/Romance/Attractiveness: During the same brunch scene, she says she’s dieting because “I’m going to look amazing in the dress, meet a Scottish man, and be happy finally.” She seems to hit it off with a Scottish man towards the end of the movie, and when her dress splits up the side (har, har) he collects kilt pins to pin it up, and tell her it looks nice. You get the sense that the two of them are going to hook up.
Fat jokes: I should note that the people behind me snickered when she came on screen for the first time. Fat = automatically funny. The “I’m on a diet!” thing is played for laughs, as is the fact that she wants a size 8 dress. The “zip her into the dress” scene is also supposed to be funny. And the worst fat joke is when she sits down and the dress splits.
The bottom line: I was bracing myself for worse than this turned out to be, as I’d heard there were jokes at the expense of the “fat bridesmaid.” The main laughs all stem from her initial choice to try this insane diet to get into a dress that’s too small for her. The diet is portrayed as dangerous and unreasonable, and the humor would have worked with an actress of average size also… but it should be noted that nobody actually tells her she’s pretty the way she is. (Which she is; the actress is cute as a button.) I do have to give them credit for casting an actress who is genuinely full figured, though, and I think Emily Nelson does a great job with the part.
Rating on the offense-o-meter (10 being Norbit): 6
But how’s the movie?: Oh my god, I loved it. I love romantic comedies, especially if they involve weddings (The Wedding Singer, The Wedding Planner, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, My Best Friend’s Wedding… everything except The Wedding Date, for some reason.) and I thought the two leads had amazing chemistry. It’s cheesy, of course, but I really liked it. I am the only person in the whole world who did, however.

Character: Martha Cox, played by Kaycee Stroh
Credits: Basically, the High School Musical movies. According to Wikipedia, Kaycee is a 23-year-old dance instructor who ended up auditioning for the film along with her students.
Plot points: Martha is employed at a resort with the rest of the Wildcats. She dances around a lot. She doesn’t actually have a “storyline” per se.
Stereotypes: In her recap for the movie, Miss Alli says: “did they have to make the fat girl the cook? Jesus Christ. Camryn Manheim this, you assholes.” So, yeah. Her job is as a cook. And yet in the song “Work It Out” (see the link below) she is the first one to join in the dancing. Her love of hip-hop (and her talent as a dancer) is kind of an anti-fat girl stereotype. Six of one….
Sex/Romance/Attractiveness: It’s hard to say. If two people are paired off in the big dance number at the end, does that make them a couple? And if Martha is paired up with the clearly gay Ryan (Ryan and Chad are even wearing each other’s clothes at the end of one song) does that make her a fag hag?
Fat jokes: None. In the first film the “unexpected” combination of a fat girl who loves to dance might be considered as played for laughs. In the second film, it’s just an established part of her character.
Overall: I feel pretty positive about the character of Martha. I spent a lot of time watching her dancing in the background and she’s clearly a great dancer and it’s awesome that they decided to upgrade her role. It definitely adds a positive message to the film.
The bottom line: Martha’s role could be bigger (ha, ha), but she’s a good character.
Rating on the offense-o-meter (10 being Norbit): 2
But how’s the movie?: Incredibly cheesy. Did you even have to ask?

Bonus: There’s a bootleg version of her dancing around in her chef’s hat that (for now) can be seen right here. So did anyone else see this movie, or the first one? What did you think?