Fat films: A content analysis of films depicting obese people

Lauren Thomason
SOCI 4309 Qualitative Research Methods
Final Project: Unobtrusive Method/Content Analysis
Dr. Rachel Romero
Department of Sociology

The topic for my final research project is the portrayal of obesity in film. More
specifically, I would like to analyze how obese people are depicted in movies (the passed 25
years). By examining obesity in films today, we can better understand the attitudes towards
overweight and obese people in our society and what implications these depictions have. Since
more people are becoming over weight and obese in our country and majority of the population
being overweight how are these depictions affecting the way we view fellow citizens and
ourselves.
Obesity Obesity is an excessive accumulation of fat in the body; increase in weight
beyond that considered desirable with regard to age, height and bone structure. (Saunders
Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary). In other words, obesity is being overweight to the point
of the weight being beyond a weight considered desirable.
To answer the question of how obese people in movies in the past quarter century depict
overweight people? And what does the portrayal of obese individuals in film are saying to our
society?
Literature Review:
Obese individuals are highly stigmatized and face multiple forms of prejudice and
discrimination because their weight (Himes 2007). Obesity is a growing topic in our country.
There is a lot of research that is conducted on the topic of not only obesity but how the public
and our society views and reacts to obese people and the implications this might have on our
society. As a consumer society, media and film specifically, play a crucial role in how we see
obese people. The literature on obese people in our culture critically analyzes the stigmatizations,
bias, media projected stigmatizations and social implications of these biases and portals of obese
people.
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What are stigmas about obese people in our society and media culture? The following
will concentrate on the recurring ideas set forth by the media as a whole about how obese people
are being portrayed?
Thin Ideal
Our society has a long history of a thin ideal. As early as 1914 a popular magazine
declared Fat is now regarded as an indiscretion and almost as a crime (Sterns 2002). For over a
century it has been ingrained in our culture that being thin is the right thing to be.
The glorification of the thin ideal and denigration of its opposite, an overweight or obese
status, have been labeled fat stigmatization. Fat stigmatization is the devaluing of an individual
due to excess body weight (Himes 2007).
Research on the obese populations in our media is growing. Greenberg (2003) analyzed
the portrayal of obese people in commercial television. He found that Larger male television
characters were older, less likely to be employed, more likely to be guests on shows, less likely
to talk about dating, and more likely to be portrayed as eating.
The prejudice and discrimination in the United States has increased by 66% over the past
decade, and is comparable to rates of racial discrimination, especially among women. Weight
bias translates into inequalities in employment settings, health-care facilities, and educational
institutions, often due to widespread negative stereotypes that overweight and obese persons are
lazy, unmotivated, lacking in self-discipline, less competent, non-compliant, and sloppy. These
stereotypes are prevalent and are rarely challenged in western society, leaving overweight and
obese persons vulnerable to social injustice, unfair treatment, and impaired quality of life as a
result of substantial disadvantages and stigma (Puhl 2009). A study investigated automatic and
controlled components of anti fat attitudes, the relationship between these components, and the

extent to which each component predicts prejudicial behavior. Participants were primed with
pictures of fat and thin women. Automatic activations of both evaluative responses and
stereotypic knowledge were examined with lexical decision judgments on fat-stereotypical, thinstereotypical and stereotype-irrelevant trait words. Results showed greater automatic activation
of negative evaluations to fat than thin women. Although, in general, automation measures were
found to be unrelated to self-reported anti-fat attitudes, one more subcomponent of automatic
evaluation was correlated with higher expressed dislike of fat persons (Bessenoff 2000).
In addition, overweight and obese individuals receive less pay, are less likely to be hired
in the work place, experience elevated rates of romantic rejection, and are less likely to be
married (Himes 2007).
Scenes from movies and television were analyzed in one study and it was asserted by one
researcher that fat stigmatizations stems from a variety of factors, including negative attitudes
and cultural beliefs that equate body fat with gluttony and laziness, and the belief that weight can
be controlled with self-regulation. While racisms and sexism, or the endorsement of stereotypes
related to these issues, appear to have decreased over the last 80 years, there is little evidence
that fat stigmatization is on the wane (Himes 2007). In many ways, weight discrimination is a
final frontier in a civil rights sense. Often viewed as a self-control issue, overweight people are
often looked down upon and viewed as less desirable.
Sad and fat
The perception of the fat body as a marking external evidence of inner dissatisfaction is
not new. (Sender 2008)
Research on obese stigmatization is not only important on a personal level, media fat
stigmatizations are important on a human level as well. Overweight patients report

discrimination in health care settings and subsequent avoidance of routine preventive health care
(Sabin 2012). Substantial fat stigmatization research has accrued indicating that overweight and
obese children, adolescents and adults are often negatively stereotyped, treated differently, and
face discrimination(Himes 2007).
Worse for women
Physicians agree that there is a necessity to treat obesity but do not feel competent to do
so. In one study of primary care physicals, only 56% felt qualified to treat obesity. In a
systematic review of the literature, physicians perception of their competence to treat obesity in
children and adolescents ranged from 5% to 33%. A study of primary care physicians found that
more than 50% viewed obese patients as awkward, unattractive and non-compliant. More than
one of these physicians characterized obese patients as weak-willed, sloppy and lazy. In another
study, 45% of a sample of physician agree that they have a negative reaction to obese
individuals. A study of military family physicians found that the physicians stereotypical
attitudes of obese people as lazy increased 145% between 1998 and 2005, with younger
physicians more likely to endorse this attitude (Sabin 2012).
This study reveals that we are subconsciously, negatively judging fat people even when
we claim to have no bias (consciously).
Greenberg asserts that, Prime-time television continues to be a preeminent pastime
among people in the United States, with top-rated programs reaching audiences as large as 30
million viewers weekly. It is important to document the portrayals of various body types because
of the large and diverse audience exposed to the images. To the extent that television creates or
perpetuates negative stereotypes of obesity, it may have an impact on the bias and discrimination

aimed at obese individuals. Considering that the majority of the US population is overweight, the
public health impact of negative stereotyping maybe significant (Greenberg 2003).

Data and Methods

This study utilizes unobtrusive method to analyze how overweight people are portrayed
in film. I conducted analysis of four films Whats eating Gilbert Grape?(1993), Tommy Boy
(1995), Shallow Hal (2001) and Just Friends (2005). Content analysis was the best way for
the study to be conducted. The specific movies were chosen based on a rare quality of containing
main characters who were obese.
I was interested in the message being conveyed to our society through movies because
film is a mass medium and many people in America and the world are exposed to them. I
watched the films I was able to stream through Netflix and Amazon on my computer. I stayed on
the lookout for average weight characters responses and attitudes towards their obese character
counterpart. The characters demeanor, attitudes and apparent sense of self-esteem. High body
weight often leads to negative weight-related commentary and teasing, and the experiences are
strongly related to body dissatisfaction (Himes 2007).

Data Analysis
DATA/SAMPLE
For this research project I will analyze movie with obese people in the over the past
twenty five years. The sample of film I intend to study include Whats Eating Gilbert Grape
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(1993), Shallow Hal (2001), Just Friends (2005) and Tommy Boy (1995). I have access to
Netflix and Amazon so there will be no issue in gaining access to the data.
To help conduct this study there will be several areas to consider. Analysis of the obese
characters role in the movie will be paramount. Background where they come from,
socioeconomic class and how they carry themselves. Are they clumsy or sad are some important
things to look at also. The grand point I will be analyzing is the role they play in the plot are they
triumphant of does it end badly, is weight loss why they are victorious in the end?
ARTICLE SUMMARIES
#1. Fat Stigmatization in Television Shows and Movies: A Content Analysis
Himes and Thompson discuss fat stigmatization, Fat stigmatization is the devaluing of
an individual due to excess body weight. Fat stigmatization stems from a variety of factors,
including negative attitudes and cultural beliefs that equate body fat with gluttony and laziness,
and the belief that weight can be controlled with self-regulation. Results indicated that fat
stigmatization commentary and fat humor were often verbal, directed toward another person, and
often presented directly in the presence of the overweight target. The existing evidence is
important to the study I will be conducting because of their coding methods and possibly for
outcome options.

#2. The Stigma of Obesity: A Review and Update

Puhl and Heuer discuss in the article The Stigma of Obesity: A Review and Update
obesity discrimination and stigmatization. Obese individuals are highly stigmatized and face
multiple forms of prejudice and discrimination because of their weight. The prevalence of weight
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discrimination in the United States has increased by 66% over the past decade and is comparable
to rates of racial discrimi-nation, especially among women. Weight bias translates into inequities
in employment settings, health-care facilities, and educational institutions, often due to
widespread negative stereotypes that overweight and obese persons are lazy, unmotivated,
lacking in self- discipline, less competent, noncompliant, and sloppy. These stereotypes are
prevalent and are rarely challenged in Western society, leaving overweight and obese persons
vulnerable to social injustice, unfair treatment, and impaired quality of life as a result of
substantial disadvantages and stigma. This study could be useful in looking at questions about
films with obese people in them. Are perpetuating these ideas or shedding light on the injustices
of fat people.
Conclusion

Works Cited
Bessenoff, Gayle R., and Jeffrey W. Sherman. "Automatic and Controlled Components of
Prejudice Toward Fat People: Evaluation Versus Stereotype Activation." Social Cognition 18.4
(2000): 329-53. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Greenberg, Bradley S., Matthew Eastin, Linda Hofschire, Ken Lachlan, and Kelly D. Brownell.
"Portrayals of Overweight and Obese Individuals on Commercial Television." American Journal
of Public Health 93.8 (2003): 1342-348. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Himes, Susan M., and J. Kevin Thompson. "Fat Stigmatization in Television Shows and Movies:
A Content Analysis." Obesity 15.3 (2007): 712-18. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Heuer, Chelsea A., Kimberly J. Mcclure, and Rebecca M. Puhl. "Obesity Stigma in Online News:
A Visual Content Analysis." Journal of Health Communication 16.9 (2011): 976-87. Web. 25
Mar. 2015.
Puhl, R. M. and Heuer, C. A. (2009), The Stigma of Obesity: A Review and Update. Obesity,
17: 941964. doi: 10.1038/oby.2008.636
Sabin, Janice A., Maddalena Marini, and Brian A. Nosek. "Implicit and Explicit Anti-Fat Bias
among a Large Sample of Medical Doctors by BMI, Race/Ethnicity and Gender." Ed. Richard
Fielding. PLoS ONE 7.11 (2012): E48448. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.
Sender, Katherine, and Margaret Sullivan. "Epidemics of Will, Failures of Self-esteem:
Responding to Fat Bodies in The Biggest Loser and What Not to Wear." Continuum 22.4 (2008):
573-84. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.