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Posted: 04.08.2002
Reason #4762 why I hate Hollywood
So "Bridget Jones's Diary" is on Starz right now. We're watching out of sick curiousity I guess. I seriously darn-near went postal during the commercial previews phase for the film in 2001, as listening to Renee Zellweger butcher her English accent was extremely painful on the ears. But there's nothing on TV tonight...so here we landed.

It's probably going to be difficult for me to get past any redeeming qualities for the film - if there are any - after the start of Bridget reading her diary aloud ("Weight: 136. Goal: lose 20 lbs.") Granted, I'm 5'10". But after reading interview after interview about all that weight Miss Zellweger gained for the film (and what a miracle it was that she lost it again so quickly in order to get back to the standard Hollywood size 0-2) - I'm sorry - but I just don't see where she was so vulgar and disgusting "with the fat on". In my wedding photos I'm at, what I consider to be, my "ideal weight". And can you believe I weighed in at an ungraceful 145 lbs. in those photos, "with a bottom the size of Brazil", according to Bridget? The horror!

Hollywood blows.



Hey boy take a look at me...let me dirty up your mind...



116 lbs, unless you are *really petite*, is completely unhealthy.

i mean, we all know this. but hollywood obviously doesn't.

:P

¤ ¤ credit: ericalynn | 04.08.02 at 09:02 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Miss Zellweger is, in the words of Bridget Jones, "an emotional fuckwit".

The idea that a 5'10" woman who weighs 145 lbs should feel uncomfortable about her weight is rediculous. Anyone of any size being made to feel uncomfortable by Hollywood's standards of beauty or the inane comments of a vapid actress is rediculous.

I was reaching for the remote 15 minutes into that bit of cinematic tripe.

¤ ¤ credit: scott | 04.08.02 at 10:01 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Oh she didn't make me feel uncomfortable...just annoyed. And I wish I was still at 145 lbs. -- amazing what a few years of marriage can pack on. ;-) But I've also been 115 lbs. at this same height back when I would model, and you couldn't pay me to go back to that weight again. Seriously. And no, I didn't (and don't) have an eating disorder for those who might be wondering. I just didn't like the way I looked. I rather like my feminine curves now, thankyouverymuch.

But unfortunately, when kids in grade school now have eating disorders...Hollywood is getting through to someone. And that's why I'm livid. It's one thing if you're that weight naturally. It's quite another when the industry standard forces you to have tight leather skin over a very protruding collar bone.

I don't find the shame in the movie, even. I find it in the press surrounding it. Renee was made out to be this incredible actress -- not because she acted her little ass off. But because she dieted it off after the filming was complete. It was considered a professional triumph when she showed up at the Golden Globes in her little black dress, and collar bone accent. Personally, I thought she looked a million times better "fat" in this film!

¤ ¤ credit: robyn | 04.08.02 at 10:19 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I just watched it for the first time, and to be honest, I didn't even notice her weight. Yeah she made the comments, but I just took them as her rambelings and that she eats when depressed.

Also, I don't like skinny, bone stickin' out women. I tend to notice them more as a distraction rather than a lure. It's like something is wrong with them if they don't have a little something to hang on to, ya know?

I liked the movie anyway, just because.

¤ ¤ credit: cpowers | 04.08.02 at 10:35 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Grade school kids with eating disorders... that is tragic. You're right. The entertainment press is way too weight obsessed. I remember when DeNiro made Raging Bull. He was in amazing shape at the start of the movie and gained weight irl as the chronology of the film progressed. IMHO, he did a great job of acting in the film, but all the press could talk about was how much weight he gained for the role and how hard it was for him to lose it afterwards.

Of course, he's the only male actor I can think of who has had a 'thing' made of his weight. Women actors aren't so fortunate. I read that Lucille Ball mandated that Vivian Vance be 40lbs heavier than her for the entire run of I Love Lucy.

¤ ¤ credit: scott | 04.08.02 at 10:43 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

And now for my pitiful two cents. I saw the movie when it came out and like most, thought it ridiculously funny ... but then it just became plain ridiculous when every bloody fashion magazine out there lamented on how it was a "struggle" for the actress to put on 30lbs for the role ... like it was some big bad travesty.


While surfing a couple of days ago though, someone else posted something interesting. The fact that the actress wasn't allowed on the front page of a popular mag ... simply because she looked ... unlike the "girl next door..." WHAT FRIGGIN' NEIGHBORHOOD do these people live in?

umphf!

¤ ¤ credit: A | 04.09.02 at 01:39 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

Hollywood sucks.

I was made to feel, for a long long time, that I wasn't worth a damn because I wasn't thin.

Thanks Hollywood. Pshhhhh *waves hand*

I got over it when I realized that I will most likely always be big. No matter what I do, I can't seem to drop the weight. And that is ok. I am me. I am not Hollywood. And no one expects me to be.

;)


¤ ¤ credit: Jen | 04.09.02 at 08:23 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

Apart from the whole fat/thin thing, I actually liked the movie. I'm going to duck now for fear of being hit by flying pies and stones LOL!!! I must admit though that here in Australia we didn't get the whole "Oh my god she gained so much and lost so much weight" thing, we just got the movie. Even though he's a total asshole, I mean, who'd want an ugly hooker to blow you when Liz Hurley is at home, but Hugh Grant is yummy - and so is Colin Firth. Bridget is however, a psycopath, but it made for a cute movie.

¤ ¤ credit: Joanne | 04.09.02 at 08:33 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

OK, this is kinda strange..but, I pulled up your wedding photo and to my shock and amazment you guys were married the same day Dori and I were. Wholly Matrimony Batman!!

¤ ¤ credit: JE | 04.09.02 at 08:41 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

Like you Robyn I listened to the 'weight issues" crap and said, nope not gonna pay a red cent too see it.
A 170-pound woman like myself has better things to do, like hop into her bikini and tan, eat, and breathe.



This "I must be thin" stuff is a total snore.


¤ ¤ credit: jade | 04.09.02 at 01:54 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

i used to loooooove Renee... until that movie came out. bla bla bla i had to gain weight bla bla bla i struggled to lose it all. yanno what, Renee? you looked hella better with the weight ON. sorry, but i'm not big on that whole "beanpole" look...

¤ ¤ credit: mikey | 04.09.02 at 04:32 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Still, 5' 10" and ONLY 145! Wow... You must've looked really thin. I know ladies of 5' 5" and 145lbs and I think they are da bomb!

¤ ¤ credit: Mad Bull | 04.09.02 at 05:28 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I agree Robyn she was pretty with the weight on. It's scray what hollywood standarsd are. I am actually quiet petite but even I feel occasionally big when compared to their ideal weight -5'4" at 95 lbs seems to be the going norm in holloywood this days or some version of that.

Though i know I am going to get flogged for saying this, the book is quiet funny to read in sme parts.


¤ ¤ credit: munin | 04.09.02 at 06:38 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Hey everyone -- I don't want anyone to worry about getting flogged or hit with flying pies for stating their opinions! (As Todd's blog states, "Thinking isn't agreeing or disagreeing. That's voting.") And if you do get any flak for it, whoever does it will have to deal with me!

I'll say it again...my issue isn't so much with the movie as with the press around it regarding Miss Zellweger and her weight gain/loss. Lines from the movie are particularly annoying (to me) in light of all that -- but I haven't even read the book to have an opinion of it. I'm much more concerned about what message the press surrounding the film sends out, than if anyone got a laugh, or ten, from the film/book. (And to be honest, I laughed at the scene where she quit her job very vocally -- and also during the fight scene at the very British apologies given throughout it.) If you can't even make a magazine cover in this country when you put on a few pounds -- and by the film's account she was a ghastly 136 lbs. -- there's a serious problem going on that goes much deeper than any manuscript or movie dialogue.

[ /off soapbox ]

¤ ¤ credit: robyn | 04.09.02 at 06:51 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I looked at your wedding pics, you look pretty normal-sized to me.

There's this ad on the telly in Singapore, advertising some weight loss place. A skinny-as-a-reed girl says, "I used to be fat, but [random weight loss company name] helped me lose 8 pounds..."

And you think the US is dysfunctional...

¤ ¤ credit: andrea | 04.10.02 at 01:39 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

The book was much better. It's more about how she feels pressured to look like all of the beautiful people but finds out that she's beautiful just the way she is. Blah, blah, blah. I sound like I should be writing for O Magazine, don't I? =)

¤ ¤ credit: Jenni | 04.10.02 at 02:09 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

On the weight issue: I'm 5'8" and I weight 115 pounds. I eat constantly and I can portage a canoe for a few kilometres without stopping to rest. I get a lot of comments about being skinny, and how I should eat more, etc -- and I often wonder why it's alright to poke fun at somebody who's a little on the twiggy side. If the same comments were addressed to a slightly chubby co-worker the pretense of "concern for your wellbeing" wouldn't be enough to justify pointing out that McDonalds for lunch isn't helping the situation.


I agree that the popular idea that a woman has to be virtually non-existent to be sexy is crap, and I certainly don't believe we should all try to fit a single ideal, instead of enjoying the many brands of human beauty (imagine if there were only one type of flower?).


If you hated the movie don't even attempt the book. I read that piece of crap, assuming that if everyone loved it it couldn't be all that bad. Dumb assumption. I can't recall every throwing a book away; most of them I hoard, and those which, for some weird reason, I don't want, I give away to somebody who might enjoy it. Bridget Jones' Diary was in the trash can less than 30 seconds after I finished it. Pure ass.

¤ ¤ credit: jamese | 04.10.02 at 11:46 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

I am 17 and 165, 5 '8'. I am very sad about my weight. I used to be very attractive and now I cant tell how people percieve me, but I can imagine its not good. My friends eat like and they are thin, I have no idea what to do for myself. But! I do think that Bridget Jones looks good. and 5 '10' and 145 is damn thin. Dont complain, its people like this that are wrong with America. (And people like me who depress about it).

¤ ¤ credit: Sadd | 05.20.03 at 12:53 AM | link--this ¤ ¤




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