Fattitude

Last updated
Fattitude
Directed byViridiana Lieberman
Lindsey Averill
Produced byLindsey Averill
Release date
  • November 2, 2017 (2017-11-02) [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Fattitude is a 2017 American documentary film by Lindsey Averill and Viridiana Lieberman.

Contents

Summary

The movie is about fat discrimination and its main objective is to make the general public more aware of the prejudice that fat people experienced. The movie promotes the fat acceptance movement—a social movement that seeks to change anti-fat bias in social attitudes. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

The documentary informs people about what the filmmakers call fat shaming and fat hatred. The documentary also hopes to inspire people to speak out about the prejudice they face or the mistreatment of others. [7]

Production

The film was financed by running a successful crowdfunding campaign at the website Kickstarter in which 1,073 backers pledged $44,140 to help bring this project to life. [8] [9] [10]

Controversy

After start the Kickstarter campaign, Averill and Lieberman became the target of heavy trolling and harassment from anonymous users on 4chan and other web forums, and received rape and death threats. People ordered pizzas delivered to Averill's home, and they were forced to change their phone numbers due to the number of hateful calls. [11] [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fat acceptance movement</span> Social movement seeking to change anti-fat bias in social attitudes

The fat acceptance movement is a social movement which seeks to eliminate the social stigma of obesity. Areas of contention include the aesthetic, legal, and medical approaches to fat people.

<i>Super Size Me</i> 2004 documentary film by Morgan Spurlock

Super Size Me is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he claimed to consume only McDonald's food, although he later disclosed he was also drinking heavy amounts of alcohol. The film documents the drastic change on Spurlock's physical and psychological health and well-being. It also explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit and gain.

Fat feminism, often associated with "body-positivity", is a social movement that incorporates feminist themes of equality, social justice, and cultural analysis based on the weight of a woman. This branch of feminism intersects misogyny and sexism with anti-fat bias. Fat feminists advocate body-positive acceptance for all bodies, regardless of their weight, as well as eliminating biases experienced directly or indirectly by fat people. Fat feminists originated during third-wave feminism and is aligned with the fat acceptance movement. A significant portion of body positivity in the third-wave focused on embracing and reclaiming femininity, such as wearing makeup and high heels, even though the second-wave fought against these things. Contemporary western fat feminism works to dismantle oppressive power structures which disproportionately affect working class poor people or poor people generally. It covers a wide range of topics such as diet culture, fat-phobia, representation in media, ableism, and employment discrimination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicole Arbour</span> Canadian actress and YouTuber

Nicole Arbour is a Canadian comedian, choreographer, singer, actress, and YouTuber.

Sizeism or size discrimination is unjust or prejudicial treatment directed at people based on their size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kickstarter</span> US-based crowdfunding platform

Kickstarter, PBC is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of February 2023, Kickstarter has received US$7 billion in pledges from 21.7 million backers to fund 233,626 projects, such as films, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, board games, technology, publishing, and food-related projects.

Social stigma of obesity is bias or discriminatory behaviors targeted at overweight and obese individuals because of their weight and a high body fat percentage. Such social stigmas can span one's entire life, as long as excess weight is present, starting from a young age and lasting into adulthood. Studies also indicate overweight and obese individuals experience higher levels of stigma compared to other people. Stigmatization of obesity is associated with increased risk of obesity and increased mortality and morbidity.

<i>Fat Head</i> 2009 film by Tom Naughton

Fat Head is a 2009 American documentary film directed by and starring comedian Tom Naughton. The film seeks to refute both the documentary Super Size Me and the lipid hypothesis, a theory of nutrition started in the early 1950s in the United States by Ancel Keys and promoted in much of the Western world.

FrackNation is a feature documentary created by Phelim McAleer, Ann McElhinnery, and Magdalena Segieda. The film, released in 2013, claims to address alleged misinformation from environmentalists about the process of hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking.

Fat Chance is a 1994 National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary film directed by Jeff McKay about fat acceptance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Films about intersex</span>

Intersex, in humans and other animals, describes variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". Intersex is a part of nature and that is reflected in some representations of intersex in film and other media.

Haley Morris-Cafiero is an American photographer, Associate Professor of Photography and Acting Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Memphis College of Art. Her series "Wait Watchers", in which she photographs the reactions of passers-by to her presence, went viral in 2013. She has since become a commentator on issues of anti-fat bias and obesity in the United States; as well as a Body Positivity and Anti-Bullying Workshop volunteer with Girls, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chrystal Bougon</span> American businesswoman and author

Chrystal Bougon is the owner of Curvy Girl Lingerie, a plus-size lingerie store, and the CEO of BlissConnection. She is the author of The Curvy Girl Playbook, and executive co-producer of the reality television show Plus Life. She is also the host of the radio show Everyone Wants to Have Better Sex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joy Buolamwini</span> Computer scientist and digital activist

Joy Adowaa Buolamwini is a Canadian-American computer scientist and digital activist formerly based at the MIT Media Lab. She founded the Algorithmic Justice League (AJL), an organization that works to challenge bias in decision-making software, using art, advocacy, and research to highlight the social implications and harms of artificial intelligence (AI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Body positivity</span> Movement advocating the mental quality that seeks to accept oneself and ones body

Body positivity is a social movement that promotes a positive view of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities. Proponents focus on the appreciation of the functionality and health of the human body instead of its physical appearance.

Sarai Walker is a writer whose book Dietland was identified as one of Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best books of 2015, and has subsequently been turned into a TV series. She has published articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Refinery29. Walker is a fat positive activist and her writings reflect an attempt to reclaim the word fat as a mere bodily description—like tall or short.

<i>Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs</i> 2019 film by Sung-ho Hong

Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs, known in Korean as simply Red Shoes, is a 2019 English-language South Korean animated fantasy film produced by Locus Corporation. It is based on the 1812 German-language fairy tale "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm, and its name is derived from the 1845 Danish fairy tale The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen. The film features the voices of Chloë Grace Moretz, Sam Claflin, Gina Gershon, Patrick Warburton, and Jim Rash.

Aubrey Gordon, also known as Your Fat Friend, is an author, podcaster, and activist. She writes about fatness, fat acceptance, and anti-fat bias, and her podcast, Maintenance Phase, focuses on the poor science behind health and wellness fads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgie Tovar</span> American author, podcaster, and activist

Virgie Tovar, is an American author, lecturer and weight-based discrimination speaker. She writes about fat acceptance, and anti-fat bias, and was the host of The Virgie Show and the Webby-nominated podcast, Rebel Eaters Club. Tovar has received Yale's Poynter Fellowship in Journalism.

Judy Freespirit (1936–2010) was a 20th century American feminist and activist, best known for her role in the Fat Liberation Movement and the LGBTQ and Disability Rights Movements. She was one of the founders of the Fat Underground, a fat feminist group, and she was a proponent of the Radical Therapy Movement. In addition, she wrote many books about the fight for social change for fat women and LGBTQ women. As a part of the Fat Underground, she wrote the "Fat Liberation Manifesto," demanding rights and social change for fat women.

References

  1. "Fattitude, a Highly Anticipated Film About Weight Bias Announces NY Premiere".
  2. "'Fattitude' Will Stop You From Making Fat People The Butt Of Your Jokes". Huffington Post. 25 April 2014.
  3. "'Fattitude': Documentary aims to promote body acceptance". Seattle Times. 7 September 2014.
  4. "I'm Being Stalked By Fat-Shamers — & I'm Still Fighting". Refinery29.
  5. "This Movie Will Change How You Think About The Word "Fat"". Buzzfeed.
  6. "Look At All The Ways Pop Culture Discriminates Against A Certain Body Type. How Wrong Is That?". Upworthy. 25 April 2014.
  7. "Fattitude: Documentary to be aimed at promoting body acceptance". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on August 2, 2014.
  8. "Q&A With 'Fattitude' Producer Lindsey Averill: How To Use The Word "Fat"". Oxygen.
  9. "Here's How You Can Help Make "Fattitude," A Documentary About Sizeism, A Reality". The Frisky.
  10. "Fattitude Kickstarter Page". Kickstarter.
  11. "'Fattitude' Filmmaker Lindsey Averill Attracts the Ire of Awful Internet Trolls". Bustle.
  12. "Fattitude: Fighting Fat Discrimination With A Body Positive Documentary". Women You Should Know.