I freelance with an agent that just got me a huuuuge audition for tomorrow.
It's a feature film starring Andy Garcia, and there's a role in there for a 'chubby teenager' who's down on herself. Her parents put her on terrible diets, and she's miserable. When she's pursued by a character who I assume is a 'chubby chaser,' he brings her out of her shell and she actually begins to feel beautiful just the way she is.
Great, right? The message is excellent and pretty in-line with FA measures.
Here's the bad part--
I have a feeling it's not totally executed the right way. What really turned me off was the casting breakdown, which describes the character's metamorphosis as such:
"Invited over to Denise's house to eat like the shameless chowhound she really is, Cheryl soon
finds herself a regular visitor to Denise's groaning kitchen table...1 speech & 12 lines, 6 scenes (7)"
finds herself a regular visitor to Denise's groaning kitchen table...1 speech & 12 lines, 6 scenes (7)"
Um...WHAT? Did you seriously just call a fat chick a SHAMELESS CHOWHOUND?
Boy howdy, I am *really* hoping that's just their "sense of humor," because someone's asking for it with that shit.
Also, not really FA and HAES--Cheryl is on a diet of, like, lentils and okra, and she is asked by this boy to come eat pizza and doughnuts (baby-flavored, no doubt) and all sorts of 'junk food'. Why do they assume she'd WANT to eat only 'unhealthy' foods? Oh, yes, because she's fat.
And so here, we have our discrepancy. I sincerely doubt I'd be mistreated or disrespected as an actor, but it really boils my blood to see how they would insult a character in a freakin' BREAKDOWN, for chrissakes.
In the best of worlds, WHEN I get this role and become unionized and have my Hollywood debut, I can always crow the good side of the writing--that the text blatantly calls Cheryl beautiful, without trying to change who she is. People love her anyway, and she now loves herself. I can just add on all my extra proselytizing of HAES.
We'll see how this all goes--that's my next hurdle...
-Zaftige
1 comment:
Wow! Good luck with your audition, first of all. And I think I understand for the first time how tough it really is for actors who don't want to promote stereotypes or participate in projects they don't believe in. I mean, this sounds like one of the "better" films featuring fat people that I've heard of recently, and it still sounds potentially offensive. Anyway, good luck again, and good luck also with navigating this and other FA challenges as they come up.
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