Too long have fat romantics waited for a real blockbuster romcom, and by real, I mean a romantic comedy that has (at least one) plus-sized lead character, where the movie doesn’t center around their fatness. The lives of actual fat people aren’t just decades-long pity parties. Plus-sized people don’t just sit around dreaming of having a skinny, good-looking partner who can finally look past their fatness to sweep them off their feet.
It’s time for fat people to get their When Harry Met Sally, Along Came Polly, and Always Be My Maybe!
Fat is beautiful, not something to hide
The thing that writers and directors get wrong is presenting their fat leads as being ashamed of their fatness. What skinny people don’t want to hear is that fatness doesn’t equate to ugliness… and skinniness definitely doesn’t equate to beauty! In fact, the modern attempts at giving audiences a romantic comedy with a plus-sized lead always choose actresses/actors with beautiful faces, because, God forbid, the main character of a film be fat and ugly! The horror! These casting choices prove that, obviously, there are beautiful people who identify as plus-sized, an idea that still needs to get through to the skinny population of the world, apparently.
So why is it that fat actresses/actors’ storylines are filled with self-hatred? The confidence of these characters is minimal, and any opposition to the extreme levels of self-consciousness seems to be unheard of. Do fat people feel self-conscious? Yes, of course. Do fat people always let their self-consciousness consume them completely and force them to believe they are unattractive? No! And the fact that fat characters constantly perpetuate this lack of confidence is just wrong. Morally and literally.
I Feel… Ashamed
I Feel Pretty (2018) is a perfect example of what NOT to do when attempting to write a romantic comedy with a fat female lead. Besides hiring an actress who is obviously incredibly ashamed of her fatness (seeing as she deleted all pictures of her before she was stick-thin off of her Instagram), this film is offensive in so many ways. Look at the title, even. The adjective ‘pretty,’ in particular.
The main female lead, Renee, hits her head after taking a nasty spill and ends up waking up to find that she feels like the most beautiful woman in the world. Now, if Renee were played by a thin actor, there wouldn’t be anything wrong with this concept. However, Renee is played by (formerly) plus-sized actress Amy Schumer, whose character, leading up to the fall, is extremely self-conscious and critical of her looks, primarily her body. Since Renee is plus-sized and treats herself horribly because she is plus-sized (and, therefore, deemed as unattractive by “society”), the fact that she feels ‘pretty’ after hitting her head is concerning. Why does a fat woman have to hit her head and enter a state of delusion to believe she is beautiful?
It Isn’t Romantic
Isn’t It Romantic is pretty much the same concept. The female lead, Natalie, played by another (formally) plus-sized actress, is an architect living in NYC. At work, Natalie is not taken seriously and feels incredibly self-conscious all of the time. While on the subway one day, Natalie is mugged and knocked unconscious. The character wakes up to find herself in some sort of alternate universe that turns her sad life into a real-life romantic comedy.
Once again, these same offensive ideas are being put into play. Poor Natalie is fat and, therefore, ugly, so she must become cynical about love. She must be cynical because if she were a hopeless romantic, she’d display the “fat girl will never be loved but dreams of it anyway” trope, and she’s seemingly got more pride than that. To change her view of love (and ultimately herself), she is knocked into a world completely different from her own, a world where fat women can be leads in romantic comedies.
If I had a nickel every time I watched a romcom with a fat lead who gets knocked unconscious and wakes up believing she can be loved, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but strange that it’s happened twice.
Credit where credit is due.
There are a select few films that get the general concept of a romcom with a fat lead correct. No shame, little focus on the character’s weight, no self-pity.
- Just Wright (2010)
- Last Holiday (2006)
- Hairspray (2007)
Each of these films follows the narrative that fat audiences are looking for. Just Wright and Last Holiday are romcoms that focus solely on the relationships between the characters, not on the main character’s plus-sized body. Hairspray, however, does focus on the weight that multiple characters carry, but acceptably; first of all, the musical’s entire purpose is to uplift and celebrate the voices of minorities. The whole Link-and-Tracy-romcom aspect is just a bonus, really. Having that in mind, the theme of embracing what makes you different allows for the discussion (put to music) of the characters’ weights. Hairspray celebrates big bodies, small bodies, black bodies, and white bodies, too. The film works for this list because the fat people aren’t singled out!
You know what’s really weird, though? There’s one actress who plays leads in each of these movies…and each of these movies is over sixteen years old. Sixteen! Mrs. Queen Latifa is a real one for carrying the genre of fat romantic comedies on her back! But why doesn’t something as perfectly executed as Just Wright exist in the modern day? It’s 2026, and the only fat romcoms I would consider adequate are decades behind and use the same plus-sized actress. If you don’t see a problem with that, you’re probably skinny.
The perfect fat romcom?
You might be wondering what exactly audiences are looking for in a romantic comedy with a fat lead. Well, I don’t know every single fat person’s online opinions on the topic at hand, but I did ask a couple of my plus-sized friends what they think.
Q: What would you want in a romantic comedy that stars a plus-sized lead?
A: “I want to see a woman in a powerful position. Society often views fat women as weak and undisciplined, which is certainly not true. I’d also like the plus-sized lead to have a great sense of style. Fat women are always dressed in ridiculous clothing that designers think ‘flatter’ us. Cold shoulders are in no way, shape, or form flattering!” – Anonymous
Q: What would you look for in a romantic comedy with a plus-sized lead?
A: “I think at times in movies that have fat leads, romantic interest comes with the lead having numerous other ‘redeeming’ qualities that ‘make up’ for their size. I would love to see a fat lead get pursued initially only due to genuine attraction–or even lust! Have their other, or ‘redeeming’, qualities shine, but center the attraction on attraction, not ‘wow, she’s so smart…’ I want yearning, sexual tension, jealousy, and everything that comes with the standard romantic comedy. Movies that have fat leads seem to frame fat women as people who don’t get that type of attention based solely on their looks–and that’s just not how reality works. Many men love fat women and will love them, lust after them, and everything in between!” – Jessica Lazik
So many deciding factors…
These responses provided reasons why plus-size audiences deserve a fat romcom that I didn’t even think about. I mean, everything said is incredibly true. There are so many men and women who find fatness sexy, yet filmmakers seem to find that concept impossible. Or the fact that you rarely get to see fat women in powerful positions in film…or at all. Or even the clothing that fat characters are forced to wear in films that actually attempt to provide plus-sized representation! Everything surrounding the creation of fat characters is just…. what’s the word….. lacking. Films lack relatability, films lack accurate representation, films lack spice, lust, romance, and the list goes on and on.
When is it our turn?
We’ve waited this long, and yet there’s really nothing to show for it. According to the World Health Organization, over 650 million adults are living with obesity worldwide. Now add up all of the mid-sized people and people who have a little extra junk in the trunk. There are wayyyyy too many people who’d be psyched to go see a film that genuinely represents them. So many fat people who just want to be seen. So many fat women who just want to be loved in the same way as their skinny neighbors, friends, or strangers on the street are. I can’t write it, I’ve still got school, but hopefully, one day, someone will. When that day comes, trust I will be sat with whatever FULL-FAT snack I can find in my pantry.
