Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

If we are constantly told the same thing over and over again, we eventually start to believe in it even though it’s not true. This is how brainwashing and propaganda work. While you may associate these things with authoritarian countries or history lessons, we may be subjected to it more than we realize.

A woman on TikTok is pointing out that we have actually been brainwashed and manipulated to think that certain famous women were fat even when they weren’t. She gives examples of what she thought was a fat person when she was young because the media told her so. But looking at the same photos, videos and shows now, the TikToker can’t believe she viewed them as plus-sized.

More info: TikTok

Woman on TikTok shared which women she considered to be fat when she was a child but now realizes she was manipulated to think that

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Image credits: roseybeeme

Rosey Blair, who goes by the nickname roseybeeme on the internet, is a plus-size woman who enjoys fashion and sharing her outfits with her 180k followers on Instagram and 253k followers on TikTok.

On TikTok, Rosey not only shares her fashion finds or outfit ideas for certain occasions, but also comments on how the media or the general population has a distorted view of what is considered a fat person.

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Image credits: roseybeeme

As the woman explained to BuzzFeed, during quarantine, she rewatched some of the childhood movies she enjoyed because she thought she was represented in them through plus-size characters. Because she was a chubby kid, it meant a lot to her to see her body portrayed in shows she enjoyed watching.

However, what she thought were her plus-sized role models were not the size she remembered them to be. Rosey was surprised at how her own view changed and after making the videos, she realized she wasn’t the only one to have had such misconceptions.

During quarantine, Rosey rewatched some of her favorite childhood movies

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Image credits: roseybeeme

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Because she was plus-sized all her life, a lot of those movies include what she considered to be chubbier characters

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Image credits: roseybeeme

If you look through the comments under these videos, you will see that many people are confused how they ever considered the actresses that were portrayed as chubby in movies and TV shows fat. They came to a scary realization that they were conditioned to believe in that as children because they didn’t know better.

They also agreed that being manipulated into thinking those bodies they were seeing on TV were disgusting led them to hate their own bodies. It doesn’t help that, as Rosey noticed, “that the time in a woman’s life when the media scrutinizes a woman most is when she transitions from an adolescent body into a woman’s body. These women were being compared to their 18-year-old bodies when they were in their late twenties and beyond. It’s sort of disgusting when you really think about it.”

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Rosey’s theory is that all these women had round faces so they were just viewed as bigger. Full cheeks were associated with more body fat, regardless of whether there was any. And because round-faced actresses were there to represent plus-size people, actual plus-size actresses showed up on the screen pretty rarely.

Another theory that could explain why people thought normal-sized women were fat comes from the comment section. Some people had an interesting observation that they were comparing the ‘chubby’ girls to other actresses, singers and TV personalities who were super skinny. You may say they were dangerously skinny.

Suddenly Rosey, realized those women weren’t that fat, or fat at all, as she was led to believe

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Image credits: roseybeeme

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Image credits: roseybeeme

And the reason for that was because it was the trend back in the day. It’s a weird concept, but bodies have trends just like clothes or makeup does.

According to Science Of People, who tracked down the body trends throughout centuries, in the Italian Renaissance era, a woman’s body was considered beautiful if she had full curves and a rounded stomach, but in the Victorian era, while a woman was supposed to be full-figured, her waist must have been cinched.

The TikToker started looking for more examples and found that social media in general constantly body-shamed women for not being super skinny

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Image credits: roseybeeme

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Image credits: roseybeeme

In the ’90s, the desired look was an extremely thin figure, almost concealing the fact that you are a woman. People really liked for women to look frail and almost ill. The look was named ‘heroin chic’ and it was characterized by pale skin, dark circles under the eyes and emaciated features, as if the person was using drugs.

In the 2000s, we were all about the thigh gap and even if it wasn’t anatomically possible for you to have it, women would starve themselves to acquire it. In current days, women are expected to have a flat stomach, but curvy hips, as well as thin legs, but a prominent bottom, continuing with unrealistic expectations.

Rosey noticed that all along, she was misremembering round-faced women as being plus-sized

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Image credits: roseybeeme

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Image credits: roseybeeme

But our views have changed and there could be a lot of reasons for that. The Body Positivity Movement probably plays a big role in that. People have also started to realize that they have to take care of their health and it matters more than how a body looks when it’s healthy.

It could be that trends from the past, when a fuller or more athletic figure was desired, are coming back because somehow we haven’t gotten rid of the idea of viewing bodies as fashion accessories. So now, when we look at what was said about certain women a couple of decades ago, it is pretty shocking and Rosey shows how unnecessary and pointless it is.

You can watch the first video in the series here

@roseybeeme Fat characters in movies/tv that really weren’t that fat. #fatbabe #plussize #plussizeactress #fyp #foryou #nowandthen #WhatIdWear ♬ Funky Town – The Dance Queen Group

The goal would be to at least not shame people who can’t or don’t want to follow the trend and who don’t fit into the beauty standard. On the other hand, if we got rid of beauty standards, there wouldn’t be a reason to shame people all together.

What are your thoughts on the topic and we also would like to know if you’ve experienced the same revelation as Rosey and her viewers did. Did you consider any of the women mentioned to be fat in the past? What do you think changed in your mind that makes you see them differently? Let us know in the comments!

People in the comments came to the same realization and gave even more examples of who they wrongly remember as fat

Woman Calls Out Old Films And TV Shows For Presenting Some Characters As Overweight When They Weren’t At All

Having started as a content creator that made articles for Bored Panda from scratch I climbed my way up to being and editor and then had team lead responsibilities added as well. So it was a pretty natural transition from writing articles and titles as well as preparing the visual part for the articles to making sure others are doing those same tasks as I did before well, answering their questions and guiding them when needed. Eventually I realized editing gives me the most enjoyment and I'm focusing only on that right now.

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Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

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What do you think ?

POST

Deborah Harris 2 years ago (edited)

I'm sorry, and as a curvy woman myself I really don't understand why she would even think those actresses were 'fat' as she called them . Maybe she associated people character 'eating' in films as being overweight. The only larger person I remember in films as a child was Chunk from the goonies and he was amazing. I wonder if it's all down to where you come from, do Americans see what we think as average size as plus size? I don't mean to sound rude I genuinely don't understand a culture where enjoying eating something or looking frumpy deems a person as 'fat' in someone elses' eyes. I remember reading about Drew Barrymore, Kate Winslett, Kirtstie Alley, Kathleen Turner being fat shamed by the press and the battles some had struggling with weight loss. I think the whole problem is down to the Media, and to those obnoxious people in the beauty industry who think being a 1lb or 2 overweight classes you as obese. There are a lot of heavier people out there who are happy with their looks and curves

27points

Serendipity911 2 years ago

I was a child when media called these women fat. I remember loving Kate Winslet and thinking she was so beautiful and then the media started saying how fat she was. It really screwed up my view of what is thin. I was too young to understand they were wrong or anything about the beauty industry.

31points

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Ozacoter 2 years ago

Because thats what society called and calls people who arent really thin. I had a bmi right in the middle of the healthy weight until my late 20s and my family always considered me fat (I even had some muscles so my bmi was higher than only for fat). My sister and cousin had it in the underweight category and they were (and are) considered healthy and desirable.

12points

Winter 2 years ago

"I wonder if it's all down to where you come from, do Americans see what we think as average size as plus size?"... "I think the whole problem is down to the Media"...it sounds like you answered your own question.

6points

BakedKahuna 2 years ago

Ready player one really annoyed me. The badass girl in the book was chubby and had a birthmark which covered half of her face if I remember correctly. She struggled with these 'flaws'. The main character didn't care about it and loved her because she was badass. But then in the movie she was skinny. There was never any overweight mentioned. And the birthmark was as tiny as a fingertip. Like, is it that unbelievable that a normal (female) person could be loved by the hero? What's wrong with the people who try to create certain images through media? I really used to love the audio book and listened to it over and over again. But haven't turned it on since I watched the movie.

14points

Deborah Harris 2 years ago

Sadly this happens to a lot of books when converted into films. When we read we fall in love with certain characters and people who we personally identify with. I didn't see Renee Zellweger as a bigger woman in 'Bridget Jones' at all , in fact I was appalled when she declared she hated playing a fat person and couldn't wait to lose a few pounds after filming .. Typecasting is no longer a real word as the Directors, Producers want beautiful people to replace central characters to give sex appeal and therefore make more money to line their pockets ..we should embrace people like Diana Dors, LIzzo and Melissa McCarthy more. Sadly even Adele and Rebel Wilson have now succumbed to the media by having plastic surgery. I can understand someone needing urgent medical surgery if their weight is life threatening, but these ladies made their millions being someone people could identify with

6points

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