16 Comments
Mar 14, 2023·edited Mar 14, 2023Liked by Carmen Maria Machado

Thank you for writing -- dreaming of better airplanes and better movies.

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Mar 14, 2023Liked by Carmen Maria Machado

thank you for sharing this impeccable, heartfelt, and lived reflection. i wonder what's in store for Frazer. this unfortunate, self-dehumanizing narrative arc is nothing new. the singe of his wings is almost audible.

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My mother told me she watched this film and how incredible it was and how he deserves an Oscar. I was upset and couldn’t quite understand why, until it hit me that this woman tortured herself over her body and was absolutely disgusted by mine ( always fat. Way fatter than she is). Of course she would love it. It plays into all of her favorite body horrors. Thank you for articulating this disappointment and I hope that woman from the plane spills soup on her clothes every day.

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You ARE exceptionally hot!!!!!

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As a fan of The Mummy (1999) – it's one of my comfort movies – I am happy that Fraser has made a successful comeback. At the same time, as a fat woman, I am very angry that it took him playing a grotesque version of my life for Hollywood to accept his talents. I hate that he took the role, but I hate even more that the role existed in the first place.

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"Like every bisexual who has ever existed, I used to love Brendon Fraser." *snortlaugh*

Also, well done on deleting an entirely unwarranted explanation for a thing. I am working on this all the time.

It's wild to me that the entire crew who worked on The Whale didn't notice that the TITLE OF THE MOVIE is a red flag that their so-called "representation" is sus.

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Thank you so much for writing this! I'm fat as well, and you managed to articulate my feelings as well, why I felt uncomfortable during Brendan's speech and why I still cannot bring myself to watch The Whale, even though I also used to be fond of him and have nothing against him as a person. People say he did great job in this movie, but something about this role doesn't feel okay. It's kinda crazy that even though nowadays people talk a lot about body poitivity, the media still keep portraying fat people as losers, as someone unlikable and someone who have to change themselves. I think I only recently finally started to acccept myself the way I am an realize I'm actually beautiful and likeable too; I'm still not very confident about myself because the whole youth I've been thinking there's something wrong with me. So yeah, this dehumanization of fat people in media doesn't really help >_<

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Thank you for sharing, what a delightful (and super sad and horrifying of course) read

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Thank you for writing this. I relate! And about to start flying again it’s on my mind so much.

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This was so heartbreaking and beautiful and made me see connections that I couldn't quite see before. But that woman on the airplane. I would have punched her in the face. She assaulted you!

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Thank you for this, all of it.

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I appreciate this very much. Thank you.

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Thank you for writing this <3

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So infuriated (as always) with how Hollywood portrays fat bodies. Thank you so much for this, Carmen.

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Ugh, I'm so sorry. Thank you for sharing this <3

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