Tough Love

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Even by my blunt-talk standards, Howard Stern's two-day-old comments about Gabourey Sidibe seemed needlessly cruel. Sidibe will, I expect, find acting work here and there, but not much. She'll reportedly next play a role in the Showtime series The C Word and then a role in a feature called Yelling to the Sky. But Stern isn't wrong in saying that her prospects are limited.

Yesterday I was asked to comment about Sidibe by a writer for Turner who believes that Sidibe may have broken through a weight barrier, and is perhaps positioned to strike a blow for other obese girls who 've been discriminated against because of their size, etc. I replied as follows:

"I loved Gabby's smile and vibe and I don't want her to not work, but the only roles she'll have a shot at playing will be downmarket moms and hard-luck girls working at Wal-mart -- that line of country. Unless she drops the tonnage she's facing a very limited future as an actress. No casting director would choose her to play anyone in the upscale executive world because -- hello? -- no one in the executive world looks like her. No casting director would choose her to play a gym teacher, or a big-wave surfer, or a Washington lobbyist, or a U.S. Congresswoman, or a park ranger, or a fire-fighter, or a soldier (I've never seen morbidly obese women in uniform...have you?) or a saleswoman in an apparel shop (no woman would trust her sartorial judgment), or a narcotics detective.

"Could she even play a cab driver? Could a person of her proportion even fit behind the wheel of an average cab? I'm just asking.

"Gabby is as out of the realm of mainstream normality as a seven foot-tall giant or a wheelchair person with polio. She will have serious health problems later in life if she doesn't lose about half her body weight, at least. Whether we like to hear this or not, she represents a kind of low-rent affliction and a pattern of self-destruction.

"And you're not doing Gabby any favors by coddling her with approving profiles and patting her on the back and saying 'you go, girl' -- she's got a serious problem. And you're also telling other morbidly obese young women that it's okay to be that way. It's not -- it's bad for the health. Only in a country like ours in which the population is as addicted to crappy fatty foods as heroin addicts are to the needle."

Okay, now bring on the hate and call me a terrible person for being insensitive, etc.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 10, 2010 at 9:48 AM

comment #1

BurmaShave says ...

my only issue is spending that much time on how her prospects are limited, rather than just focusing on how she's going to die. Stern was right in one crucial respect- she needs an intervention.

Posted by BurmaShave at March 10, 2010 10:22 AM

comment #2

Ray DeRousse says ...

I completely agree with Stern's comments about her prospects, sad though it is.

I'm a little surprised by Robin's reaction, though. As someone old enough and black enough to remember racial discrimination, it's weird to hear her bashing someone who is different. "Take a look around the room, Gabby. Who do you look like?" That's a strange comment coming from an older black woman who probably had that herself while growing up.

I suppose she gets paid really well to nod her head and laugh at Stern's garbage. She did a great job there.

Posted by Ray DeRousse at March 10, 2010 10:23 AM

comment #3

joe banks says ...

she's already been cast in her next project, "The C Word," for Showtime so . . . guess she can work

Posted by joe banks at March 10, 2010 10:24 AM

comment #4

efbrackett says ...

You're right in that she has a weight problem and that does limit her movie career.

Posted by efbrackett at March 10, 2010 10:27 AM

comment #5

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

Everyone doth think you protest too much, Jeff.

Again, I think there's probably a great sitcom pitch in a scenario where Jeff, D.Z and LexG are all living under one roof. The OCD guy who shares with a manic-depressive the guest house behind the New England cottage of their curmudgeon uncle.

A typical episode ends Waltons style with these shouts over the summer crickets:

"K-Stew!"

"Tarantino!"

"Shut up you two blobbo Hispanic party animals!"

David Poland is the world weary market owner who has to referee them when they come in for supplies. The pilot episode has Owen Wilson as the Zen spouting handy man.

Wednesdays, on Spike TV.

Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie at March 10, 2010 10:30 AM

comment #6

joefilm1 says ...

Anything underwritten by Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey should be looked at with a side eye.

Posted by joefilm1 at March 10, 2010 10:33 AM

comment #7

George Prager says ...

If "ER" was still on the air, she would already be doing a recurring role as an intern.

Posted by George Prager at March 10, 2010 10:39 AM

comment #8

dinovelvet says ...

Queen Latifah used to be a lot heavier (though I don't think she was ever as big as this lass) and she dropped some poundage and got leading roles.

Or she can play Kevin Smith in "Southwest : 2 Phat 2 Fly"

Posted by dinovelvet at March 10, 2010 10:41 AM

comment #9

frankbooth says ...

This girl has probably been obese her whole life. What I want to know is how a celebrity like Kevin Smith wakes up one day and finds himself looking like a VW Bug balanced on its front bumper. Did it just creep up on him?

Posted by frankbooth at March 10, 2010 10:46 AM

comment #10

George Prager says ...

I'm sure Todd Solondz is holed up somewhere with a box set of Bette Davis DVDs and two cases of Pepsi Throwback trying to come up with a way to exploit her.

Posted by George Prager at March 10, 2010 10:47 AM

comment #11

caslab says ...

She'll have character part options in the near future, but yes her unhealthy physique will limit her choices in the long run.

Of course, she could always find work in radio. Being physically unappealing never hurt Stern's career, did it?

Posted by caslab at March 10, 2010 10:49 AM

comment #12

Jackrabbit Slim says ...

Before you say she couldn't play a congresswoman, take a look at Barbara Mikulski. Not exactly a glamorous-looking woman.

Posted by Jackrabbit Slim at March 10, 2010 10:49 AM

comment #13

Gordn27 says ...

I think that was much better written than your usual anti-fat diatribe; seriously, nicely done.

Here's the strange, random thing: in high school, the coach of the basketball team was a guy who weighed at least 400 pounds. He was also a Health teacher.

Also, regarding the business world - she couldn't play a (realistic) executive, but every office I've ever worked in has a sassy black woman about her size.

Posted by Gordn27 at March 10, 2010 10:50 AM

comment #14

Travis Crabtree says ...

Before everyone turns this into a racial thing......

Remember the white woman who did such a terrific job playing Depp's enormous mother in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"?

What's she been up to lately?

Posted by Travis Crabtree at March 10, 2010 10:50 AM

comment #15

crazynine says ...

'Tis nothing lap band surgery and membership in Overeater's Anonymous won't fix.

The issue with Wells, of course, is that he routinely confuses people with padding with the morbidly obese, rendering his judgment in this case suspect. OF COURSE this girl is morbidly obese, as anyone can see. There's nothing healthy about being that large, and it's a fact that she'd have trouble having a career *anywhere* being that heavy, let alone in superficial plasticine Hollywood.

That said, there's a distinction to be made-- a real distinction, mind you-- between being overweight and morbidly obese. Plenty of Americans are overweight. Not as many are morbidly obese.

I can't remember reading a post on this blog that ever acknowledged any such distinction between the two. A paunch, a little middle-aged dough, and you're a disgusting "fattie" indistinguishable from Gabourey Sidibe.

Man's got issues, man.

Posted by crazynine at March 10, 2010 10:55 AM

comment #16

bluefugue says ...

The paradox is that she wouldn't have gotten the part if she weren't obese, since that is what the role called for. Now that she's got the part, we all suddenly know she exists and know she's a good actress, yet chide her for having a problem. She has the same problem any obese person has, which is a serious one, yet had she been in shape all these years she would not at any rate have gotten *that* part.

It kind of reminds me of actors who are typecast as The Fat Guy (Chris Farley, John Candy, etc.). They have a very strong financial incentive to maintain an unhealthy body weight year after year after year. Not sure what's to be done about it -- movies need fat people and if audiences like fat actors, who's to blame their agents and employers for wanting them to stay that way? -- but it's definitely a cruel side effect of the way the system works.

Posted by bluefugue at March 10, 2010 10:56 AM

comment #17

Josh Massey says ...

A few years ago, I ran into "the fat guy" from Not Another Teen Movie and Varsity Blues. He had gotten the vacuum treatment, and was nearly unrecognizable. Also, completely out of work in his thinner body.

That doesn't mean I disagree with anything here, though.

Posted by Josh Massey at March 10, 2010 11:00 AM

comment #18

Floyd Thursby says ...

She could co-star in something with Vince D'Onofrio: http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/a-stress-free-oscar-campaign/

Posted by Floyd Thursby at March 10, 2010 11:09 AM

comment #19

MOGUL says ...

There are quite a few big women in showbiz. I think she'll do fine. Matter of fact, I have a couple of projects that would suit her.

Just wondering about her quote...

Posted by MOGUL at March 10, 2010 11:12 AM

comment #20

Eloi Manning says ...

There are a lot of character actors that have unconventional looks and would immediately be out of the running for certain roles. But they still get work. Peter Dinklage, for example, is always doing something. And Jackie Earle Haley.

Posted by Eloi Manning at March 10, 2010 11:12 AM

comment #21

Robert Cashill says ...

Jennifer Hudson is still working. I think.

Posted by Robert Cashill at March 10, 2010 11:17 AM

comment #22

Snoop Marlo says ...

Robert : I was also thinking of Jennifer Hudson, although Hudson can sing, is not as morbidly obese as Gabi, and with the right makeup, is pretty.

Howard's cruel, but he's honest.

Posted by Snoop Marlo at March 10, 2010 11:32 AM

comment #23

Colin says ...

Now I don't feel bad for the takedown Givens got during the Joan River's roast.

Posted by Colin at March 10, 2010 11:53 AM

comment #24

Gordn27 says ...

Hudson gained most of the weight for "Dreamgirls' -- she's not model-thin, but she's a far cry from even what she was in 'Dreamgirls', let alone Sidibe.

Posted by Gordn27 at March 10, 2010 12:14 PM

comment #25

great scott says ...

I bet Stern is on Roger Ebert's shit list now.

Posted by great scott at March 10, 2010 12:18 PM

comment #26

thevisceral says ...

Bad Santa 2

Posted by thevisceral at March 10, 2010 12:22 PM

comment #27

frankbooth says ...

Roger Ebert has been thin for years, great scott. Even before his illness.

Posted by frankbooth at March 10, 2010 12:56 PM

comment #28

great scott says ...

Frankbooth, my point was that Ebert loves Sidebe and was rooting for her to win. Stern's comments probably don't sit wellwith ol' Rog.

Posted by great scott at March 10, 2010 1:13 PM

comment #29

Flash Gordon says ...

We all know why Ebert wanted her to win and it had nothing to do with her weight.

Posted by Flash Gordon at March 10, 2010 1:26 PM

comment #30

DeeZee says ...

If that Just Wright movie does alright, there might be hope for her.

dino: Queen Latifah had a music career as a fall-back, though.

Posted by DeeZee at March 10, 2010 2:09 PM

comment #31

DeeZee says ...

But yeah, when you think about it, what's really fucked up is that audiences are ironically more willing to pay for movies featuring a black man dressed as a fat black girl.

Posted by DeeZee at March 10, 2010 2:17 PM

comment #32

polarbear2 says ...

"No casting director would choose her to play a gym teacher, or a big-wave surfer, or a Washington lobbyist, or a U.S. Congresswoman, or a park ranger, or a fire-fighter, or a soldier (I've never seen morbidly obese women in uniform...have you?) or a saleswoman in an apparel shop (no woman would trust her sartorial judgment), or a narcotics detective. "
I don't see Dame Judi Dench playing any of those parts either, but she won't have to worry about work.
Gabby is not going to be the next Bond girl, but there are always roles for all sorts out there. I thought Marlee Matlin was going to vanish twenty years ago after her Oscar, but she's continued to find work.

Posted by polarbear2 at March 10, 2010 7:56 PM

comment #33