00:00Darren Aronofsky is responding to criticism surrounding the whale's representation of bigger-bodied people and the use of a fat suit for star Brendan Fraser.
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00:16In a recent interview with Yahoo Entertainment, the director responded to backlash about the film, which explores the story of Charlie,
00:22a middle-aged man who, after the death of his boyfriend, experiences significant weight gain over several years until his estranged daughter shows up on his doorstep and he attempts to repair their relationship.
00:33The role for which Fraser was recently nominated for a Golden Globe required the actor to use a fat suit.
00:39In September, Mean Girls star Daniel Francesi says that he's a fan of Fraser but questioned why Aronofsky hadn't just hired a gay, bigger-bodied man for the role.
00:48He's a lovely man, and it's great. But why? Why go up there and wear a fat suit to play a 400-pound queer man?
00:55Who knows more about being an obese queer man than an obese queer man?
00:58Aronofsky, according to Yahoo, argued that actors have been using makeup since the beginning of acting. That's one of their tools.
01:05The director also defended his characterization of Charlie and his casting of Fraser, stating that the character is not one-dimensional,
01:11and for that reason, avoids falling into fat-phobic territory.
01:14People with obesity are generally written as bad guys or as punchlines.
01:19We wanted to create a fully worked-out character who has bad parts about him and good parts about him.
01:24Charlie is very selfish, but he's also full of love and is seeking forgiveness.
01:28So the controversy makes no sense to me.
01:30Brendan Fraser is the right actor to play this role, and the film is an exercise in empathy.
01:35Fraser echoed the director's stance, saying that Charlie is not only a well-rounded character, but is not the person he represents,
01:41and that ultimately, the film's empathetic lens is what separates Charlie from a fat-phobic narrative treatment.
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