10 Ridiculous Movie Controversies That Went Nowhere
4. It's "Fatphobic" - The Whale
Darren Aronofsky's Oscar-winning film The Whale stars Brendan Fraser as a depressed, morbidly obese man attempting to reconnect with his estranged, difficult daughter (Sadie Sink).
Despite receiving broadly positive reviews, with most praise directed at Fraser's Oscar-winning performance, there was noted pushback against the film's depiction of an overweight protagonist as "fatphobic."
Some critics complained that putting Fraser in a fat-suit rather than hiring an obese performer for the part was inherently morally suspect, and that the film's downbeat subject matter presented an excessively miserable, even exploitative and dehumanising, view of overweight individuals.
Yet the response from general audiences was considerably less contentious, because after all, how many 600lb actors are there who could feasibly complete a gruelling movie shoot, let alone sell a film to the masses?
And more to the point, given the film's ultimately sympathetic point-of-view, is it unfair to suggest that being morbidly obese may be both horribly unhealthy and lead to a difficult life? Probably not.
It's all about context at the end of the day, and evidently the accusations levelled against the film didn't stop thousands of Academy members voting for Fraser to win the Best Actor Oscar.