Why Can’t Hollywood Get Fat Representation Right?

Recent months have seen headlines threaten the revival of 'heroine chic' thinness as, once again, human bodies are conflated with trends. The return of ‘thin is in’ is coming back with vengeance, en route to disrupt the work body positivity has done over the last few years. 

Since hyper-thinness last dominated our trend cycles in the early '00s, film and TV have endured the good, the bad and the ugly of representing bodies beyond it. From dehumanising and demoralising to sincere and sympathetic, fatness on our screens has been on a journey of self-improvement.

Here’s how 10 'fat' characters from the last 20 years have been depicted.