Some people aren't thrilled about Amy Schumer's 'body positive' film, 'I Feel Pretty'
Amy Schumer’s new film “I Feel Pretty” is here, and people aren’t pleased about it.
The trailer for the June 29 film, which was released on Friday and dubbed a “body-positive comedy,” depicts Schumer as Renee Barrett, a woman who struggles with poor body image until a head injury in Soul Cycle class triggers her to believe she’s the most beautiful woman in the world. The takeaway: Feeling beautiful isn’t a matter of diet, exercise, or plastic surgery. No matter what your looks are, the right attitude can make anyone gorgeous.
Change everything, without changing anything. Watch the trailer for my new comedy, I Feel Pretty – coming soon to theaters. #FeelPretty pic.twitter.com/TITRYJSGc4
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) February 8, 2018
But many on social media, most notably comedian Sofie Hagen, raised an issue with the fact that a white, blonde, straight actress is still in a privileged class, not truly reflective of those marginalized for their looks.
So the new Amy Schumer movie is about a woman who is half an inch from being conventionally Hollywood attractive (but rest-of-the-world attractive) who thinks she's rest-of-the-world-attractive? I have never been more confused in my life.
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) February 9, 2018
Amy Schumer is blonde, white, able-bodied, femme and yes, thin. She IS society's beauty ideal. So they give her a ponytail and remove her make-up and suddenly she's ugly? Why not just give her glasses or a fatsuit? What is wrong with this world?
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) February 9, 2018
Who is this meant to resonate with? Before we can enjoy the premis, surely we have to buy into the fact that she is not pretty. How many of us are bigger than her? Are we supposed to accept that THIS is ugly when it's all we've been taught that we should aim for?
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) February 9, 2018
I have watched the trailer so many times now. Would it be funny if it was someone GENUINELY (conventionally) unattractive? Someone did not live up to a single beauty ideal? Or would it then be provocative to see someone undeserving of confidence actually feel confident?
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) February 9, 2018
Amy Schumer feels like Hollywood's excuse. Like, LOOK, we put a FAT UGLY woman on TV because she has a teeny-tiny belly and also in this scene she doesn't wear make-up, so now we've fixed it. We're not longer shallow. Fuck the fuck off.
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) February 9, 2018
I understand that there are people who look exactly like Amy Schumer who do feel ugly or unattractive. But that doesn't change the fact that those people will still be treated better by society than someone actually fat, actually not white, actually not femme-passing.
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) February 9, 2018
I MEAN, SHE HITS HER HEAD AND THEN FEELS BEAUTIFUL. This movie legit had to become SCI-FI for it to be realistic. Only in a MAGICAL universe could she possibly feel pretty. HER – blonde, white, thin, femme, cis, blah, she is ALL THE THINGS AND STILL SHE IS NOT CONSIDERED PRETTY.
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) February 9, 2018
P.S. I know she is being held to a higher standard because she's a woman and that's unfortunate. I know there's hundreds of movies that would never cast her because she's still not thin or attractive enough. It's still bullshit though and I'm still mad.
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) February 9, 2018
This film is a classic "Let me remove her glasses and VIOLA, underneath she's actually NOT a monster". When will Hollywood realise that all women, at some point, will just not be wearing make-up or pulling a warm smile? We are all, always, ugly and beautiful.
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) February 9, 2018
Some felt the movie was sexist.
So this is film about a normal woman gaining the attitude of a white man? https://t.co/MEETmtvkan
— Lily (@LylianBurke) February 9, 2018
And outdated.
Can we stop acting like Amy Schumer is even fat OR ugly? Also why the hell is a movie about a woman who isn’t happy or confident about herself until she sees herself as “super model thin and beautiful” even being made in 2018?????
— Best Coast (@BestCoast) February 9, 2018
And elitist.
Amy Schumer is releasing a movie to liberate herself from the oppression she so desperately needs you to know about – her life as a white, thin, blonde woman in America. fucking spare me, this world was made *for you*
— kish (@kish_lal) February 9, 2018
And downright depressing.
the most amy schumer thing I can think of is pretending that a film in which a (still perfectly thin) person literally has to SUFFER BRAIN DAMAGE to believe she is attractive is body positive and industry disruptive
— Alex (@alexlancey) February 10, 2018
Schumer, 36, has joked about her own body image struggles. “I’m what Hollywood calls ‘very fat,'” she said during her Netflix show Amy Schumer: The Leather Special in March last year.
She also shared in the special, per People, that she was advised to lose weight before filming her 2015 film Trainwreck. “Before I did anything, somebody like explained to me, ‘Just so you know, Amy, no pressure, but if you weigh over 140 pounds, it will hurt people’s eyes. And I was like [‘OK’] I just bought it. I was like, ‘OK, I’m new to town. So I lost weight.”
Still, Schumer said, “I feel very good in my own skin. I feel strong. I feel healthy. I do. I feel sexy,” and as with her character, changing her perspective helped.
“My dad, like, has MS and is in a wheelchair and it’s, like, I’m just psyched I can f***ing move,” she said, according to People. “How are you going to complain [about your imperfections?] Shut the f*** up. You’re alive. You can move. You feel good!”
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
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