"The Whale" director Darren Aronofsky has addressed the controversy surrounding the film's star, Brendan Fraser, wearing a fat suit and the portrayal of his character's obesity on screen.
The filmmaker has faced his fair share of backlash following the film's recent Venice Film Festival premiere. Leading his critics was The New York Times writer Roxane Gay, who slammed Aronofsky in an opinion piece, writing that "The Whale" was “an inhumane film about a very human being."
In the film, Fraser portrays a severely obese, reclusive gay college professor struggling to reconnect with his estranged daughter in the final days of his life.
When asked about the criticism of the project — an adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter's 2012 play —Aronofsky told Yahoo Entertainment that it "makes no sense" to him. He argued that "actors have been using makeup since the beginning of acting — that’s one of their tools.
"The lengths we went to portray the realism of the makeup has never been done before. One of my first calls after casting Brendan was to my makeup artist, Adrien Morot. I asked him, ‘Can we do something that’s realistic?’ Because if it’s going to look like a joke, then we shouldn’t do it."
During the interview, Aronofsky explained that, while "people with obesity are generally written as bad guys or as punch lines," his team "wanted to create a fully worked-out character who has bad parts about him and good parts about him; Charlie [Fraser] is very selfish, but he’s also full of love and is seeking forgiveness. So [the controversy] makes no sense to me."
During an interview on The Los Angeles Times’ "The Envelope" podcast, Aronofsky emphasized the fact that he had collaborated with the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) in order to ensure an appropriate portrayal of people afflicted with obesity.
"They really feel this is going to open up people’s eyes," Aronofsky said. "You gotta remember, people in this community, they get judged by doctors when they go to get medical help. They get judged everywhere they go on the planet, by most people.
"This film shows that, like everyone, we are all human and that we are all good and bad and flawed and hopeful and joyful and sorrowful, and there’s all different colors inside of us."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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