I was intrigued by the DVD cover. You see the word Disfigured across the top. You see two women (neither disfigured), one tall and very thin, the other short and robust. Both attractive. My next question…how does the movie engage the two?
Lydia (Deidra Edwards) attends a fat acceptance group. When she dares start a walking group with some of the fat acceptance folks, she gets in big trouble from the group organizer. She’s accused of self-loathing and having a problem being fat. She should accept being big, she’s told. Lydia counters that everyone needs exercise. As the debate heats up, a skinny woman enters the room and sits down, as if to attend the meeting. Clearly, she must be in the wrong place. The organizer, frustrated with Lydia (and her valid points) asks the stranger if she can help her with something. Turns out skinny gal, Darcy (Staci Lawrence) is an anorexic in recovery; she sees herself as fat. She gets tossed out on her skinny butt for daring to join a group that won’t have her.
She signs up for the walking group and tries to help Lydia spruce up her flyer in order to get more interested parties. Lydia doesn’t understand why Darcy is gun-ho to be pals. Once they get through the initial pains, a friendship forms. This movie is complex and provocative. It could have easily veered into the predictable and cliché, yet it keep you thinking. Lydia confronts her own ideas about weight and poses a lot to Darcy, who has huge issues of her own regarding weight and body image. In the end, you get a friendship formed because of and despite body issues. It makes you wonder about the ideal body and the polarizing topic of women and weight. I really liked it.
Director: Glenn Gers
Country: US
Genre: Drama
Run time: 96 minutes
Scale: 4
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