The Whale’s Darren Aronofsky Responds to Fatphobia Allegations ‘Make No Sense’

We were exasperated by fat suit (literally translated, “fat suit”) by Sarah Paulson in the series Impeachment: American Crime Story in 2021. In 2022, again. This time it’s up to director Darren Aronofsky to validate this gross practice with his film The Whale (The whale in English).

“Playing” an obese queer man

At the end of the screening of The whale in Venice earlier this year, Brendan Fraser received a ovation 6 minutes. The public acclaimed the performance of the actor who, in the new film by Darren Aronofsky, plays Charlie, a 600-pound gay suffers from depression and binge eating after the death of her lover. However, Brendan Fraser is straight and not obese.

Despite the enthusiasm of the Venetian public, several voices were raised in favour question casting a heterosexual actor who isn’t obese to embody the character of Charlie. Between them, Daniel Franzese obese and gay actorbest known for his role in Lolita despite me reacted to People :

“He’s a lovely man. And that’s great. But why? Why wear a fat suit to play a 400-pound queer man?” Who knows better about being an obese queer man than an obese queer man? »

Empathy… or pity?

Despite the controversy, Darren Aronofsky defended his choice NeighborEW :

“Obese people usually are written as the bad guys. We wanted to create a refined character that had good and bad points; Charlie is very selfish, but he is also full of love and seeks forgiveness. therefore [la controverse] it makes no sense to me. Brendan Fraser is the right actor to play this role and the film is an exercise in empathy. »

However, the doubts expressed by Daniel Franzese are far from isolated. From the American press, many criticisms have been leveled at the film. So, in Tilted magazineit reads that Charlie is introduced “as an unpleasant object of pity all the time” and that, therefore, “it’s hard to deny the film’s grossophobia”. According to New Yorkerthe movie created “a voyeuristic effect” , in his extraordinary mastery of ultra-realistic prosthetics and special effects. ”

“By humanizing Charlie, Aronofsky seems to want to pushes the viewer away so we can congratulate ourselves on finding the man in the monster. But it is empathy or the compassion ?

Michael Schulman, The New Yorker

If the film opens in the United States on December 9, in France it will have to wait 8th of March 2023 to find out in theaters and form an opinion on Darren Aronofsky’s staging and ethics.

Featured Image Credit: © A24