In this article we list some of the best representations of anorexia in cinema.
Behind the name? Eating disorders: there are a number of situations in which mental health is harmed by a person’s relationship with food and how to feed, which is influenced or conditioned by different psychological variables depending on the disorder, some of which are well known: esteem, anxiety, body image?
- Anorexia and bulimia are probably the best known types.
- But not the only ones.
- They are disorders that usually begin in adolescence and are very difficult to overcome.
- In addition.
- It is also known that their prevalence is higher among women.
- Although every day they are more men who also need psychological help because they suffer from some type of disorder in this group.
The health problems that can arise from these types of disorders are numerous, and these are also often accompanied by other types of disorders and diseases, some examples are depression, anxiety, personality disorders, as well as decreased heart rate, hair loss, dry skin. , dehydration, fatigue, etc.
The causes can be very diverse, varying from person to person. Are we talking in general? As we have already said, is each case unique?People with low self-esteem. Generally very perfectionist and demanding, they can present problems in your family or friendly relationships, etc. There is no single trigger, but a context influenced by several factors.
These are problems that have always existed and manifest in many ways, this does not change the fact that in recent decades we have seen an increase in their impact on the population, the world of fashion, the extreme and rigid beauty standards, or the continuous exposure of today’s society to advertising and social networks may be some of the factors responsible for this increase.
The standardized beauty of thin women has long been unrelated to the truly healthy, physically and mentally, the media’s imposition is so strong that, on many occasions, we are conditioned to think that what is right, more than normal is to have an extremely thin body. The problem is that the media doesn’t reflect the reality of almost everyone. We are not all the same and the normalization of extreme thinness as a norm can pose many problems for the population.
In this sense, it is important that within these media, as in cinema, there are opposite currents, contrary to normalization, functioning as a path to consciousness and not as a broken mirror that would reflect only distorted images of reality. not the modified image itself, but the advertising that makes it ideal, desirable and common. Let’s think for a second about the bodies of hollywood’s great models and stars, how many of them represent us?How many have bodies that are close to the reality of most?
It is difficult to see cinema as an impartial representation of reality, this is because few existing actors do not follow the standard of imposed beauty, we idealize characters, actors, models and therefore we want to be like them. is very dangerous, especially for young people.
Not even the industry members we admire are immune from pressure, no wonder many celebrities have already confessed to suffering from anorexia or bulimia, including Allegra Versace, Mary-Kate Olsen, Victoria Beckham, Lady Gaga and Elton. Juan.
We often see news in the press criticizing certain celebrities for gaining weight. I remember an old case a few years ago when Christina Aguilera decided to interrupt a life of diets and put on a few pounds, she has been severely criticized for it. actress or actor, in this case singer, wins or loses weight, we will talk about it and criticize it in both cases, it seems that the image is more important than the quality of the work produced, regardless of the field.
“Perfection is a collection of makeup mistakes. -Mario Benedetti-
If we want to reflect reality in film, we need to look for actors and actresses closer, who physically look more like “deadly” people. But what if disorders like anorexia were directly represented?Can we talk about anorexia in the movies?
There are topics that involve the representation of anorexia in cinema, and that’s why there aren’t many examples of titles on the subject, most of which deal with waste. A character who suffers from anorexia or bulimia, but who is not in the center. of the feature film, and this ends up not going any further. However, there are films closer to the subject.
It is very delicate and difficult to delve into these types of disorders, because each case is different and different, besides, this implies a weight loss for the actors, due to the demands of representation of the context, which is not at all healthy. positive for health. So there aren’t many movies, but here we have a small selection of 5 titles that allow us to become aware of the problem.
It is a 2004 Italian film that tells another perspective on anorexia. In this case, it’s the male obsession with extremely thin women. Vittorio is a man obsessed with perfection and wants to find a woman who exactly matches his taste, an extremely thin one. Woman.
He will soon meet Sonia who, even if she doesn’t have the weight she’d like, leaves him in love and then they decide to start a relationship. Sonia loses weight for love, but what awaits her is a nightmare. The film tells us sumerge. al hell, which is anorexia, but from a different perspective that speaks not only of disorder, but also of idealization.
It is a 1999 film starring Winona Ryder. Eating disorders are not the centerpiece of history, but a set of different types of disorders that, in this case, occur since adolescence, a period full of insecurity and in which the former usually appear. Here appear characters suffering from anorexia and bulimia, the highlight is the character of Daisy, a young woman who suffers from bulimia and has also been sexually abused.
It is a 2005 Mexican film that focuses on a family in which we see several eating disorders, this is a harsh criticism of the imposition of beauty standards, in this case it will be the mother who will not handle her daughter’s body well. A film that also tackles the subject in a slightly different way than conventional one.
It’s not really a movie, it’s a documentary. Anyway, it deserves to be here in this selection, it is a documentary that really deepens the theme of anorexia and the obsession with the image that today’s society has, invites the viewer to rething how we contribute to the perpetuation of beauty standards.
It’s a netflix movie that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, the film ended up in great controversy for treating such a serious subject in a smooth and fluid way, but I think it achieves its goal thanks to the character of Ellen, a young woman suffering from anorexia. We’ve discovered a little bit about the struggle these patients are having and how sometimes it may not be as effective as we’d like.
Out of curiosity, it should be noted that the actress who plays Ellen, Lily Collins, confessed to having suffered from the disease and being cured today, but when she had to lose weight for the role of the film, her exaggerated thinness was celebrated and celebrated. annoyed her again. Once again, we are faced with such dangerous normalization or even an incentive.
“One day I was leaving my apartment and someone I know, my mother’s age, said, “Wow, look at you!”. I started explaining that I had lost weight for a role, but she kept saying, “I want to know what you did, it’s amazing!”. I got in the car with my mom and said, “Is that the reason for this big problem?”- Lily Collins-