Do I Look Fat?
- Director: Travis Mathews
CGiii Comment
Do I Look Fat? is a feature-length documentary with fat on the brain -fat that we feel, fat that we think and all sorts of fat problems that manifest from fat-phobic thinking inside the fat-wary gay community. As one person puts it, "fat is the little word with big meaning."
This "big meaning" is explored with a careful lens turned toward the gay community itself. From the personal stories of seven diverse men who have struggled, or continue to struggle, with eating disorders and body image issues, Do I Look Fat? uncovers reoccurring and interconnecting themes that support this "self-esteem disorder." Themes such as childhood wounding, internalized homophobia, the effects of HIV/AIDS on the body and the prevalence of substance abuse histories are among a few that underscore the film. Perhaps most importantly, the film doesn't shy away from asking why these common histories have, until now, been left in the proverbial closet at a community level.
With a sensitivity that never panders toward sensationalism, the film weaves together the personal and the clinical with support from several experts in the field of eating disorders -an M.D. of a renowned eating disorder clinic, an art therapist, and a gay therapist who's battled with his own eating disorder. The result is a comprehensive introduction to how such a small word like "fat" managed such large and complex meanings among gay individuals and the community as a whole.
Trailer...