‘I’ll always be a bad femist!’: Roxane Gay on love, succs – and upsettg Piers Man | Roxane Gay | The Guardian

Contents:

• ROXANE GAY
• ROXANE GAY CRIED WHILE WATCHG "THE WHALE"BEE SHE FOUND SENSIVE AND -HUMANIZG
• ROXANE GAY: BY THE BOOK
• ‘I’LL ALWAYS BE A BAD FEMIST!’: ROXANE GAY ON LOVE, SUCCS – AND UPSETTG PIERS MAN
• THE WHALE DIRECTOR DARREN ARONOFSKY: FATPHOBIA CRICISM “MAK NO SENSE”THE OSR-NOMATED FILMMAKER IS ADDRSG THE NTROVERSY SURROUNDG STAR BRENDAN FRASER’S FAT SU AND HOW HIS CHARACTER’S OBY IS PORTRAYED ONSCREEN. BY SAVANNAH WALSHDECEMBER 13, 2022BRENDAN FRASER AS CHARLIE THE WHALE. COURTY OF A24.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETHE WHALE, AN AWARDS-SEASON NTENR STARRG BRENDAN FRASER AS A MORBIDLY OBE MAN MAKG AMENDS WHILE LIVG OUT HIS FAL DAYS, IS BEG LLED AN “EXERCISE  EMPATHY” BY S DIRECTOR, DARREN ARONOFSKY. BUT SPE THAT BILLG, THE FILM HAS BEEN MET WH CRICISM—FOR FRASER WEARG A FAT SU THE ROLE OF CHARLIE AND HOW THE CHARACTER’S EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN PICTED ONSCREEN.FOLLOWG THE MOVIE’S VENICE FILM FTIVAL PREMIERE, VANY FAIR’S RICHARD LAWSON WROTE  HIS REVIEW THAT CHARLIE’S CURRENT EXISTENCE IS TOLD WH “A KD OF LEERG HORROR, A PORTRA OF A MAN GONE TO TASTROPHIC SO THAT WE, THE DIENCE, MAY TAP TO OUR NOBLER, HIGHER MDS AND SEE THE WORTHY HUMAN BEG BENEATH THE IGHTFUL EXTERR,” ADDG, “THAT DON’T FEEL ANYTHG LIKE EMPATHY.” MORE RECENTLY, ROXANE GAY WROTE A NEW YORK TIM OPN PIECE WHICH SHE REFERRED TO THE WHALE AS “AN HUMANE FILM ABOUT A VERY HUMAN BEG.”WHEN ASKED ABOUT CRICISM OF THE PROJECT, WHICH IS ADAPTED BY SAMUEL D. HUNTER OM HIS 2012 PLAY, ARONOFSKY TOLD YAHOO ENTERTAMENT THAT “MAK NO SENSE” TO HIM. THE DIRECTOR ARGUED THAT “ACTORS HAVE BEEN G MAKP SCE THE BEGNG OF ACTG—THAT’S ONE OF THEIR TOOLS. AND THE LENGTHS WE WENT TO PORTRAY THE REALISM OF THE MAKP HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE. ONE OF MY FIRST LLS AFTER STG BRENDAN WAS TO MY MAKP ARTIST, ADRIEN MOROT. I ASKED HIM, ‘CAN WE DO SOMETHG THAT’S REALISTIC?’ BEE IF ’S GOG TO LOOK LIKE A JOKE, THEN WE SHOULDN’T DO .”ARONOFSKY THEN ACKNOWLEDGED THAT “PEOPLE WH OBY ARE GENERALLY WRTEN AS BAD GUYS OR AS PUNCH L,” ADDG, “WE WANTED TO CREATE A FULLY WORKED-OUT CHARACTER WHO HAS BAD PARTS ABOUT HIM AND GOOD PARTS ABOUT HIM; CHARLIE IS VERY SELFISH, BUT HE’S ALSO FULL OF LOVE AND IS SEEKG FIVENS. SO [THE NTROVERSY] MAK NO SENSE TO ME.”HE REERATED THIS STANCE AN TERVIEW ON THE LOS ANGEL TIM’ THE ENVELOPE PODST, EMPHASIZG HIS LLABORATN WH THE OBY ACTN COALN (OAC). “THEY REALLY FEEL THIS IS GOG TO OPEN UP PEOPLE’S EY,” ARONOFSKY SAID. “YOU GOTTA REMEMBER, PEOPLE THIS MUNY, THEY GET JUDGED BY DOCTORS WHEN THEY GO TO GET MEDIL HELP. THEY GET JUDGED EVERYWHERE THEY GO ON THE PLA, 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 LORS SI OF .”(L-R) DARREN ARONOFSKY, BRENDAN FRASER, AND TY SIMPKS ON SET OF ‘THE WHALE.’BY NIKO TAVERNISE/ COURTY OF A24.IN HIS FIRST TERVIEW ABOUT THE WHALE, FRASER TOLD VANY FAIR ABOUT LLABORATG WH THE OAC, SPEAKG WH MANY WHO’VE UNRGONE BARIATRIC SURGERI, AND WATCHG NTENT ABOUT PEOPLE LIVG HIGHER-WEIGHT BODI. “I LEARNED QUICKLY THAT TAK AN CREDIBLY STRONG PERSON SI THAT BODY TO BE THAT PERSON,” FRASER SAID. “THAT SEEMED FTG AND POETIC AND PRACTIL TO ME, ALL AT ONCE.”ARONOFSKY TOLD VF THAT CHARLIE’S PHYSIL BODY WAS JT ONE FACET OF WHO HE IS THE MOVIE. “UNFORTUNATELY, SO MANY CHARACTERS PORTRAYED THE MEDIA WHO ARE LIVG WH OBY ARE TREATED AWFULLY—EHER THEY’RE HUIATED, MA FUN OF, OR JT LIVG SQUALOR,” ARONOFSKY SAID. “THAT WAS NEVER CHARLIE. OBY IS JT PART OF WHAT CHARLIE IS. AFTER 10 MUT OF SPENDG TIME WH CHARLIE, THAT’S THE BREAKTHROUGH THAT WE HOPE THE FILM HAS [FOR VIEWERS].”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRHOW FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE REALYEXCLIVE NEW DETAILS ABOUT MEGHAN MARKLE’S WEDDG DRSA BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF EVERYTHG HAPPENG AT THIS FALL’S FILM FTIVALS—WHOUT THE STARSA SER SETBACK FOR TMP’S PLAN TO GET REELECTED AND PARDON HIMSELFMEET KYLE DCHANEL, THE PRETEND PLAYBOY WHO SEEMS TO HAVE FOOLED HALF OF MANHATTANTHE ULTIMATE GUI TO FALL MOVIFROM THE ARCHIVE: A FATHER’S ACUNT OF THE TRIAL OF HIS DGHTER’S KILLEREND-OF-SUMMER SALE! TAKE 25% OFF AT THE VF SHOPMOST POPULARADAM SANDLER FDS LOW-KEY TRIUMPH YOU ARE SO NOT INVED TO MY BAT MZVAHBY SAVANNAH WALSHNETFLIX’S MURDGH MURRS IS OFFICIALLY RETURNG FOR SEASON 2: EXCLIVEBY SAVANNAH WALSH25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSBY HILLARY BISSAVANNAH WALSH
• 5 ROXANE GAY BOOKS THAT EVERYONE SHOULD READ

ROXANE GAY

Come look at the eak, the movie Gay is the Gloria Steem endowed chair at Rutgers Universy, the thor of the forthg “Opns” and a ntributg Opn wrer.

@RGay A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 18 of the New York edn wh the headle: The Cel Spectacle of ‘The Whale’.

ROXANE GAY CRIED WHILE WATCHG "THE WHALE"BEE SHE FOUND SENSIVE AND -HUMANIZG

In the New York Tim, wrer Roxane Gay lled The Whale’s wrg and directg “utterly rels” and cricized the film for treatg fatns as “the ultimate human failure, somethg spible, to be avoid at all sts. The Whale is the strongt piece of evince that this approach do not movie opens wh a ut shot that slowly reveals that Charlie is masturbatg to gay porn, before quickly sets up the stak: jt seekg this personal private pleasure might lerally kill him. Roxanne Gay, a novelist, an sayist and a woman of unniable size, is no fan of Darren Aronofsky‘s The Whale (A24, limed).

Gay: “Most dienc will see the spectacle of a 600-pound man unwillg to re for himself, grievg the loss of his partner who died by suici, eager to die himself, and g food as the means to that end. I’m naturally prumg that Aronofsky disagre wh Gay’s asssment, and that he’ll probably take issue wh some way. ” Other exampl are Roxane Gay's thought she felt the movie rerced anti-fat stereotyp a The New York Tim opn piece along wh many other people on Twter llg “fatphobic.

As someone who has worked hard to unter my own anti-fat bias and embraced the word “fat” to scribe myself, I wanted no part of Gay’s review of the film last December only validated my cisn.

ROXANE GAY: BY THE BOOK

” Gay also rrectly predicted that Fraser would be ld as “brave” by his peers “for beg willg to embody so many people’s worst fears. Though Fraser has long said he approached portrayg Charlie — a reclive, gay llege profsor stgglg to rennect wh his tranged dghter (Sadie Sk) the fal days of his life — om a place of empathy and love, some crics have labeled the film as "abhorrent" for s prentatn of Charlie's physily. Wrer Roxane Gay even published a full New York Tim opn piece on the project, which she lled the film an "exploative" and "sometim cel" spectacle.

21The other week, Roxane Gay’s New York Tim say on the “cel spectacle” of Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale did the expected and went viral. In Gay’s piece, the wrer tak Aronofsky and pany to task for their “gratuo, self-aggrandizg” fatphobic fictn, centerg her cricism on “the disda the filmmakers” have for Charlie, which she wr is “nstant, pable.

‘I’LL ALWAYS BE A BAD FEMIST!’: ROXANE GAY ON LOVE, SUCCS – AND UPSETTG PIERS MAN

It also prents such a backward terpretatn of what is picted on screen that I nnot help but wonr if Gay – and others who have latched onto siar arguments – actually watched The Whale s entirety. Not bee of the arguments that Gay and others have ma, but rather bee Aronofsky nnot unearth the necsary cema this adaptatn of Samuel D. Playg Charlie unr layers and layers of next-generatn prosthetics – if we’re to get rid of fat sus, as Gay urg her piece, we should do away wh all kds of makp and stumery gog forward, no?

THE WHALE DIRECTOR DARREN ARONOFSKY: FATPHOBIA CRICISM “MAK NO SENSE”THE OSR-NOMATED FILMMAKER IS ADDRSG THE NTROVERSY SURROUNDG STAR BRENDAN FRASER’S FAT SU AND HOW HIS CHARACTER’S OBY IS PORTRAYED ONSCREEN. BY SAVANNAH WALSHDECEMBER 13, 2022BRENDAN FRASER AS CHARLIE THE WHALE. COURTY OF A24.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETHE WHALE, AN AWARDS-SEASON NTENR STARRG BRENDAN FRASER AS A MORBIDLY OBE MAN MAKG AMENDS WHILE LIVG OUT HIS FAL DAYS, IS BEG LLED AN “EXERCISE  EMPATHY” BY S DIRECTOR, DARREN ARONOFSKY. BUT SPE THAT BILLG, THE FILM HAS BEEN MET WH CRICISM—FOR FRASER WEARG A FAT SU THE ROLE OF CHARLIE AND HOW THE CHARACTER’S EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN PICTED ONSCREEN.FOLLOWG THE MOVIE’S VENICE FILM FTIVAL PREMIERE, VANY FAIR’S RICHARD LAWSON WROTE  HIS REVIEW THAT CHARLIE’S CURRENT EXISTENCE IS TOLD WH “A KD OF LEERG HORROR, A PORTRA OF A MAN GONE TO TASTROPHIC SO THAT WE, THE DIENCE, MAY TAP TO OUR NOBLER, HIGHER MDS AND SEE THE WORTHY HUMAN BEG BENEATH THE IGHTFUL EXTERR,” ADDG, “THAT DON’T FEEL ANYTHG LIKE EMPATHY.” MORE RECENTLY, ROXANE GAY WROTE A NEW YORK TIM OPN PIECE WHICH SHE REFERRED TO THE WHALE AS “AN HUMANE FILM ABOUT A VERY HUMAN BEG.”WHEN ASKED ABOUT CRICISM OF THE PROJECT, WHICH IS ADAPTED BY SAMUEL D. HUNTER OM HIS 2012 PLAY, ARONOFSKY TOLD YAHOO ENTERTAMENT THAT “MAK NO SENSE” TO HIM. THE DIRECTOR ARGUED THAT “ACTORS HAVE BEEN G MAKP SCE THE BEGNG OF ACTG—THAT’S ONE OF THEIR TOOLS. AND THE LENGTHS WE WENT TO PORTRAY THE REALISM OF THE MAKP HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE. ONE OF MY FIRST LLS AFTER STG BRENDAN WAS TO MY MAKP ARTIST, ADRIEN MOROT. I ASKED HIM, ‘CAN WE DO SOMETHG THAT’S REALISTIC?’ BEE IF ’S GOG TO LOOK LIKE A JOKE, THEN WE SHOULDN’T DO .”ARONOFSKY THEN ACKNOWLEDGED THAT “PEOPLE WH OBY ARE GENERALLY WRTEN AS BAD GUYS OR AS PUNCH L,” ADDG, “WE WANTED TO CREATE A FULLY WORKED-OUT CHARACTER WHO HAS BAD PARTS ABOUT HIM AND GOOD PARTS ABOUT HIM; CHARLIE IS VERY SELFISH, BUT HE’S ALSO FULL OF LOVE AND IS SEEKG FIVENS. SO [THE NTROVERSY] MAK NO SENSE TO ME.”HE REERATED THIS STANCE AN TERVIEW ON THE LOS ANGEL TIM’ THE ENVELOPE PODST, EMPHASIZG HIS LLABORATN WH THE OBY ACTN COALN (OAC). “THEY REALLY FEEL THIS IS GOG TO OPEN UP PEOPLE’S EY,” ARONOFSKY SAID. “YOU GOTTA REMEMBER, PEOPLE THIS MUNY, THEY GET JUDGED BY DOCTORS WHEN THEY GO TO GET MEDIL HELP. THEY GET JUDGED EVERYWHERE THEY GO ON THE PLA, 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 LORS SI OF .”(L-R) DARREN ARONOFSKY, BRENDAN FRASER, AND TY SIMPKS ON SET OF ‘THE WHALE.’BY NIKO TAVERNISE/ COURTY OF A24.IN HIS FIRST TERVIEW ABOUT THE WHALE, FRASER TOLD VANY FAIR ABOUT LLABORATG WH THE OAC, SPEAKG WH MANY WHO’VE UNRGONE BARIATRIC SURGERI, AND WATCHG NTENT ABOUT PEOPLE LIVG HIGHER-WEIGHT BODI. “I LEARNED QUICKLY THAT TAK AN CREDIBLY STRONG PERSON SI THAT BODY TO BE THAT PERSON,” FRASER SAID. “THAT SEEMED FTG AND POETIC AND PRACTIL TO ME, ALL AT ONCE.”ARONOFSKY TOLD VF THAT CHARLIE’S PHYSIL BODY WAS JT ONE FACET OF WHO HE IS THE MOVIE. “UNFORTUNATELY, SO MANY CHARACTERS PORTRAYED THE MEDIA WHO ARE LIVG WH OBY ARE TREATED AWFULLY—EHER THEY’RE HUIATED, MA FUN OF, OR JT LIVG SQUALOR,” ARONOFSKY SAID. “THAT WAS NEVER CHARLIE. OBY IS JT PART OF WHAT CHARLIE IS. AFTER 10 MUT OF SPENDG TIME WH CHARLIE, THAT’S THE BREAKTHROUGH THAT WE HOPE THE FILM HAS [FOR VIEWERS].”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRHOW FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE REALYEXCLIVE NEW DETAILS ABOUT MEGHAN MARKLE’S WEDDG DRSA BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF EVERYTHG HAPPENG AT THIS FALL’S FILM FTIVALS—WHOUT THE STARSA SER SETBACK FOR TMP’S PLAN TO GET REELECTED AND PARDON HIMSELFMEET KYLE DCHANEL, THE PRETEND PLAYBOY WHO SEEMS TO HAVE FOOLED HALF OF MANHATTANTHE ULTIMATE GUI TO FALL MOVIFROM THE ARCHIVE: A FATHER’S ACUNT OF THE TRIAL OF HIS DGHTER’S KILLEREND-OF-SUMMER SALE! TAKE 25% OFF AT THE VF SHOPMOST POPULARADAM SANDLER FDS LOW-KEY TRIUMPH YOU ARE SO NOT INVED TO MY BAT MZVAHBY SAVANNAH WALSHNETFLIX’S MURDGH MURRS IS OFFICIALLY RETURNG FOR SEASON 2: EXCLIVEBY SAVANNAH WALSH25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSBY HILLARY BISSAVANNAH WALSH

Roxane Gay on The Whale. How uld I read articl like Gay’s and still like this movie?

5 ROXANE GAY BOOKS THAT EVERYONE SHOULD READ

Roxane Gay enumerat the dangers and sensivy of Aronofsky’s approach to Charlie’s story her New York Tim review, and Buzzfeed News offers an -pth history of the problem of Hollywood’s reliance on the fat su. How uld I read articl like Gay’s (or this review om The Conversatn, headled “The Whale is a horror film that taps to our fear of fatns”) and still like this movie? Although the tradnal screenplay valu whe space, I’d much rather watch a film wh plenty to eper, more tertg story of grief and mourng (and the ways our homophobic, fatphobic, nservative society leav ltle room for ) has ltle to do wh Charlie’s weight at all, spe his weight beg ed to propel plot and metaphor.

He bravely plays Charlie, a gay profsor who teach creative wrg onle—weak, reclive, manic-prsive, humongo and ashamed of what he’s done to his body after the ath of his lover st him his will to survive. MoreRoxane Gay’s wrg appears “Bt Amerin Mystery Stori 2014, ” “Bt Amerin Short Stori 2012, ” “Bt Sex Wrg 2012, ” A Public Space, McSweeney’s, T Hoe, Oxford Amerin, Amerin Short Fictn, Virgia Quarterly Review and many others.