The Whale

 

 

I just viewed the film "The Whale" with Brendan Fraser. Great movie. It covers all the major points about the slow-rolling suicide that is abusive eating - lack of mobility - physical pain - precarious health - shame - food as a coping sedative - food as celebratory reward - the absolute and self-righteous disgust that slenders have for fat people - the hopelessness - the isolation.  It's also a movie about compassion, generosity, and tenderness.  Brendan Fraser is so very good in this movie.    It took me a while to get around to watch "The Whale." It always felt too close to the bone. For instance, my dead dog Tie, who speaks to me every day, has called me "The Whale" and Fat Boy for years now. Tie reminds me quite a few times a week that he never (ever) had a "weight problem" and that he had a very trim stomach his entire life. He always says that I could be like him if I had an ounce of virtue or willpower.. And so - I put off seeing the film since it seemed like it would be rubbing my face in a lifetime of failure..  It wasn't like that though.. It was, in an unexpected way, a vindicating experience - to see what I see every day rendered with such dead-on-balls-accuracy..   ~