Melissa McCarthy in "Identity Thief" (Universal)

Recently, film critic Rex Reed defended his review trashing “Identity Thief”, and more specifically Melissa McCarthy’s weight, saying McCarthy uses “...health issues like obesity as comedy talking points" in an interview with Mark Simone of WOR Radio. Reed continued to say, "I have too many friends that have died of obesity-related illnesses, heart problems and diabetes… I have helped people try to lose weight, and I don't find this to be the subject of a lot of humor.”

Nowhere have I ever heard McCarthy say anything along the lines of promoting obesity. McCarthy is entitled to create laughter in whichever manner she pleases. If she chooses to bring up weight as a joke, the reason the joke is funny is not due to it being a so-called “fat joke;” it is funny due to her talent with improvising and knack for creating unique jokes that many would have never thought of. 

It is Reed who is making fun of McCarthy, not McCarthy making fun of obesity, by calling her a “female hippo” and “tractor-sized.”

He also claims his controversial review is what made the movie $36.6 million opening weekend.  Of course, no credit goes to the talented Jason Bateman or Melissa McCarthy. 

Continuing with the theme of know-it-alls commenting on women’s bodies, singers Adele and Kelly Clarkson were also targets for unnecessary remarks about their weights after the Grammys on Sunday. 

Following the negative comments on the two artists, Fox News interviewed nutritionist, Keren Gilbert, who said she believes the criticisms on the women were justified. Gilbert, without knowing the artists’ medical records or lifestyles, claimed she was not judging that the two needed to lose weight based on their appearances; she just knew they needed to lose the weight.

Interestingly enough, Fox News and also Perez Hilton pointed out the issues with Gilbert’s assessments. The Fox News host was quick to point out the flaws in Gilbert’s assumption that the two women are unhealthy and lazy; he also brought up how Adele recently had a baby. Hilton wrote in agreement with the anchor saying, “…you can never really know how ‘healthy’ they are until you talk to their doctors. Body shapes and sizes vary between everyone…”

The whole issue brought me back to Tina Fey’s autobiography, “Bossypants,” in which Fey wrote a list of what society expects every woman to have (Fey 23):

Caucasian blue eyes

full Spanish lips

a classic button nose

hairless Asian skin with a California tan

a Jamaican dance hall ass

long Swedish legs

small Japanese feet

the abs of a lesbian gym owner

the hips of a nine-year-old boy

the arms of Michelle Obama

and doll tits

She follows up by stating the parts of her body for which she is grateful and that she “want[s] [her] daughter to be able to find [her] in the crowd by spotting [Fey’s] soda-case hips. [She] want[s] her to be able to pick [Fey] out of a sea of highlighted-blond women with fake tans because [Fey] is the one with the thick ponytail and the greenish undertones in [her] skin” (Fey 25).  


Maybe one day we can stop saying people are too fat.  We can stop saying they’re too skinny. We can stop saying curves are better than not having curves.  In general, we can stop bringing up flaws we see in others and allow people to live their lives.

Maybe one day we will leave the big, small, and medium-sized people alone altogether.  We can stop bringing up the “issue” so I don’t feel inclined to write an article like this (and possibly draw even more attention to the subject). Maybe I am the hypocrite, but I believe in the cheesiness of just being who you are—in those words exactly—nothing more, nothing less.

Or…one more thing.

While normally I would avoid quoting “Mean Girls,” I believe this just about sums up my point: “Calling somebody else fat won't make you any skinnier. Calling someone stupid doesn't make you any smarter…All you can do in life is try to solve the problem in front of you." 

Reach Staff Reporter Taylor A. Johnson here.