I expected this movie to be about body image, and how the world sees and treats 'fat' people, and how they are actually just like everyone else and the resolution would be that people realised that, and started treating overweight people like the human being that they are and that they should start embracing their bodies rather then hiding and believing what everyone else thinks. I was greatly disappointed when the message of the film was nothing of the sort. The movie talks a lot about how weight can greatly effect someones health, leading to diabetes and heart attacks, etc. Ally's mum had suffered from a heart attack because of her weight, and Ally was angry because her hospital bills took away Ally's college fund. Ally believed that her mum made herself sick, because she was constantly mood eating and Ally never let her forget it. Ally's little brother was constantly being bullied, and he thought it was because he overweight, Ally believed it was just because he was a 'smart-ass' to everyone and that 'fat' people all just have the wrong attitude, and if they were more positive (like Ally) more people would like them. When Ally gets the opportunity to enter a film competition where the winnings are $10000 (that she could use for college tuition), she decides to make a documentary about 'fat' people. So she dresses up in a fat suit, and goes to Summer School with hidden cameras and films the way she is treated. She makes friends with a dorky guy, and another 'fat' girl (Ramona). She talks to Ramona and gets her to open up to her, because Ramona thinks Ally understands what she has to go through everyday. She gets 'moo-ed' at and people say things like 'whoa look out fat girl coming through' and 'whale must've gotten lost on it's way back to the ocean.' Ally is hurt by this, because she still keeps her positive, up beat, friendly personality, and the way people treat her, proves her little brother right! Meanwhile, Ally is being a bitch to her mum, has the hottest and popular guy in school crushing her, and still has her rocking hot body. I got three messages out of this movie. 1) 'overweight' people only have themselves to blame, and they need to be more aware of their health problems. 2) In societies eyes, your weight determines who you are as a person 3) You have to be skinny, pretty and popular for the hot and popular guys to like you. Well, my response: 1) True. SOME (not all) overweight people can only blame themselves because they aren't taking care of their bodies, however, football players, swimmers & other star athletes, and perfectly normal healthy people are still considered overweight or 'fat' on the BMI scale, and that makes those people feel like sh*t which leads to perfectly healthy people becoming unhealthy through the way of eating disorders. 2) YOUR CHOICES AND YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINE WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON. YOU'RE WEIGHT, HEIGHT, RACE, GENDER, RELIGION ETC. DOES NOT!!! 3) Ugh. The movie was somewhat great! It had a good plot, and a good story line, great acting, but I hated that it ended with a negative message, and that message made me angry and want to shove my head through a brick wall. :) I did like the movie however, I just think it needed a more positive message. **triggering film**

In the film To Be Fat like Me, directed by Douglas Barr, high school student Alyson Schimdt (Kaley Cuoco) is injured while competing for a college scholarship in a girls' softball game. She is injured so badly she cannot play for the rest of the season. Instead, she enters into a film contest with her classmate Jamie. In this exposé she tries to find out what it is like to be "fat." She goes to summer school at a different school, wears a fat suit, and does not change her personality or behavior. She also goes into certain social settings like a party, the coffee shop, and a ladies clothing store. Each social outing shows a different side of what it is like to be "fat." After almost all is said and done, she must create an ending for the exposé so she may finally reveal it to everyone and enter it into the competition.There are many messages in the film. Have you ever heard "don't judge a book by its cover"? Well that message is the main theme in this film. It says just because people look different from you that does not give you the right to judge them by what is on the outside. Another message in this film is stereotypes. Alyson (Kaley Cuoco) is a pretty, skinny, and athletic girl; but she is also a very good person. This movie shows that stereotypes are not always right in many cases. This movie also shows that stereotypes can be right. Some of the popular people make fun of her almost to the point of ridiculous. They could have been polite to her. Instead, they decided to live up to the stereotype. They "moo'ed" and called her names instead.The one thing that caught my eye about this film was the fact that she could be skinny one second and "fat" the next. I liked that the exposé was looked at from both views without varying opinion. I was pretty much interested the whole time. The responses she got from people were ridiculous; but very authentic. It's true that people are treated different just by the way they look. That should never be the case. I only disliked one thing about this film: the ending could have been a little better. I won't ruin it though. She just should have revealed herself to a certain group of people in a different way. All in all this was a pretty satisfying movie. I would definitely watch it again.

What I expected: a pretty jock who judges her mother harshly for being overweight, walks in a fat girls shoes, realizes the internal and external pain of being fat. What I got: a movie that goes in too many directions and ends up no where.On the one hand she is angry with her mom because she had a heart attack (due to being overweight) and the hospital bills took all of her parents savings and left no money for her to go to college. I honestly don't think she would have cared about her mom being fat if there was still money for her to get an education. So her anger had more to do with what she couldn't get, than concern for her mother. On the other hand she has a fat younger brother whom she adores and protects, but doesn't understand why he lets himself get bullied, he tells her what choice does he have being so big, she says it's all in the attitude and how you let people treat you. To win money for school she enters a documentary contest and the subject is that she pretends to be fat, using it as a sociology experiment to see if she would be treated any differently. Well no big surprise that despite being nice to people she gets treated like crap and then befriends a fat girl and a self proclaimed "loser". In the end she still doesn't understand WHY people overeat, or the emotional pain of actually being fat and overeating and she still continues to judge fat people harshly for eating bad foods. So what did she learn about being fat? IMO nothing. A few other side lines, her loser friends, a guy she likes who jokes about a girls mom passing the fat test, i.e. if the mom is fat, dump the girl because she will look just like her mother soon. A father who was passive and it seemed like he wanted to say something important but never does, her not being smart, but being in the fat suit she starts to study and does better in summer school than ever before, the emphasis jocks place on looks and being in good physical condition, but the poor guy gets a headache when she tries to explain what she's going through, that it's better to exist on chemical shakes and veggies, than a balanced diet, etc, etc. I was waiting and hoping for her and her mom to have a real heart to heart and for her to really "get it" but they just sum up their bad relationship in a two minute chat that barely scratches the surface. This could have been SO much more!

This movie reminded me quite a lot about a book I own and read occasionally. The book was about a homecoming and pageant queen who was pretty, popular, and seemed to live the perfect life. That is until she got fat. In contrast, Kaley Cuoco portrays a pretty thin girl who documents life as a fat person by altering her appearance by wearing a fat suit, and not changing her true self. Life as an overweight individual opened up the true souls of her so called friends. They shunned her, harassed her, and treated her like low life scum. No one paid any attention to her personality, and the fat people at her school thought she was a walking joke. Yet, I really think that the film really makes us realize that who shouldn't judge one by looks, but the sad fact about that is true. We seem to make rude comments about to those who are physically different just because people have low self esteem and zero confidence that they take it on those who appear weaker then they. I'm more on the slender side with blond hair and bluish green eyes. However, I'm physically different that I will not post, but I had my share of experiences with the cruel comments, jokes, and harassment. However, I paid no attention to that because I lived my own life, and true people accepted for who I was, and not my appearance. We cannot help what we look like, unless you want to live a healthy lifestyle, you can make a few changes with diet and exercise. Physical deformities we can't really change, unless you go under dangerous surgeries. I think that 99% of women have image issues and they're unhappy with themselves because they think they can't do better. They fall into depression which can lead to dangerous eating disorders and cosmetic surgeries simply because of what society portrays. I believe that everyone has a "best" about them, whether it's talent, looks, or personality, and the key is to be yourself, and not what others want you to be. You'll be a total lie to yourself.