Fat characters have risen to 8.83% in cinema and 8.2% in serial fiction. The figure, which once again shows the lack of roles for people with dissident corporalities in audiovisual fiction produced in this country, rises almost four percentage points compared to last year’s figure.
This has been revealed by the new Report on fatphobia in national audiovisual fiction prepared by the Audiovisual Media Diversity Observatory (ODA), which although it reveals that the inclusion of fat characters has doubled in one year, their presence remains minimal in the fiction of this country. These are “figures very far from the reality of the Spanish State, where 55.6% of adults and a third of minors do not fall within what is defined as normal weight.”
The investigationwhich has had the support of Netflix and Filmin, as well as the Government of Spain, has analyzed a total of 1,756 characters in 101 films and 70 series. From ODA they affirm that the increase highlighted in the report “has directly to do with how our perception has changed”, recognizing that “awareness about these bodily absences is due to the activist work that many groups and people have been doing for years, who have also recently “They have gained relevance and space in the media.”
Furthermore, ODA points out that “there has been a real increase in bodily diversity that appears in national audiovisual fiction, so it is still very relevant to analyze how non-hegemonic bodies are represented now that they are more present in films and series.” .
This year, a new analysis tool has been incorporated, the Divine Test, which “has allowed us to delve deeper into how characters with dissident corporalities are represented in audiovisual fiction.” It is inspired by Vitto Russo’s Test and, in homage to the drag artist Divine, after whom it takes its name.
After the implementation of the Divine Test, ODA has verified that, in films, only 17 characters with dissident corporalities out of 70 (24.29%) pass it, while in series only 16 out of 81 (19.75%) do so. In fact, the report emphasizes that “more than half of the fat characters (54.29%) do not have their own plot and, furthermore, their presence is conditioned by marked stereotypes.”
More men in movies, more women in series
The data shows that there are more fat men (7.88%) in films, while almost half of them are fat women (4.56%). In series, however, the opposite happens, since there are more fat women (8.06%) than fat men (6.41%). In the case of non-binary characters, there are only two and both in series.
From ODA they highlight that “women are more likely to be read as fat than men, a fact that also contrasts with the fact that in general there are more fat men in fiction.” These data indicate that, while 377 normative bodies of men have been found in the films analyzed, only 33 are of fat characters and only 9 reflect other corporalities. With respect to women, 345 normative bodies have been found, 17 fat characters and 11 that reflect other corporalities.
Likewise, in the world of the series, 461 normative bodies of men have been found, 31 of fat characters and 6 of other corporalities. In the feminine sphere, there have been 418 normative bodies, 37 fat characters and 4 belonging to other corporalities.
There are hardly any references for children
The report reveals more differences compared to the data published last year. One of them is that the majority of people with dissident corporalities in 2023 films have been concentrated in the group over 50 years old, while in 2022 half of the fat representation was between 30 and 50 years old. This strip is now the second most common.
With respect to the series, there is once again a greater concentration in the age group between 30 and 50, with 30 fat characters from the 70s and 6 with another corporality out of the 11 total. Only one person under 13 years of age has been found in the study carried out.
From ODA they show their concern about “how the representation of fat childhoods is marked by hateful comments that are launched within films and family series, leaving children without worthy references for body diversity.”
Little representation of disabled, racialized and LGBTQA+
The Audiovisual Media Diversity Observatory indicates that “a third of the non-hegemonic bodies analyzed belong to people with disabilities”, so that for another year “it is confirmed that disability continues to be read as a dissidence, also within the framework of corporality.”
Furthermore, considering racialization, they highlight that, “in series, all fat Latina women are dedicated to reproductive work, cleaning or caring for the elderly, thus crystallizing common stereotypes about migrants.” Despite the increase in fat characters to 8%, the number of racialized characters with non-normative bodies remains just as low in cinema as in 2022.
Finally, ODA reports that, “of the 12 characters queer with another corporality, only 7 pass the Vitto Russo Test, while 6 pass the Divine Test.” This shows that, “although it might be thought that by passing one test they should pass the other, this is not true, since only 3 pass both.”
There is still much to improve
Those responsible for the research clarify that “the population data collected by organizations such as the National Institute of Statistics (INE) are stigmatizing because they talk about corporality based on supposed health precepts that revolve around overweight and the Body Mass Index ( BMI), a tool already widely reviled by the scientific and activist community as a health indicator.”
Even so, ODA clarifies that if they continue using the data from these studies it is because “they are the only censuses in this line” that they have available and because “they demonstrate the immense abyss that exists between the corporalities of the Spanish population and those shown in screen”.
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