Although Darren Aronofsky’s new film The Whale has been quite positively received, there are some critics. Specifically, some viewers believe that The Whale is both fatphobic and anti-fat.
Now director Darren Aronofsky has responded to these comments. In fact, he claims that the allegations of The Whale being fatphobic make no sense. This is because, as he explains to Yahoo! Entertainment, Brendan Fraser’s overweight character isn’t being played for laughs.
However, many critics weren’t just complaining about Fraser’s performance. The criticisms circle around his use of heavy makeup and prosthetics to make him appear heavier than he really is. Here’s what Aronofsky had to say about that:
“Actors have been using makeup since the beginning of acting — that’s one of their tools,” Aronofsky says. “And the lengths we went to to portray the realism of the make-up has never been done before. One of my first calls after casting Brendan was to my makeup artist, Adrien Morot. I asked him, ‘Can we do something that’s realistic?’ Because if it’s going to look like a joke, then we shouldn’t do it.”
At this point, Aronofsky discusses how important it was to have the role taken seriously:
“People with obesity are generally written as bad guys or as punchlines,” Aronofsky continues. “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 seeking forgiveness. So [the controversy] makes no sense to me. Brendan Fraser is the right actor to play this role, and the film is an exercise in empathy.”
It’s clear that everyone involved went to great lengths to make Brendan Fraser’s role both respectful and as genuine as possible. With that in mind, it seems to be something of a common discussion these days regarding the use of prosthetics, makeup, and special effects to create certain characters. Perhaps The Whale is simply a new addition to that conversation – one that should have everyone considering how to continue making such films in the future. And, of course, keeping everything as appropriate for the role or film at hand as possible.
The Whale was directed by Darren Aronofsky with a screenplay that was written by Samuel D. Hunter. The film was also based on Samuel D. Hunter’s play of the same name. In addition to Brendan Fraser, the film also stars Sadie Sink, who will be playing the daughter of Fraser’s titular character Charlie. The film also stars Hong Chau as Liz, Samantha Morton as Mary, Ty Simpkins as Thomas, and Sathya Sridharan.
The film is currently playing in theaters. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding The Whale as we have them.