These clips will make you happy
My fave body moments in TV, movies, & comedy.
Hello! I went on a little solo vacation in the later part of February — and on it, did a marvelous walking-slash-eating tour that led me to post the text below to my Instagram 😊 — and am still adjusting to a reality that doesn’t involve hours spent wandering cobblestone streets in search of my next glass of port wine or plate of seafood (I went to Portugal).
And so I offer paid readers something light and fluffy for your Friday. Want to be a paid reader? You should, because I’ve got a new “how-to” series on the way called THE TAKE YOUR BODY BACK INITIATIVE, plus other gems that will be behind the humble $5/month ($50/year) paywall. Your support helps me publish everything in Body Type, and this is a one-woman show and a side gig, so I appreciate it immensely. If you’d like to be a paid reader but can’t afford it right now, let me know at bodytype@substack.com. I’ll comp you, no questions asked.
Here are some of my personal favorite affirming/funny/uplifting moments in TV, movies, and comedy that have something to do with bodies and body image. These have stuck with me because they warmed my heart, informed my principles, or made me feel better about my own body. Let me know what you’d add!
Rosie O’Donnell’s monologue in “Beautiful Girls”
A 1996 movie with some very weird elements that have not aged well! I’m not getting into it here! All that matters for our purposes is that Rosie’s righteous indignation was the original America Ferrera “Barbie” monologue (non-derogatory) for me personally, and when I saw it when I was 14 or whenever I was just coming online to how much impossible shit I was expected to do to be beautiful so boys would like me. I didn’t realize how ridiculous it all is — we laugh so we don’t cry, etc. — until I heard Rosie break it down in a Lawn Guyland accent1. Whenever I’ve been too despairing for my own good about beauty standards, I imagine myself yelling at some guys in a convenience store about it. Charge it, Mitch!
Fun Fact: I prepared this scene for a theater thing I did in high school but was advised against it because of the “Oh, eat me.” Prudes.