Posted by wood_wire on November 15, 2006, at 18:01:01
In reply to devastating HBO documentary THIN, posted by Dr. Bob on October 26, 2006, at 0:57:07
I wrote this review about THIN after I saw it at a film festival and posted it on LiveJournal about a month ago, in response to another review. There is an interesting thread that goes along with it but here is the crux of my argument for not recommending the film to anyone with an Eating Disorder and why I question the intent of the film altogether...
The women in this film, though filmed with a lot of compassion, become completely alienated and objectified in this, third person, doctor vs. patient drama. The patients are portrayed as being "mentally ill" (sorry girls, not your fault) frail and helpless and very abnormal. It's similar to everything else we see about Eating Disorders in the media lately . It shows extreme examples of Anorexia/Bulimia. a little shocking coming from Lauren Greenfield, who is really well respected in the post modern/feminist realm after her photo book, Girl Culture. My jaw literally dropped open in the first 5 minutes when a woman in a hospital gown, all skeletal, gets on the scale and they show how much she weighs - yuk! didn't i just see that on the 11 o'clock news? yes, very "honest" and "raw" but ultimately - I think your average person will not see it as a disease that is part of the world they live in everyday, which it is. Also, it is a behavioral "how-to" and provides a menu of drugs and procedures for losing weight, in case you might have missed one. They also talk about the women's actual weights, like numbers (hello?), and they show that highly controversial, don't-try-this-at-home body tracing assignment (we did that at the partial hospitalization place I went to and it was such a disaster). Anyway the film borders on being irresponsible. Be warned.
the rest of the thread can be seen here:
http://community.livejournal.com/ed_ucate/619665.html
poster:wood_wire
thread:697831
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/eating/20060628/msgs/704014.html