Culture & Living
Our bodies come in all shapes and sizes. These films and shows are all about celebrating their uniqueness
Switch on the telly and chances are you will be bombarded with images of women who look nothing short of perfect. Take a walk down the street in your neighbourhood and you will be hard-pressed to find anyone who looks like that. Thankfully, ever since the body positivity movement started a couple of years ago, Hollywood has woken up to the fact that people come in all shapes, sizes, and colours, and that you can love yourself for who you are and what you look like. So, gather your girlfriends and get ready for a marathon of shows and movies that celebrate our bodies in all their forms.
With its unabashed portrayal of unconventional bodies, Orange is the New Black is one of those shows that has received widespread acclaim for its depiction of different body types throughout its seven seasons. The series follows Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) who is sentenced to 15 months in a women’s federal prison for transporting drugs. Her co-inmates come in all shapes, colours and sizes and the narrative humanises them, bringing their differences to the forefront.
Streaming on Netflix
In this critically-acclaimed political sitcom, Donna Meagle (Retta) is chased by men throughout the series. A justification or judgment for her weight never comes up and there is no reason for it to. She is a woman who lives on her own terms and is confident in her own skin. Just the kind of woman we need to see onscreen more often.
Streaming on Prime Video
Annie Easton (Aidy Bryant) plays a struggling journalist who wants to change her life, but not her body. After being repeatedly fat-shamed by colleagues and her fitness trainer, Annie tries all tricks to lose weight in the initial few episodes. She finally realises that she has the power to love herself just the way she is and what anyone thinks hardly matters.
Available to buy on Amazon Prime Video
The American comedy road movie is the endearing tale of Olive (Abigail Breslin), an aspiring beauty queen who gets selected for a beauty pageant. She doesn’t fit in, and the little girl’s awkward dance in the talent show doesn’t help either. But in letting Olive who she really is on stage and in life, the movie sends out one of the strongest messages of being comfortable in your own skin. ‘Let Olive be Olive’, says one of the characters.
Available to buy on Amazon Prime Video
Jodi Kreyman (Ava Michelle) is the tallest girl in high school and stands out among her peers, for obvious reasons and not exactly to her liking. It’s when she falls into a surprising love triangle in this romcom, that she realises that all her insecurities about her height are ultimately silly and she has no reason to feel ashamed of it.
Streaming on Netflix
Hailed as one of the most foremost shows championing body positivity, Glow features women of all races, shapes, sizes and colours who are accepting of the way they look. Based on one of the most body-positive wrestling crews of all times, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, the three-season series is made of a diverse cast of breakout characters.
Streaming on Netflix
With a name like that, you’d know that the show has deals with body image issues. But it is also about aspiring writer Plum’s (Joy Nash) journey from insecurity to feeling secure in her own skin. Unrealistic beauty standards get a kick in the face as Plum becomes more confident and grows to love her body. The underlying message is about self-acceptance, while acknowledging that it might not be the easiest journey to undertake.
Streaming on Prime Video
This fun-filled musical addresses diversity and racial identity in early 1960’s Baltimore. Based on a 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, the movie starring John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer and Zac Efron among others. Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) is an overweight teenager who wants to become Miss Teenage Hairspray. The self-confident and passionate teen doesn’t let her weight come in the way of her dreams, even going on to sing ‘People who are different, their time is coming’.
Available to buy from Amazon Prime Video
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