I'm a teen girl and I love romantic comedies and a good empowerment movie, just like anyone else. However, most movies are very stereotypical, which is fine, but it usually consists of the most basic girl who falls in love with a super hot guy. Growing up as being "curvy" or "bigger," I never saw anyone in the media who look like me. So, when a plus-size character is a star in a movie, I'm all over it. In late September, I wrote an article about the Netflix movie, "Sierra Burgess Is A Loser" and how badly plus sizes girls are represented in that film. So, when I saw the trailer for the movie, "Dumplin'," I was nervous. Yet, I will tell you that Netflix has finally done it! A plus-size character that is actually represented in a positive light!
1. Willowdean wasn't portrayed eating unhealthy.
This was such a small thing, almost non-existent, in the film, but I loved the fact that Willowdean wasn't portrayed as being fat because she ate junk food. Every time she is seen eating, she is eating healthy. Whether it be a salad or a banana, she was consuming healthy meals. In the typical "fat girl" film, they eat doughnuts and chips and just unhealthily splurge. I just thought it was so cool to see that her weight wasn't the usual assumption, but rather it was genetic since both her mom, Rosie and Aunt Lucy were heavier too.
2. Bullying was such a small part of the film.
https://www.netflix.com/search?q=dum&jbv=80201490&jbp=2&jbr=0
In "Sierra Burgess Is A Loser," bullying was the premise for the whole movie. Yet, "Dumplin'" was different. Sure, Will and Millie get bullied by some jocks in a few scenes, which would probably happen in real life. But, that was not the theme for the whole movie. The girls in the pageant didn't bully them because they were different. If anything, people liked them, just the same. This is how it should be. Bullying needs to be a thing of the past, being bigger doesn't have to mean you have to be ridiculed. You can still do all the same things a skinnier person would do, like compete in a pageant.
3. She did the pageant for herself (and her Aunt Lucy), but not for the approval of others.
I loved that the purpose behind joining the pageant was simply because she wanted to say, "I'm not the typical girl and I can be in a pageant." Yes, she did it for Aunt Lucy since she never got to, yet I think it was so important that Will did it because she wanted to. It was not for the approval of her mom, or to try and be like Callie or Bekah, or to get the attention of her crush, Bo.
4. The boy wasn't the main focus of the film.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrI6IhAnGEm/
Every movie needs a cute boy and let me just start off by saying, Luke Benward is so cute! But anyways, when the movie begins, Luke's character Bo Larson is seen quite a bit throughout the beginning. Yet, the movie isn't about him and Willowdean falling in love, it's about her growth with her friends and her family. I also want to compare Bo in "Dumplin" to Jamey in "Sierra Burgess Is A Loser." Jamey is completely turned off to Sierra when he finds out what she looks like. However, it was so cool that Bo was completely into Willowdean and her appearance wasn't even a determining factor! It's so sad that this is a big deal because it is never represented in teen films, it should be a normal thing!
5. Rosie wasn't the evil mother character.
When watching the trailer, Jennifer Aniston's character, Rosie, seems almost like she could be the evil mother type. A skinny pageant queen who is ashamed of her plus size daughter. But, that is far from the truth! Rosie is not ashamed of her Dumplin'. If anything, she just doesn't understand Willowdean's motives for being in the pageant. Once she understands that Aunt Lucy was the motive, Rosie and Willowdean become that much closer. I think it was really interesting to see how Will realizes that her mom actually understands her more than she thought Rosie did. Their relationship is very charismatic and unique, but no part of it is an embarrassment.
6. Even though Willowdean doesn't win, she still made her point.
Obviously, everyone is cheering for Willowdean to win the Miss Teen Bluebonnet pageant. So, when she gets disqualified, it is kind of disappointing. Yet, she isn't upset. Her point wasn't to win the pageant, it was to prove to people that plus size girls can still be in the pageant. The biggest triumph is that Millie gets second place! Sure, the typical girl wins, but Will won too. She got closer to Rosie. She reconnected with her best friend and even made more friends along the way. She got the cute new boy in town. But, most importantly, she learned more about her precious Aunt Lucy and realized that being confident is the prettiest feature you can have.
"Dumplin" was an accurate depiction that a movie about a plus size girl doesn't have to showcase bullying, self-hatred, or pity. Even though, she thought people looked at her as "fat," Willowdean was loved by so many people and her weight was the last thing they all saw. This wasn't a movie about self-worth or love or friendship, but rather a movie about finding yourself. Will never wanted to be skinny or to be popular. She was confident in that way. However, she lacked confidence in her relationships and that was the motive behind the movie. It took competing in a pageant for her to get to the point where she had a strong group of people around her.
So, thank you Netflix for finally making a movie where I, a plus size girl, feel accurately represented.
