She is wearing a hot pink nightie fringed by tiny hot pink feathers. Her big, brown legs are polished and wrap around the man lying beneath...
WASHINGTON — She is wearing a hot pink nightie fringed by tiny hot pink feathers. Her big, brown legs are polished and wrap around the man lying beneath her. Her makeup is perfect.
The man lying beneath her seems to struggle under her weight with a horrified look. The two of them lie on the word “Norbit,” crushing the movie title, making it sag like a well-worn mattress.
The poster is supposed to invite laughs. But for a number of women, black and otherwise, it’s not funny.
In recent years, Hollywood has begun to make some changes in its portrayal and acceptance of black beauty. So you wonder why at this point does it release a film that stereotypes and makes fun of big black women?
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Eddie Murphy co-wrote the story and screenplay for “Norbit.” He portrays both the meek nerd Norbit and Norbit’s jealous and overbearing wife, Rasputia. The movie, No. 1 at the box office when it opened two weekends ago, drew harsh reviews from film critics and protests that it was misogynistic and an outrageous characterization of large black women.
Geneva Mays, a real-estate agent, says she is offended by the movie trailers that show Rasputia flying though her bedroom and landing on Norbit, crushing the bed in the fall. “I think it’s demeaning to women in general because we are all the same. We are just different colors,” Mays said.
Thandisizwe Chimurenga, a community activist, said the movie shows how society feels about large black women. “I’m a big woman myself,” she said, and the irony “is there are a lot of men who do like large women. I’ve been pursued by all kinds of men.”
Certified medical technician Tamara Taylor said it wasn’t the character’s size that made her ugly.
“I think she was funny as far as being jealous, but she was abusive. That made her ugly,” Taylor said. “At first I thought he was intimidated by her size, but he was really intimidated by her ways, her mouth.”
Some found that the juxtaposition of Rasputia and the lighter-skinned Kate (Thandie Newton) conjures old questions about skin color and beauty, and the fairy tales that imply that the fairer the complexion, the more beautiful.
In California, activist Najee Ali led a protest of the movie and called upon Murphy to apologize.
“Eddie Murphy’s character, we feel, is offensive to African-American women and it perpetuates those negative stereotypes that large black women are violent, unattractive, promiscuous and buffoons,” Ali said.
Actors such as Tyler Perry or even Martin Lawrence have “played large black women, but their characters were warm and loving to their families and communities,” said Ali, executive director of Project Islamic Hope, an advocacy group for social justice and civil rights.
A publicist for Murphy, who was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor in “Dreamgirls,” said the actor has no comment.
In one scene in the film, Rasputia lies poolside in a bikini and talks to Kate.
“You too damned skinny,” Rasputia tells her. “Look at you! See, most men like a woman that got a little ‘mmm, mmm,’ a little ‘hey, hey.’ You ain’t got nothing. You just skin and bones … I feel sorry for you.”
And as she speaks there is a tiny moment of realization that Rasputia has a healthy self-image. And her large ego in some ways matches psychological studies that show black women generally have a higher acceptance of body weight than other women.
“It is actually somewhat surprising that African-American women continue to have a high body image even though the standards of the dominant cultural forces point toward more European standards. The ultimate blond-haired, blue-eyed, 5-foot-10-inch, thin white woman has for many years been the standard … ,” according to a report released by Vanderbilt University’s psychology department.
Some women look at the billboard and celebrate Rasputia’s beauty, knowing that even if she lost weight, she would never be a 5-foot-10-inch, blond, blue-eyed beauty.
And you wonder how long will it take for this country to accept beauty in all its forms. Then you watch “The Last King of Scotland,” and see a white man fall in love with a black woman who has no European features.
And you look around and you find change: Ads for Dove soap feature “real women with real bodies and real curves.” “American Idol” contender Jennifer Hudson is on the cover of Vogue. Actress Queen Latifah is a Cover Girl. And supermodel Tyra Banks, who has gained some weight, tells the paparazzi and whoever called her fat to “kiss my fat [expletive].”
And you look at the “Norbit” ad one more time and laugh.