Mo’Nique
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Posted by Courtney Martin August 9th, 2007 |
I was thrilled to see an article in the New York Times Sunday Arts section on fat activist and actress Mo’Nique. For starters, they so rarely cover what I’m sure they would describe as “low brow culture”–and what I might call pop culture or black culture–in a thoughtful, non-patronizing way. And whatsmore, getting someone like Mo’Nique a full fledged profile in the country’s most prestigious newspaper, despite the fact that she is fat and proud, is unprecedented. The fat lady has sung, apparently.
Racial and body size triumphs aside, one small piece of the article really struck me as sad:
“We’ve gotten so uptight as a people,” Mo’Nique said, noting that she still uses a racial epithet in her stand-up routine and has no intention of stopping. And unlike some critics, she has no problem with men like Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy and Tyler Perry getting into fat suits and playing women with attitude.
I can’t believe that someone who has spent much of her career encouraging women to prioritize health, not body size, and reclaiming all of the offensive weight-related humor that men seem so willing to wield at the expense of women, would say such a thing. These fat suit moments are not only highly embarrassing, but they’re downright discriminatory. They are the black face of the twenty first century, made even more devastating because it is often black men involved in perpetuating them.
Anyone else disappointed in Mo’Nique?
August 10th, 2007 22:30
Yes. Fat is one of the last truly safe stereotype for laughs, aside from many ethnic jokes (Prego commercials, anyone?). I think fat is seen as a choice, or a failure, something that can be changed with a little hard work, and a fundamental flaw of laziness, not unlike make ‘em straight camps for frightened Christians.
August 12th, 2007 13:35
Sad. This is actually an attitude that is not uncommon among women in comedy, especially stand-up, where basically, the sexism, discrimination, fat hate, homophobia, etc. are “no big deal” and “just a joke.” Considering how male-dominated that industry is, it’s pretty much professional suicide for a woman to speak up against her peers (superiors, really). I know this from experience in stand-up. Especially if you’re female, if you try to take a stand against the bigotry, you get labelled and it’s hard to get work. I don’t blame Mo’Nique for erring on the side of self-preservation, although I am disappointed in her. OTOH, being a fat black woman in comedy, Mo’Nique uses that to make strong social statements.
August 12th, 2007 16:40
While I always found the fat suit movies to be mindless and most of the time, awful, they rarely crossed my mind twice, until I was listening to a culture critic. What she said was not necessarily ground breaking, but it helped me to put my finger on what I thought exactly was bugging me about these movies. It was along the lines of: If you want a film with a fat black woman as the lead, why not hire a fat black actress? Bingo.
I’d like to think that the entertainment industry will not always be as patronizing to anyone who is not the “powers that be,” but like any other business, they are a business. I guess all there really is to do is to continue to support outlets for entertainment that breaks the stereotypes and the status quo that so many outlets don’t.
August 15th, 2007 11:27
I think Mo’nique needs to stop saying skinny women are evil. What if a skinny woman said that fat women are stupid, lazy, and disgusting? Would we be trumpeting the skinny woman’s opinion as ‘pro-woman’?
Please, this woman is setting the fat, the black, and women in general back another 100 years by focusing on bashing women that aren’t fat enough to make her feel okay about her own weight.
Frankly, I’m sick of women that bash on other women for their size, Mo’nique isn’t unique in that, she is just typical.
August 16th, 2007 19:56
Don’t know how I feel about this one. What is funny about men in the fat suits is not funny when it is a woman playing the role. It is the exageration that makes it so comical. Our black culture in America - good or bad - is rife with the stereotypes of the large black woman. Unfortunately, many of them are true and most of us raised within this culture know of people in our close circle of family and friends that fit the stereotypes - I won’t bother to list them all here. I see the humor in the fat black suit. I see men playing the women they have known all of their lives and the caricature - and that is how I see it - fits. It is not offensive, it is like so much else, drawn from the experiences of our lives.
August 19th, 2007 18:18
I for one, am not disappointed with Mo’ in reference to the fat suit comments. Humor is the best way to break down the cycle of hatred (and all the -isms that go with it) that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes. If seeing Eddie Murphy in a fat suit makes people laugh and less uncomfortable around the next overweight person they meet, then I’m all for it.
August 21st, 2007 01:46
[…] Charm School This post has been a long time coming - as the finale of “The Flavor of Love” spin-off aired a few weeks ago. I was just prompted by this post, which was a response to Mo’Nique’s profile in the August 5 edition of the NY Times, to remember my feelings about “Charm School” - and specifically the finale. […]
August 28th, 2007 21:00
She has seriously sold out. I think the money and the fame has gotten to her.