Tomorrow, March 4th, is World Day of Obesity. The disease has been even more discussed in the last week due to the movie "The Whale", which premiered on February 23 in theaters.
The feature film shows the story of Charlie (Brendan Fraser), a middle-aged and obese man who lives in a wheelchair. The character teaches English classes over the internet and hardly leaves his house.
Based on the homonymous play by Samuel D. Hunter, the production also addresses Charlie's rapprochement with friends and, especially, the reunion with his teenage daughter (Sadie Sink), whom he hasn't seen since he was 8 years old.
Considered one of the feature films of the year, the film A Baleia competes for three statuettes at the oscar 2023:
best actor
best supporting actress
Best makeup and hairstyles
The 2023 Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 12. Specialists in movie theaterand most viewers are betting that Brendan Fraser should win the Oscar for best actor for The Whale.
See the trailer below:
Film The Whale and Obesity
According to Charlie in the movie The Whale, he became obese by eating too much after losing a loved one. Feeling sad about the breakup, he began to eat in an overwhelming way. In order to play the character as faithfully as possible, the actor explained that he used fillers on his body.
Most viewers who attended the production have praised actor Brendan Fraser's interpretation. However, some commented that the film is very impactful and raises issues such as fatphobia, starting with the title.
Samuel D. Hunter, screenwriter of the film The Whale, commented that the play is not about all the people who struggle with obesity, but how the disease presented itself to him. “The play is how obesity manifested itself physically in me,” he said.
Do not stop now... There's more after the publicity ;)
What is Obesity?
Obesity is a disease whose main characteristic is the exaggerated accumulation of body fat, responsible for compromising the health of the individual. As a consequence, the disease can cause other health problems such as diabates It is high pressure.
Physical health specialists, such as endocrinologists and cardiologists, and health mental health, such as psychiatrists and psychologists, reinforce that, although many people do not know it, obesity is a illness.
Cardiologist Erika de Souza emphasizes that society needs to see obesity as a serious chronic disease that requires adequate and multidisciplinary treatment.
"It is also necessary to demystify stigmas such as: the person is obese because they want to, because they are lazy, because they eat too much. Obesity is a disease and, as such, it needs to be faced", emphasizes the doctor.
See too - World Obesity Day: experts talk about the main aspects of the disease
Psychologist specializing in obesity, eating disorders and bariatrics, Yasminne Fayad Takeda, from Anápolis (GO), points out that obesity is a disease that has multifactorial symptoms.
“Obesity has a life history, of diseases associated with obesity, comorbidities, the environment in which the person is inserted, the way they learned to relate. In short, the complete life story in all areas: bio, psycho, social and spiritual”, explains psychologist Yasminne.
Obesity and social life
Due to obesity and the problems that arise as a result of the disease, obese people, especially those Morbidly obese people like Charlie, portrayed in the film The Whale, which competes for the Oscar 2023, have difficulties in life Social.
Yasminne points out that she cannot look at a person who is obese with that judgmental look that is often seen in society. According to her, this is not the typical movement that some people think obese people do not do because they are lazy, for example.
“It's not just thinking that people don't have willpower, that they don't have constancy, that they're lazy, that's why they don't lose weight. In fact, we are talking about a disease that has limiting factors. There is a disease that needs to be treated”, he reinforces.
obesity and depression
In some situations, the person who is obese also suffers from another disease: depression. And the case can be the opposite as well: the person is depressed because he is obese.
The psychologist specialist in obesity Yasminne Fayad comments that the depression it may, indeed, be linked to obesity. Depression is an emotional illness that we cannot see physically, we feel it, ”she says.
In the case of the film A Baleia, the character Charlie points out that he gained weight after being very sad to lose a loved one. For the psychologist, this explanation may actually exist.
“The sadness for the loss of a person portrayed in the film A Baleia is probably this elaboration of the mourning of the end of a cycle. So, if I don't work out and I already have low self-esteem, for example, if I already have obesity that leaves you unmotivated, with low energy, often full of society's labels, automatically a sadness. The sadness passes, but the depression stays and interferes with everyday life, becoming a disease”, explains psychologist Yasminne. Fayad.
world obesity day
World Obesity Day was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness about the disease and launch discussions to combat it by entities from various countries.
Read too:
The relationship between obesity and cardiovascular disease
Data on obesity in Brazil
Learn more about childhood obesity
Image credit:
[1] joe seer/ Shutterstock
By Silvia Tancredi
Journalist