First let me say ... I am an Eddie Murphy fan. I think he's a comic genius. And that's why I was so surprised to see him star in and even write such a low level and offensive comedy.
The first few minutes of the film started out with a little promise, but it didn't take long for the film to fall to such a low level that I cringed from early in until the movie was over. And even though I watched to nearly the end, I demanded my money back. It's only the second time I've ever done that, and I'm an avid film goer.
What was so offensive? I don't know where to begin. Most obviously, every "fat" gag in the book was used. Eddie Murphy plays an overweight woman who is ugly and evil, and every nasty thing you can think to say about her is said. To make it worse, the leading lady is Thandie Newton who is extremely thin, which only goes to further emphasize the other extreme.
Maybe Eddie Murphy thought he could get away with this because he shows, in The Nutty Professor, how an overweight man can "get the girl". But, really, that just shows the extreme double standard that remains when it comes to overweight men versus women.
Now, I'm a realist, and I know that the double standard is not Eddie Murphy's fault. Still, he plays on it here in such a nasty way that it offended me, an open minded, in-shape male. And for those who argue that it's the character's attitude and not her weight that made her "the bad guy", then why make her fat in the first place. And why have so many nasty fat jokes.
The movie was offensive on other levels too. The racial humor wasn't funny. There are some lines with attempts at humor that really go too far. Many of you who have seen it will understand what I mean. And those who haven't, I hope you don't support this film out of curiosity. Please, wait for cable. There is nothing in this that you can't wait to see.
I heard that it was Eddie Murphy's brother who came up with this idea. If EM did this as a favor to his brother, he could have done his brother, and himself a bigger favor by bringing Charlie in on a better project and tossing this script.
On the one positive note: Eddie Murphy does put his all into these characters as always. His job as Norbit gets lost in the low class, low level "comedy". Even though I just saw the film, I had to really remember that his performance as Norbit was decent. All I can think about is how offended I was, and how thoroughly depressed an overweight woman sitting at the end of my row looked throughout most of the film (she left before I did).
The first few minutes of the film started out with a little promise, but it didn't take long for the film to fall to such a low level that I cringed from early in until the movie was over. And even though I watched to nearly the end, I demanded my money back. It's only the second time I've ever done that, and I'm an avid film goer.
What was so offensive? I don't know where to begin. Most obviously, every "fat" gag in the book was used. Eddie Murphy plays an overweight woman who is ugly and evil, and every nasty thing you can think to say about her is said. To make it worse, the leading lady is Thandie Newton who is extremely thin, which only goes to further emphasize the other extreme.
Maybe Eddie Murphy thought he could get away with this because he shows, in The Nutty Professor, how an overweight man can "get the girl". But, really, that just shows the extreme double standard that remains when it comes to overweight men versus women.
Now, I'm a realist, and I know that the double standard is not Eddie Murphy's fault. Still, he plays on it here in such a nasty way that it offended me, an open minded, in-shape male. And for those who argue that it's the character's attitude and not her weight that made her "the bad guy", then why make her fat in the first place. And why have so many nasty fat jokes.
The movie was offensive on other levels too. The racial humor wasn't funny. There are some lines with attempts at humor that really go too far. Many of you who have seen it will understand what I mean. And those who haven't, I hope you don't support this film out of curiosity. Please, wait for cable. There is nothing in this that you can't wait to see.
I heard that it was Eddie Murphy's brother who came up with this idea. If EM did this as a favor to his brother, he could have done his brother, and himself a bigger favor by bringing Charlie in on a better project and tossing this script.
On the one positive note: Eddie Murphy does put his all into these characters as always. His job as Norbit gets lost in the low class, low level "comedy". Even though I just saw the film, I had to really remember that his performance as Norbit was decent. All I can think about is how offended I was, and how thoroughly depressed an overweight woman sitting at the end of my row looked throughout most of the film (she left before I did).