In this episode of "Four Star Playhouse", Ida Lupino plays a fat lady, so she's wearing lots of padding under her clothes. The main point of the show seems to be an appeal to treat heavy women with love and respect, but the fact that they used a skinny actress instead of a heavy-set one annoyed me a bit. Its message, no matter how well intended it was, comes off as a bit patronizing and silly.
Lupino plays an overweight spinster. While she is liked by her peers, people tend to see her as a nice person--not someone with which you might want to date or fall in love. As the years pass, she becomes very chummy with a male schoolmate and he later marries another and makes her sort of like an adopted aunt. While she makes the most of this, her life so far has been one of quiet desperations--putting on a happy face while realizing she'll most likely never have a man fall for her. Then, unexpectedly, love happens to even her.
The message, to me, is 'look...if you find the right man, he could even look past how disgusting and fat you are...maybe'. Well, in making such a show it actually reinforces the old stereotypes--especially when she learns after being married for several years that her husband actually does manage to love her and find her attractive. I'd love to hear your opinion on this one. Perhaps I am off base. It can be seen or downloaded from archive.org.
By the way, did it also seem creepy to you that when Lupino's character became pregnant, she went to her and her husband's best friend to be the OB/GYN?! I'm just wondering...