As we get larger, so does the ever growing movement to remove the negative stigmas around being overweight. This movement , also know as the Fat-Positive or Body-positive movement, is quickly becoming the next big social debate and those spearheading it have amassed millions of supporters. As expected, like with every movement, support is always met with criticism , confusion , and disagreement .
The 2019 Amazon Documentary Fat-topia takes a critical look at the health and social implications of the Fat-Positive movement and community, while also exploring the social ideologies and meaning of the movement. The director and filmmaker behind Fat-topia shares a closer look into the documentary and his thoughts on the overall movement in an interview with Juxtaposition.
Who are you?
Connor Luke Simpson . I'm from The United Kingdom and I live in a town in West Sussex (about an hour from London). I'm 23 years old.
Give us a little background on how you got into film making?
I've been interested in video/film entertainment my whole life. When people would ask me what I wanted to be when I was a child I’d always answer an "actor/director" (Actor 'SLASH' Director, the 'slash' being incredibly important).
As I got older and started taking a career in this industry more seriously.
I decided to change courses and study Film, Television, Media and Communications. It was an area I was comfortable in as I had been uploading content online for about 10 years. I have always had something in me that's wanted to make video content and during my time at university, I fell in love with the documentary format.
I then decided I was going to make a feature-length documentary using everything I had learned from creating content online for ten years. With no (real) budget, and a team of three amazing people I created FAT-TOPIA.
Why the topic of body positivity/Fat-acceptance/Obesity?
I was considering a few different topics, all of which are on a list of future documentaries I plan to make. I had been somewhat aware of Fat Acceptance for a few years thanks to YouTube compilations and commentary channels, however, it was the Tess Holliday Cosmopolitan cover that made me move forward with Fat Acceptance.
Of course, plus-size cover girls aren't a completely new phenomenon but it was revolutionary to see a woman of Tess' size on the cover of a fashion magazine and even more so, fronting an industry that had arguably been the most responsible for ostracizing the fat among us. What attracted me was the divisiveness the cover and Fat Acceptance as a whole produced, it seemed to be an issue that everyone had an opinion on. I felt going in with a perspective of wanting to listen and challenge both sides while similarly questioning my own biases, would make for an interesting documentary.
Did you face any roadblocks or negativity in your process of getting your documentary out because of the topics offensive and politically grey nature?
Without a doubt, I definitely underestimated the strong ideological and philosophical beliefs held by many fat acceptance activists, in fact, you see me wrestle with the politics of fat acceptance a lot during the documentary. For example, there is an interview that takes place between myself and an anonymous member of the fat acceptance movement and when I first reached out to the activist it was made clear that I would not get an interview because of my size, race, gender, and sexuality.
This was a very common hurdle in the early days of filming, many fat activists would take to social media and publicly denounce the film and me as its director.
In the early stages, I did express some concern, many of the most radical fat activists paired me with language that would be fit to describe an alt-right white supremacist; I had been labelled a neo-nazi and a supporter of hate speech. When comments like that were made I wondered If I had made the right decision to release FAT-TOPIA as my first documentary film, perhaps audiences would not have a big enough filmography to see who I really was a filmmaker and a person. After all, I was totally confident about how this film would be received, perhaps people would agree, perhaps they wouldn't
I have been called fat-phobic more times than I can count; At the end of the day, I'm extremely thick-skinned.
In hindsight, do you think you have ever been fat-phobic?
Answering if I feel I've ever been fat-phobic surely means I first have to recognize that fat-phobia is real. A phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something, and fat-phobia more specifically is the intense fear or dislike of fat, becoming fat and fat bodies. By those very definitions I question the legitimacy of fat-phobia, after all, isn't it rational to fear obesity?
I know many fat activists don't agree with the science I reference but the World Health Organisation states that 'at least 2.8 million people each year die as a result of being overweight or obese'. Obesity becomes a lot more rational to fear when you read a statistic such as that.
The Fat Acceptance movement has indeed become mainstream. Do you think the magazines, social media, and coverage is charged by genuine understanding or monetary motive?
The world is getting fatter, and I guess that means a desire to see substantial representation that highlights a variety of body types, particularly since the (fashion) industries have been dominated by thin skeletal model for decades. Magazines have been slowly increasing the number of plus-size women who appear for a while now but when it comes to a cover such as the previously mentioned Tess Holliday Cosmopolitan issue, I do not doubt that the incentive for cash through controversy was a key driving force for her inclusion.
They put a morbidly obese woman on the cover of Cosmpolitan in a global obesity epidemic, unless they have chimps in their offices, there is no way they didn't consider the public attention a cover like this would receive. I may sound cynical but if the fashion industry (Cosmopolitan), was truly interested in promoting body positivity, why wouldn't they choose to put someone who should unquestionably benefit from the positivity society is showing towards more kinds of bodies at the forefront of a campaign? I think of amputees, burn victims, breast cancer survivors, people with vitiligo etc. but,
They know obesity/fatness is a controversial and lucrative selling point.
I found out about Fat-topia from a youtuber discussing it. What was the reaction you were expecting to receive?
What is the reaction you have actually received?
So, for a majority of the year I spent making this film I was met with widespread criticism and disdain from the fat acceptance audience. I expected boycotts, review bombing, and slander once the film was released - I wasn't wrong. As soon as I released the first trailer it blew up in the 'fat acceptance world'. The trailer was shared around and I had some of the most prominent voices within the community messaging me including it's 'face' Tess Holliday.
During that time I received legal threats, cease and desist letters, but most worrying was a boycott page that started up that began doxing (sharing personal information of) my team, my parents, and my grandparents. I had expected some backlash but It truly went to another level when that page began.
I was in the trenches all the way up until release date, but luckily upon releasing I began to receive support from several prominent voices in the fitness community - a community I had completely overlooked as a prime target audience for my film.
The public perception seems to have also changed a lot. I have received so much support and love from a variety of different people. It's been especially interesting to hear from so many people who are currently struggling with their weight or who are on a weight loss journey themselves.
As a “thin” person, do you feel the film had a bias?
Any documentarian or filmmaker that says they have created a film, particularly a film that operates within politics, that has no bias is lying to you.
I entered the world of 'FAT-TOPIA' with my preconceived understanding that obesity was dangerous and not particularly positive however I was completely open to having my mind changed, I didn't want to add to the media circus, I far prefer open public discussion. I like documentaries because they blend art and journalism together in an everlasting time capsule. I wanted to document the movement the best I could in its current form. I had my preexisting knowledge of obesity when creating this film but I certainly didn't have a thin ideology or bias that drove me to create a film that displayed all thin people as some kind of superior type of person.
Do you feel fat acceptance and body positivity are one in the same?
First of all, I'm a big fan of body positivity, I think it's great to see a variety of different body types being represented when previously we had very narrow expectations of what women and men should look like. However, I don't think they're the same. I believe their fighting for different things and crossing the two makes the message extremely convoluted.
Let's take a minute to acknowledge that some people are obese because of medical conditions, mental health, and eating disorders. I have a lot of sympathy for those people. However, that doesn't necessarily justify a societal shift in the way we look at obesity, after all, medical condition or not it is still the second most preventable cause of cancer after smoking.
Some might argue that I'm part of the problem and am going against the message of body positivity, which should include all body types. I hear that argument and just have to wonder if there is a danger of over normalizing unhealthy states of being. For example, I don't see the same push for anorexia to be included in the body-positive movement, which is reasonable, it's a dangerous physical state. By choosing not to include anorexia in body positivity movement does that mean we should shame anorexic people? Absolutely not.
Choosing not to celebrate an unhealthy body doesn't make you a body shamer it just means you choose to recognise that some conditions relating to weight are not healthy or sustainable as a human being.
To me when I think of body positivity I think of several previously mentioned groups of people first, amputees, burn victims, breast cancer survivors, women with stretch marks, and importantly women with darker skin who have failed to be represented for decades. Fat Acceptance seems to have complicated body positivity and takes attention away from those who should benefit from it.
As a Caucasian, “thin” man, how do you feel when the fat acceptance movement lumps themselves in with other oppressed groups? How does bringing up things like race with this topic affect actual race relations?
Of course, as a straight white guy I'm not going to be an expert on the experience of marginalized groups, but what I can do is offer my opinion.
I think the attempt to recognize the existence of fat-phobia and fat people as an oppressed group completely undermines the experience of actual oppression faced by a variety of groups worldwide.
Just the other day I received a reply from a fat activist when I asked about the possibility of debating fat acceptance in a follow-up series; "We're all a little exhausted debating our existence. Would you expect Jewish people to take part in a forum where the other side was Nazis arguing about why they are a lower group of people?".
Now, of course, this lone-activist does not represent the entirety of fat acceptance but nevertheless, it's extremely concerning to hear an attempt to collate the position of fat people today to what Jewish people had to face in Nazi Germany.
Do you believe there is validity to the idea of “thin privilege?” If not , why?
Privilege is relative to the situation in which an individual finds themselves.
When we discuss privileges, we talk about them as things that you have to earn or things that can be taken away. It's not that I don't believe privileges exist. They certainly do. The issue is in the dichotomy between dictionary definition and everyday implication.
The other problem is the implications that come along with calling various things a privilege. It implies that the person has had it easy because of their privileges. Going bungee jumping is a 'privilege' of thin people, fitting comfortably into a booth is a 'privilege' of thin people, which somehow makes it their fault that a fat person can't fit into a booth or is unable to bungee jump. Privilege by its very definition is something that is granted. 'Thinness' is not a guarantee.
Some people believe the stigma around being overweight/obese is actually productive in steering people from that path, Do you agree?
While I certainly agree that stigmatizing the unhealthy aspects is important in order to highlight the dangers of obesity, I don't necessarily find the stereotypes that are connected to fat helpful. For example, we've all heard the stereotype that fat people are lazy, I can't really see a trait like this being particularly motivating when a fat person hears it enough times.
Should we cut people that suffer from obesity some slack because of the gluttonous society we live in? Most people don’t know one meal at McDonalds almost has the caloric density of one day. Should the energy be shifted towards the food industry?
At the end of the documentary, I added a line of text that reads, 'It's still unclear how humanity will tackle obesity'.
I'm sure we will continue to find out over the decades that the food industry has been responsible for some rather deplorable things. However, it is also important that we try to be somewhat accountable for our actions, after all, McDonald's doesn't force their food into your mouth.
We shouldn't be cruel to people who are obese, that's something I really wanted to highlight in my documentary but I'm not sure if blaming corporate juggernauts who only exist because we continue to eat there is the solution.
Perhaps I should wrestle with the food industry in a sequel?
It’s interesting, men are not usually represented in the fat acceptance movement.
Did you consider men? Do you believe they receive the same understanding for being overweight as women?
All of the males I spoke to were thin but dating larger women, there is a common assumption that men who date larger women have a fetish but everyone I spoke to said this was not the case, instead claiming it was just their romantic and sexual preference.
The fat acceptance movement undoubtedly leans far more in a female direction. My theory as to why this is relates to the higher standard of 'beauty' and perfection women face in society already. It becomes easy to understand why fat women, in particular, would form this movement when you think of it like that.
Men have historically had it easier when it comes to the scrutiny of aesthetics, however, I see that changing. The modern idealistic celebrity male is becoming far more metrosexual.
Ripped bodies and perfect abs are the visionary images of the modern man, I could see younger boys growing up in the social media era encountering many of the same feelings of inadequacy, that women have felt for decades. Perhaps a future wave of fat acceptance will be strengthened by a surge of male supporters.
Many fat activists claim that they don’t want to lose weight. After your research and being able to speak with people directly, do you believe this is genuine? Do you believe fat activists would choose to be thinner if it required no work?
That is something I've wondered myself, I've heard many activists say that they are happiest they've ever been while being the biggest they have ever been. It is an unconventional mode of thinking, you don't often hear people say that.
It's hard for me to truly conclude if the people that say this are truly satisfied or whether they are just using rhetoric that will be popular with their supporters.
A few activists have mentioned an eventual need to lose weight, commonly fueled by a desire to have children. If there was a magic button that could be pressed in this scenario I'm sure they all would, but in a more extended sense of body image, I think many of us would too.
Do you believe people who are not considered overweight that support the fat acceptance movement would be as accepting to a, say, anorexic-acceptance movement?
No I don't, I think we are already far more sympathetic to those with anorexia. Perhaps if the movement was called Anorexia Awareness or something along those lines it would be a movement many would support, but I couldn't perceive the acceptance of anorexic bodies being popular. We can be compassionate while still recognizing the dangers of a body which has succumbed to an eating disorder.
Do you think normalizing obesity has negative implications on society? Or should we just not care?
In a few interviews, I have theorized about some wondrous futuristic medicine that will make obesity inconsequential and irrelevant to humans.
But today, currently, normalizing obesity given everything we know seems like a scary prospect to me.
What is the overall message you hope viewers take from Fat-topia ?
I've had such a variety of people taking different messages away from the documentary that I don't feel as if I could give you one specific answer. There are educational elements native to documentary, I also think there are a lot of themes regarding tolerance and respect.
Of course, this is a film about the fat acceptance movement and obesity but it is also about the sociopolitical relations in current society.
My main goal was to document a specific group of people within a distinct time in history (today). I obsess over the future and how future generations and even civilizations will look back upon us. I guess for me what is going to be interesting, is looking back upon this documentary as the first chapter of my filmography and seeing how things evolve and how they have stayed the same.
I'm going to stay close to the fat acceptance movement. It's going to be interesting to see how much we all change during that time.