Depending on who you ask, Netflix is either your best friend on a weekend or a reckless partnership trying to seduce children into becoming suicidal anorexics. You may have heard some buzz around the newly released Netflix movie To the Bone. The trailer was hit with harsh comments from the public before the movie had even premiered, stating that the movie will glamourise eating disorders and potentially even harm the progress of recovering suffers. The trailer certainly was a conversation starter online about how media portrays mental health and eating disorders.
Writer and Director, Marti Noxon, took to Twitter to defend the movie saying that ‘she hopes that by casting a little light into the darkness of this disease we can achieve greater understanding and guide people to help if they need it.’ To the Bone misses the point of raising awareness by stereotyping eating disorders and what someone with an eating disorder looks like. To the public mind, anorexia is already a young, emaciated, middle-class, white girl. “There have been recent studies done on the general public and shows that we lack sufficient knowledge and information about eating disorders, leading us to incorrect beliefs about those who have them.” If the movie was purposely meant for raising awareness, then why are we seeing exactly the character we expect to see onscreen? Eating disorders are serious and life threatening mental illnesses. The reality is that suffering from an eating disorder doesn’t mean you have anorexia, it doesn’t mean you are skinny and it doesn’t mean you are female. Eating disorders occur in individuals both women and men, young and old, rich and poor, and from all cultural backgrounds. Large population studies suggest that up to a quarter of people suffering with anorexia or bulimia in Australia are males.
We often see portrayals in films that focus on weight loss or extreme thinness, which can encourage the misconception that eating disorders are lifestyle choices, instead of serious illnesses. There is a real burden of copycat behaviour that the film shows which could be triggering. Due to such graphic images, the Chief executive at The Butterfly Foundation, which represents all individuals affected by an eating disorder and negative body image, told The Sydney Morning Herald that “as Netflix has chosen not to take their expert advice the organisations helpline will remain open for an extra hour and a half on the night that the film is set to premiere.”
Another point within the issue that is causing uproar is that the actor that played Ellen, Lily Collins, has a history of anorexia. Collins had to lose weight to play the role of the character. Although she had help from a nutritionist, the physical transformation was only half the battle. Collins explained to People magazine that “she had to emotionally put herself back into the frame of mind of someone with an eating disorder.” No matter how safe it may seem, it was irresponsible to have someone who has struggled with the condition in the past to lose weight for the role, whether under supervision or not.” While its impossible to be inside Collins head and know how the weight lose aspect of the movie effected her, many people that have suffered from eating disorders will always be in recovery, so there is definitely valid space for concern. Jennifer Carter, a psychologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, agrees that the weight lose aspect of the film is “dangerous. “Some individuals have risk factors that kick in when they lose weight, and obsessive and addictive behaviours can begin.” There is also worry about how Collins choice may effect viewers and fans of hers. They may come to think that it is normal to be extremely thin and that it is not a real problem. Having Collins not lose weight for the role would have been a more responsible and teachable moment for individuals that are struggling with eating disorders.
As a result, today we have a growing prevalence of eating disorders. Although To the Bone was made to raise awareness about anorexia and other eating disorders, the way in which the film was conveyed could potentially have negative outcomes to those that watch it. People that are suffering from the condition and are on the road to recovery might see the the protagonist as an inspiration for appearance. The protagonists stereotypical form does not raise awareness within the general public. We need to understand that eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes and we need to stop classifying all eating disorders as severely emaciated individuals. Lily Collins made a terrible mistake by choosing to lose weight to play the role of her character as she could be encouraging viewers and her fans thats its okay to be deadly thin. The behaviours shown in the film could be potentially triggering for individuals and can cause them to lose track in their recovery and jump straight back into their old ways, therefore To the Bone can be seen as glamorising eating disorders and trigger bad behaviour. To the those of you that haven’t seen the film, please do watch with care.