NY Times Journalist's "Body Shaming" in 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' Review — Page 2

qolbinau said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "I don’t understand what it is we’re debating here. An actress was offended and/or embarrassed by a comment made about her appearance in relation to something that is entirely out of her control. It’s not for anyone to say whether she should or shouldn’t be offended. She was. And with good reason."

Look I'm all for the "this was unnecessary" bandwagon and agree she appears to be beautifulbut doesn't this claim seemblatantly untrue?
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Um... what? I’m not talking about her weight, I’m talking about her costume; the design and fit of which she has no control over. If Collins-Hughes wanted to make a comment about costumes, she should have done that without drawing attention to one actress’s size in relation to her castmates’.

ColorTheHours048 said: “Um... what? I’m not talking about her weight, I’m talking about her costume; the design and fit of which she has no control over.If Collins-Hughes wanted to make a comment about costumes, she should have done that without drawing attention to one actress’s size in relation to her castmates’."

I’m not sure what quolbinau’s rather rude post was about. I understood what you intended ColorTheHours048.

I think without addressing an example of why she wasn’t fond of the costumes, the critique would’ve been lazy. By using direct examples, she’s showing why she feels the way she does. I do not believe she is placing any blame on the garment not working on the actress. She’s just giving us a direct example and explanation of her critique.

In her opinion, one garment didn’t work well in the show because it didn’t suit a heavier woman’s figure. That’s a hit at the designer, not the actress.

There are 100 better ways to have done this. Not to mention, there were multiple people that read that and thought "yes. this is something that should go into the paper of record."

Unnecessary.

Unprofessional.

Unsubscribing.

What I find more offensive and upsetting is that Ben Vereen was there opening night posing for pictures and smiling and making jazz hands after his disgusting behavior during the production of HAIR he directed in Florida recently. That's okay now?



And bk is right. Not that I condone Mr. Simon's attacks on the physical attributes of actresses, but he said Liza had the face of a beagle and commented on Madeline Kahn's breast size in print. They went on with their lives and performing careers. Mr. Simon is, unfortunately, still reviewing (for a pennysaver) but this lady's criticism is nothing.

GeorgeandDot said: "Just a really rude comment on Umphress, who is super gorgeous and curvy in all the right places. She's a great performer and it sucks to me that her entire performance is basically ignored to focus on the shape of her body as if it is her only defining factor. Can we stop acting like actors need to look a certain way? Can't we just have humans onstage telling human stories? I like seeing curvy, plus-sized, and overweight actors onstage because they have stories to tell just like everyone else and if we don't nuture diversity and communicate those stories, everyone onstage would look the same and we would just see the same story over and over again, which we basically already do."



I agree with all of that, but guess what? Without social media, this would have passed over, Umphress would have gone on being terrific and no one would have cared about this nonsense or thought about her appearance. The critic in question has syntax problems. If she meant to criticize the costumes, it didn't seem that way. But I'm not going to be outraged over it. Vereen on the other hand really bothers me... and a lot more than this non-story.

GeorgeandDot said: "Just a really rude comment on Umphress, who is super gorgeous and curvy in all the right places. She's a great performer and it sucks to me that her entire performance is basically ignored to focus on the shape of her body as if it is her only defining factor. Can we stop acting like actors need to look a certain way? Can't we just have humans onstage telling human stories? I like seeing curvy, plus-sized, and overweight actors onstage because they have stories to tell just like everyone else and if we don't nuture diversity and communicate those stories, everyone onstage would look the same and we would just see the same story over and over again, which we basically already do."

This. All of this so much.

The issue of sizism needs to be confronted in theater in realistic ways...not just stories about plus sizes or fat camps. Larger actors shouldn’t feel like they’re destined to only be the fat, quirky friend. And female actresses shouldn’t feel like there’s no place for them if they’re the dreaded size 8/10–to fat to be a leading actress, not fat enough for side kick.

When I see writers in high-profile editorial jobs, who pen problematic articles and are frequently bashed by readers, it just makes me angry. I'm having trouble getting hired for any writing position- let alone THEATRE CRITIC AT THE NEW YORK TIMES- and God forbid that kind of company takes a chance on a greenhorn who might actually be wiser when it comes writing for the contemporary audience.

Sorry for the mini-rant...

It's a breach of common civility in any generation to publicly call someone else fat. But I'm not at all certain that the overweight person is done any service by telling him or her the he or she looks just as good as one who is not overweight. Not if the person is capable of losing weight.

You know that being overweight is a great threat to one's health. Ella Fitzgerald, who was a diabetic, suffered through many painful medical conditions over the last years of her life, including the amputation of both legs. Cass Elliot died in her sleep while performing live in London at age 32. The coroner found no drug involvement. But she weighed twice what she should and one of her heart muscles had turned to mush.

Between 7th and 8th wrote: "I think the discussion has been pretty good so far. Would love to hear your thoughts!"

It has been, for this site, mostly civil, hasn't it?

Since you ask: I don't think it's "body shaming" in the least. I have no idea if Hughes is a woman of Juno-esque proportions or slender, but all she did was acknowledge a reality, which is innocuous, and state an opinion, which many readers seem to absolutely live for (hanging on breathlessly to every utterance of any reviewer or blogger with a keyboard).

There are some who think that any statement other than gushing praise is an insult, but I think that's reflective of the "every child gets a prize" mindset. Personally, I think a Sunshine and Lollipops world would be not only dull, but rather psychopathic, like some sort of Twilight Zone episode.

Updated On: 7/24/18 at 07:39 AM