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A feature-length documentary that exposes how popular culture fosters fat prejudice and then offers an alternative way of thinking.

Did you know that fat people are paid $1.25 less an hour than their thin counterparts? Or that a fat person who excels can still legally lose a job just because s/he's fat? How about the reality that 1 in 3 doctors associates fat bodies with hostility, dishonesty and poor hygiene?

Fat people are subject to discrimination everywhere they look. In children's books and stories fat people are villains and bad guys.  On our television screens and in the advertising world the fat body is a joke. Magazines and entertainment news shows fixate on the "fatness" of celebrities' bodies and there are very few films that feature fat leads, despite the fact that 60%+ of Americans are - or at the very least consider themselves - fat. 

We are making a feature-length independent documentary that exposes how fat hatred permeates our popular culture, spreading the message that fat is bad and in turn forwarding the idea that being cruel, unkind or downright unjust to a fat person is acceptable behavior. As you can tell from our trailer, our film in already in production.  We're here on kickstarter because we need your help to complete our film! Our goal is to get our film finished, out there, and changing the world by the end of 2015!

WHY WE ARE MAKING THIS FILM?
We feel that most people are ill informed when it comes to fatness. We want to offer a counter argument to the current popular notions that condemn fatness in all forms, an argument that overturns notions of fat hatred in favor of body acceptance.

The media and other cultural sources say that people need to lose weight - that obesity is a deadly epidemic, but there is scientific research that shows that weight loss and health are not linked like we think they are. For example, according to ASDAH, "Weight and BMI are poor predictors of disease and longevity. The bulk of epidemiological evidence suggests that five pounds “underweight” is more dangerous than 75 pounds “overweight.”

OUR GOALS FOR THE FILM
This is a film that looks to educate and activate. It is our goal to inform people about the harsh and very real realities of fat shaming and fat hatred. We also hope to inspire people to speak out about the prejudice they face or the mistreatment of others.

While we know that the content of our film will work well in educational environments and expect to promote the film in that context, our real goal is to make the general public more aware of the prejudice that fat people experience. With this in mind, we will be pursuing mainstream distribution for our film and submitting the film to mainstream film festivals.

WHAT WILL YOUR FUNDS BE USED FOR?
The funds will go directly toward the making of Fattitude. Expenses will include:

  • Air travel for crew and production team to shoot interviews with Hollywood producers, writers and actors.
  • Purchasing equipment, such as drives, software and a lighting kit.
  • Hiring an illustrator/animator.
  • Hiring a sound editor.
  • Cost of submitting the film to film festivals.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

  • Support our Kickstarter Campaign!
  • Spread the word! Email your friends! Post to Facebook! Tweet it!
  • Check us out on the web: Facebook / Twitter / Email List
  • Help us get the press about this movie and our Kickstarter Campaign! Share this news w/bloggers, journalists, etc!

I WANT TO DONATE MORE THAN $10,000! I WANT TO BE AN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER! I WANT TO BROADCAST AND/OR DISTRIBUTE THIS MOVIE! I HAVE AN AMAZING PROJECT THAT YOU SHOULD FEATURE IN YOUR FILM OR I JUST WANT TO CONTACT THE FILM MAKERS!

OUTSTANDING! We would love to hear from you. Please contact either Lindsey Averill by emailing fattitudethemovie@gmail.com or you can find us on facebook and twitter.  We cannot wait to hear what you have to say!

ON A PERSONAL NOTE...

We set out to make this film because we hated the way fat men and women were treated. We hated that fat people had to feel shame and that they were constantly at the butt end of jokes or assumed to be lazy, dirty or lacking will power. We hated that so many people felt trapped in their amazing bodies and we wanted young people to feel powerful and passionate no matter what size they were.  We are still making this film for all these reasons, but in the process of production we have come to realize that this film is also about our personal journeys.

The interviews we have conducted have pushed us to evolve our own views about fat-hatred and fat-shame and although we thought of ourselves as preachers of body acceptance before this process began, we were admittedly suffering from a nagging inability to shake off the lingering whispers of our own self-consciousness. Each day that we work on this film the self-critical whispers lose ground.  

Body acceptance is a war - its you against the cacophony of noise incessantly clamoring that nothing about your body will ever be good enough. 

What we're learning through the process of making this film is that like any other war winning this one requires that you enlist other strong voices and fighters. We are so thankful for those who fight body hatred alongside us, and we look forward to seeing you join the fight. 

Viva La Fattitude!

PLEASE NOTE: BECAUSE THERE ARE HATERS OUT THERE WE ADVISE YOU TO USE ONLY YOUR FIRST NAME ON YOUR KICKSTARTER ACCOUNT AND LEAVE YOUR LOCATION BLANK. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND FOR MAKING THIS MUCH NEEDED PROJECT HAPPEN!

Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter

We have lofty goals. We hope this film will change the way the world thinks about fatness. Admittedly, we might not change the whole world - but we're gonna try.

FAQ

  • Why are there no men in the trailer for Fattitude?

    In terms of the absence of males in the trailer for the film, we will have men in the feature. We want to add men and we will! When we sent our our first requests for interviews before our trailer was ready - these women were the experts who were willing to interview with us.

    To be clear: We are already lining up men to interview and we know men face fat-shaming and fat hatred too!

    We love all people, of all sizes and we just want to see people treated justly. If you read our kickstarter details you will see that we reference both men and women and we will ABSOLUTELY be including men in the feature film.

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  • Why do you use the word fat instead of overweight?

    Fat, like short, tall, blue eyed etc. is a descriptive word which has been taken out of context and made an insult – much like the negative use of the word “gay” – to mean uncool. Clearly, we should stop using the word "gay" or "fat" as an insult – but we can still call gay people gay and fat people are fat because that’s what they are.

    Furthermore the insult is insulting and derogatory. It ridiculous and prejudice to call thin girls fat because they’re not. And when some one does call someone thin “fat,” they are trying to insult thin people – by saying they are like fat people. This is the same idea as the boy on the playground getting called a pussy – he’s weak, badly performing masculinity – and therefore he’s a pussy, a vagina, a woman – the insult is that he is less than a man. He is a woman – this is clear sexism. When some one calls you fat they they are shaming your body by calling it a less acceptable body – a fat one – this is body prejudice.

    "Overweight" and "plus-size" are terms that affirm a certain body size as acceptable becuase they imply that the fat body is more than normal size. "Obese" is a clinical term that makes a body size a disease. "Zaftig," "voluptuous," "chubby" "curvy" etc. these are euphemisms to hide or conceal the reality of a fat body.

    Fat is what people are - that is why we use the word.

    That said, we invite you to use the words that you feel most comfortable with - it's your body refer to it in a way that makes you feel good and comfortable!

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863
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$36,310
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Project by
Lindsey Averill, Viridiana Lieberman

Delray Beach, FL

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Funding period

- (45 days)