Avengers: Endgame And Fatphobia

If you would like to go into the movie completely unspoiled, I would recommend skipping this post. I’m going to keep things as vague as possible, I don’t consider talking about the fatphobia a spoiler. I consider it talking about something that was harmful and it doesn’t spoil the overall plot. Still, if you want to know nothing, this would be a good post to skip.

I was and am upset when I found out a character, Thor, gains weight due to PTSD and then multiple jokes are made about it. It’s not even a single awkward moment like in Infinity War. It’s throughout the entire movie. It’s used so much for comedic purposes and it makes my blood boil. I don’t really want to see the movie. Would it be cool to see it in theaters? Yeah. Do I want to sit through three hours? Not really. Do I want to sit through a ton of fat jokes? Not at all.

Despite opting out of seeing it, I have watched some clips, read spoilers, and read articles about it, regarding the movie in general and this issue.

Just ugh. It’s a joke. It’s such a joke. The weight gain is a joke. It’s used for comedy. It’s used for cheap laughs. There’s no getting around that. When Thor is first introduced after the weight gain, the camera pans around him to make it as dramatic as possible and to make it funny. It’s funny to see him this way, in such a different state. It’s gross and I hate it.

There’s also another scene where it’s a very emotional, deep, and meaningful conversation between Thor and someone he loves deeply. And at the end they tell him to eat a salad. For a laugh. For cheap comedic relief. It’s so unnecessary and uninspired. A better joke seriously couldn’t have been thought of? The mood needed to be lightened that much? Is there no better way to tell this story? It just seems like such a cop out, to do this, instead of actually writing funny jokes or a good story.

There’s also jokes made throughout the movie, but I couldn’t find a lot of specifics. I know Rocket says a lot of them and someone else asks if he has Cheese-whiz running through his veins. Just really? This man who obviously is grieving and struggling doesn’t deserve to be mocked like this.

I also realize I don’t know everything about the movie. Could there be good, solid scenes about Thor’s mental health and how he deals with it? Yes. This doesn’t negate the fact this was handled extremely poorly. It was handled with a fat suit and clunky CGI. It was handled with fat jokes, when it could have been handled with an amazing representation of mental health. But they felt they needed the cheap laughs.

I actually kind of funny how bad it was at some points. In one of the scenes I watched, it looked like they shoved a pillow up his shirt. This is a huge movie, with a huge budget, why couldn’t they spring for high quality fatphobia haha.

Alright this next paragraph is actually going to contain spoilers, so I would advise skipping if you don’t want to see!

It just makes me so angry. I understand his emotional development and I understand what this story was trying to portray. I just don’t like that they took they comedy route. I know there isn’t a weight lose montage and he’s still fat at the end of the movie. But, I honestly feel like there’s one coming. It looks like Thor is joining the Guardians of the Galaxy and with the next movie being made, I don’t trust them to handle it with grace. If there isn’t the weight lose, it’s going to be another movie full of fat jokes, which is really disappointing. I am totally alright with being proved wrong though! I would love to be surprised!

And that’s the end of the spoilers!

Honestly, I feel like the good things in Thor’s development were purely luck. It feels like it was made for laughs. He could have had his emotional storyline, without the weight gain. The story would have been the same and people still could have related to him. It just feels unnecessary.

Also, I would just like to note that these are just my personal feelings. I know some people don’t mind it at all, which is great and I’m glad! And there are people who are harmed by it, which is completely fine too.

Yeah, I hate it. A lot. I don’t know what to make of it overall other than it makes me angry and upset. I’m mad that this could have been really solid mental health representation.

Thank you for reading!