MovieChat Forums > Shallow Hal (2001) Discussion > Movie is the ultimate in hypocrisy.

Movie is the ultimate in hypocrisy.

posted 11 years ago by Huskie_Jon
18 replies | jump to latest

I guess the moral of the story is that beauty is on the inside, and do not judge someone by their looks and/or their weight. Well, that's nice.

So to get the point across, the movie takes someone who is tremendously obese, and makes all kinds of fat jokes. You have the cannon ball in the pool scene, rowing the boat in the air, pigging out at the restaurant, and he even sleeps with her.

Look at Hal! He's dating a FAT woman! Isn't that hilarious!? Doesn't he realize how ridiculous he looks? Ha, ha, ha!

Of course Hal only sees a beautiful woman. You know, beautiful, like Gwyneth Paltrow. You need to look like Gwyneth Paltrow to be beautiful.

So to summarize:

The producer/director makes a movie full of fat jokes, so that they can make money by making fun of fat people.

The viewer should enjoy laughing at the fat jokes, but then the viewer should feel ashamed, because the moral of the story is that beauty is on the inside.

It kind of reminds me of the Breakfast Club.

We are presented with five stereotypical high school students, and the moral of the story is that you should not stereotype people.

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A dope trailer is no place for a kitty.

[–] karen_cantu 9 years ago

Not to mention that this movie implies that being overweight or unattractive is the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone in their lives, and the worst people are the ugliest looking ones. As if there weren't worse things in life. I know that was the point of the story but it's such an awful point, imo. :(

[–] manchof1 9 years ago

The film meant well but the message of the film was off, Hal would never have been attracted to Rosemary in the first place if his vision hadn't been messed with.

[–] Wuchak (8832) 6 years ago

The movie stresses the importance of inward beauty, which Hal was incapable of seeing because of his focus on solely physical beauty. When the latter is removed through Tony Robbins' mesmerism he's finally able to see the former.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

I could never watch this mess all the way through, so tell me... During the course of the film, does anyone ever remark on the fact that Jack Black is FAT?

Or is fatness only a problem for women. Because if the movie is supposedly about inner beauty het only the female characters are judged by their weight... that could very well be "the ultimate hypocrisy".

[–] ChipDouglas (1607) 6 years ago

Yes. I don't think you watched 20 minutes into this film. Jack Black calls himself fat to a couple of bullies at a restaurant early on in the movie. In some respects, he undergoes the exact same thing that happens to Gweneth Paltrow. There is a scene where the girl Black had always pined after started liking him because his personality had improved. Jason Alexander's character is also portrayed as not attractive (hair piece, overweight.) The film makers bring attention to that. Also, the man who walks around using his hands was an obvious reference to the importance of inner beauty. All of the girls wanted him and he was portrayed as a super likeable guy.

The Farrelly Brothers have been known for doing this in many of their movies. Disabled people, whether morbidly obese or unable to walk are always placed on a pedestal while people with fewer disadvantages are portrayed as ignorant or evil.

[–] PaladinNJ (21594) 6 years ago

One of the things that was brought out was Hal's double standard. He never recognized his own flaws.

[–] liscarkat (18960) 5 years ago

Not to mention that Hal could also stand to lose about 60 pounds.