I have to ask about the culture in the very early 2000's that the film portrays

We did have a higher stigma around obesity in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, but the thing was, because of computers and more urban sprawl, obesity in America skyrocketed over time after the millennium.

It should be noted that everything you saw in this film was exaggerated to an almost cartoony level when it came to the fat jokes and the stigma you saw.

I actually read a fascinating article about an interview someone had with Gwyneth Paltrow about playing Rosemary. She said that people treated her very differently when she put on the fat suit, the facial prosthetics, and her costumes. For one thing, they didn't recognize her, and for another, many people didn't even want to look at her when she came on set. She felt disgusting when dressing up as the "real" Rosemary. She also complained that they have terrible fashions for obese women, (which is partially true today), and seeing as they had just gotten out of the 90s, I could totally see that. Much of what they make curvy women wear looks like tents or table-cloths. Things have changed quite a bit in the 2010s, when "thicker" women started clothing lines to make them look more flattering. Doesn't change the fact that they could lose a few pounds, but at least they can have more self-respect when going outside.

This movie is about a shallow asshole named "Hal," (who wasn't much of a prize himself) who would only date beautiful women because he thought he was entitled to it. Not all men then [or now] are like that. Some actually do want a girl who actually loves them for who they are, but that can be as hard to find as women trying to find a guy who will commit to a relationship.

Based on how fast inflation is going, 29K is probably 80K-100K these days. Believe it or not, at present, your average certified trade school person earns a minimum of 30K a year, and can live comfortably, though not an extravagant middle-class lifestyle. Pair them with a spouse who earns the same or more, and you've got a family that can live a very comfortable upper-middle-class lifestyle and maybe go on vacation once or twice a year.

(If someone is a financial expert, please help me on the last one if I'm wrong).

Hollywood lecturing men.

But is pragmatic enough to know that hiring a actual fat woman and filming her for the majority of the movie would hurt ticket sales.

Hypocrisy at it's finest.

It was shocking to see women that obese back then..I left the country in 2000 and didn't come back until 2013..my friends warned me that people were a lot fatter but I shrugged it off, thinking it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Within a week of coming back to the U.S. I was in a restaurant and the 2 people serving customers were about 275 lbs each. I remember putting my magazine down, looking around seeing if I was on a candid camera type show.

It still took me a while to realize that people started packing on at least 5 lbs a year until they were just obese or morbidly obese and that's just the way it is, the complete destruction of a society.

First of all this is a comedy and a lot of this is silliness.

1. What do you mean by stigma? By my guess from knowing the guys at work and being on the "radio" with them a lot at the time at least a third of them liked heavy women, perhaps not that heavy but most men like most women prefer thinness in the opposite sex. We only had one woman working with us. She was hot and the funny guy got her.

2. I think both sexes feel pressured to get the best they can get both looks and compatibility wise. Is it any different today?

3. Considering that Charlie Sheen's character in Wallstreet complains about only getting paid $55,000 back in 1987 then yeah 29k per year was and is definitely poverty wages "back" in 2001 and his being proud of it lends to the comedy part this movie is. Notice Hollywood and television like to make fun of every job people do. Wages stagnated after the 90s and society hasn't improved since, thanks to Bush and the wars.

* Was there that much obesity stigma surrounding a woman of Rosemary's size in 2001? would seeing someone of that size be shocking back then?

There still is stigma surrounding bigger people.
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* Did average looking men feel entitled to date a beautiful woman and settle for no less?

No..Hal Was Brainwashed by his father on his death bed to be shallow
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* One of the characters mentioned he made ''29K per year'' and seemed proud of that. Was this considered a good salary back in 2001. Enough to impress a woman? that just seems like poverty level wages by today's standards.

It was part Joke, Part realistic. I will tell you that 29k a year in 2001 was Leaps and bounds better than 29k per year today

"* Did average looking men feel entitled to date a beautiful woman and settle for no less?"

Then as now, average men felt entitled to date beautiful women, and got angry at the world when it didn't happen.

" One of the characters mentioned he made ''29K per year'' and seemed proud of that. Was this considered a good salary back in 2001."

No, that was a shitty wage, unless he lived in the middle of flyover nowhere where the cost of living was really low, or he lived with his parents and didn't pay rent. At least where I lived, 29K a year meant you weren't earning minimum wage, but it was barely enough for a single person to live on. At maybe 50K a year you could afford a few luxuries, at 100K you were doing well.

29K is poverty level in Brandon's America, for sure.

1. Yep. Back then, the body positive movement wasn't around for obesity. It seems like people are bigger today but the stigma isn't as big. (No pun intended).

2. Average people of both sexes are trying to get the hot date. It may be different today, but that's probably due to trends and fashion.

3. $29k was a good average wage for a single guy back then. But, it wasn't anything to be bragging about.