The lastest Eddie Murphy movie, "Norbit," has over-the-top characters and is riddled with tasteless fat jokes. It can be taken as offensive and fails to deliver humor.
If you enjoyed the characters portrayed by Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor, you may also enjoy Norbit, his latest movie release. However, one of the main characters Murphy portrays in Norbit is an overweight woman named Rasputia. Rasputia is a dominating, manly, opinionated, loud, obnoxious, annoying, shrill and poorly-dressed obese woman.
In the story, Rasputia saves Norbit from playground bullies and makes him her boyfriend. Years later she is still dominating him. They are married, but when she is caught cheating on him, she tells him it never happened and threatens him. She is a controlling hypocrite.
I found myself hating this character (and the movie). Maybe Murphy was trying to show the extremes of the abuse he had to endure before he could really appreciate being with a woman he truly cared for, but I feel this character is over-the-top and portrays overweight people in a bad light. It is offensive and I failed to see the humor in it.
My problem with the Rasputia character is how over-the-top she really is. Unlike most overweight people, she is filled with self-confidence. She wears loud patterns, tight clothes, "sexy" outfits and – worst of all – a two-piece swimsuit. When going through the gate to a water park, she is questioned whether she is even wearing bottoms. She has to hoist up her stomach for him to see that her own body has completely covered them. She proceeds to break the front entrance due to her size, rip on the other woman for being too skinny and fly through a wooden gate after ignoring the weight limit on the waterslide and zooming down the slide at lightning speed.
Norbit is a movie that elicits laughter at the expense of obese people. The Rasputia character is based on prejudice towards obese women and taken to an extreme. And of course, Norbit (despite being a dorky man with a lisp and not much going for him in life) ends up with the skinny, pretty girl.
Although Eddie Murphy plays several characters in Norbit, which is normally seen as one of his strengths as an actor, he fails with this movie because of the stereotyped characters that he takes a few steps too far.
The copyright of the article Norbit Offensive to Obese People in Weight Loss is owned by Tracy Rose. Permission to republish Norbit Offensive to Obese People in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
I agree with you Tracy - I thought the treatment of the weight issue in
this movie was in poor taste.
Additionally I was amazed that it
was only rated PG. This was not one of Eddie Murphy's best moments.
Feb 20, 2007 7:16 AM
Tracy Rose :
Maire, Thanks for the comment. I think just about anyone would find
parts of "Norbit" offensive. It may have showcased a range of his
talents, but it sure didn't show good taste.
Apr 17, 2007 11:32 AM
Tamara Derouen :
Being someone who has a few extra pounds, I didn't find Murphy's depiction
of a fat woman in Norbit offensive. The practice of thin people putting on
fat suits in movies and television won't go away. It wasn't a big deal when
Mike Myers put one on for the Austin Powers movies, Gweenth Paltrow in
Shallow Hal, and the list goes on.
Apr 17, 2007 1:34 PM
Tracy Rose :
I'm glad to hear that your weren't offended by Norbit.
I carry
extra weight and saw the movie with an overweight friend and it was very
uncomfrotable for us. I think it was done in very poor taste. There is al
so usually a lesson learned in movies where the fat suits are used, where
in Norbit, the ovwerweight woman is left behind while the man moves on with
the thin, pretty girl. Just my opinion though.
Dec 28, 2007 10:16 PM
danni :
actually i disagree with all of you, i'm over weight too, but hey that was
my poor choice, this movie showed me i want to lose weight, heck i'll be
honest i am as big as her. i lost 78 pounds because it truely made me see
that i was big. so thanks eddie. and for all you, quit hating on this
movie... i'm over 260 and i was cracking up. DID EDDIE RIGHT THIS MOVIE?!
no.
Oct 15, 2008 7:58 AM
Guest :
Without the obesity there was no movie. But even WITH it this was a crappy
movie. Really shortchanged us on the "special effects:" for
instance, we didn't see Rasputia slide into the water, we didn't see the
water splashing, just a closeup of a gallon or two showering a little
(white) girl. Speaking of white, all the physically abused characters were
white: the guy at the wedding who got punched in the face (only seen from
the back of his head, however, so no stunt fighting was necessary) for
hushing the muscled guy (who overacted to the extreme); the white guy who
was told "Pay for your sins, White Man," as he put money in the
collection plate (was he a slaveowner, you racist producers?), an old lady
who was tossed across the park by Ms. Biggie, and another businessman
beaten with a rake. The only black businessperson was left alone during the
fight. I'll never watch Eddie Murphy again. a discriminating viewer
Dec 9, 2008 8:20 PM
Guest :
I think that the movie was kind of funny. I also feel like if you were to
disect the movie and find qualms... i think you should consider ALL aspects
of it. The humor was drawn from many aspects-- one of which was her
obesity. However, you fail to talk about the portrayal of being
"black". The stereotypes that they are portraying more heavily in
the movie is not of an obese woman, they are of a black woman. Also,
Rasputia doesn't loose her husband to the skinny pretty girl because she is
pretty and skinny. Rasputia looses her husband to the pretty skinny girl
cuz she has an affair with the aerobics teacher and has a horrible
attitude. Also you cant forget the fact that they got married dispite of
her weight AND norbit was in love with the girl from childhood.
Feb 14, 2007
