This Movie Will Change How You Think About The Word "Fat"

Lindsey Averill and Viri Lieberman say Fattitude is for everyone.

Meet Lindsey Averill and Viri Lieberman.

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They're two filmmakers on a quest to expose the truth about fat prejudice, the fatphobic and often contradicting messages about health and beauty in the mainstream media, and the path past such images towards accepting yourself and others.

Currently, they're in post-production for their film Fattitude, which includes interviews with body image activists, media figures, health professionals, and more.

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(And that's just a tiny fraction of them.)

Fat prejudice and body acceptance aren't issues affecting only people over a certain size — they are also relevant, as Averill and Lieberman say, to "anyone who hates his or her body or anyone who may someday become fat."

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Averill and Lieberman argue that the construct of "fat" as "bad" is so pervasive, it negatively impacts even the lives of people whose bodies are represented as acceptable in popular media.

"The thing about fat-shaming and fat-hatred is that it's everywhere," Averill tells BuzzFeed Life.

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Ads like the above, for example, are all too common.

"People living in fat bodies experience a day to day existence that is plagued by not only hatred and mistreatment," she says, "but also legitimate injustice like lower pay, fewer jobs, and sub-par healthcare."

"It becomes problematic when we wrap the term 'fat' with negative connotations," Lieberman says. "Fat is in the flesh of our bodies."

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And yet, she says, "Fat as enemy is so embedded in our lives, anything associated with this simple descriptor term has literally become an insult."

"In addition to fat people's suffering, people living in thin bodies are riddled and stymied by their fear of fatness," says Averill.

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"The fear of fat has become our greatest distraction and waste of energy," Lieberman explains to BuzzFeed Life. "Can you imagine if you shifted the time you spent thinking negatively about your body to doing something positive for you and others?"

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Averill and Lieberman hope to finish post-production in time to submit to 2016 film festivals, but that's dependent on funds raised through their Independent Filmmaker Project fiscal sponsorship page. Donations are tax deductible, and there are giveaways.

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Once Fattitude is finished, Averill and Lieberman expect to release it in theaters, on DVD, and via streaming services.

"It's time to stop casting fat as an abomination," says Averill. "It's wrong and cruel, and it's hurting our whole culture."

Sound good to you? You can watch the full Fattitude trailer below, and keep up with bonus clips and other news via the film's Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages.

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Hooray!

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