Colin Farrell left audiences in awe when he first adorned the persona of the Penguin in The Batman. Since then, his miniseries has only increased his ability to impress. As each episode comes out, fans stand by and watch him give the performance of a lifetime, embodying the character even though he looks nothing like him in real life.
However, no matter how fast an actor tries to run, backlash and controversy are always faster. As the series is coming to a close, Farrell has begun to get criticized for his use of a fatsuit. Not only this, but the approach taken by DC for portraying Penguin has started a bigger conversation about Hollywood and its image of plus-sized people.
Hollywood’s Aversion Towards Plus-Sized People
In the past decade, representation of all groups has become quite a focal point for Hollywood. As the world changes, more and more diversity is being shown on screen to mirror real life. This is not isolated to race, as people of all sexualities, genders, and neurological backgrounds have started to see themselves in characters like them.
However, there is one part of representation that is still falling behind: body types. Although awareness about eating disorders and the impact that fat shaming can have on people has begun to grow, the same amount of sensitivity is not used when they are on screen.
Still being used to as the butt of a joke or their entire personalities being about their weight, they are still portrayed as two-dimensional characters that are not able to be seen outside of their weight.
With this, there has also been a rise in conversation surrounding the use of fatsuits in the industry. Most recently, Colin Farrell, who is known for being fit, wore a fatsuit when playing the role of Oswald Cobb in The Penguin. This has caused a stir among fans as they try to understand why Hollywood continues to disappoint plus-sized people.
Colin Farrell’s Penguin Highlights a Bigger Problem
Recently, the conversation surrounding Colin Farrell’s portrayal of Oswald Cobb has become quite negative on Threads. One fan specifically pointed out that fat people are rarely seen in the industry, with actors who are plus-sized rarely being seen in serious roles.
They specifically pointed out that in the superhero genre, fat people are rarely seen in protagonistic roles, either not being there at all, being there for sympathy’s sake, or being the villains. While some might disagree that superheroes need to be “fit” in order to be super, one fan argued that one does not need to be fit if they have superpowers.
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Despite the genre dominating the industry for almost two decades now, its representation seems to turn a blind eye when it comes to body types.
Chris Hemsworth in Avengers: Endgame is the only example of a sliver of representation, that too with him being the butt of many fat jokes.
Farrell’s series did not focus on the body type of its protagonist. However, the fact that it needed to hire a fit actor and make them look fat instead of getting someone who would fit the role better seems to be rubbing fans the wrong way.
