Trailers are misleading and if you feel a bias towards an actor or the premise it is easy to take the path of most resistance. I was wrong about Blockers, which was great! I’m always happy when a film that I think is going to reinforce negative tropes really subverts them. That kind of surprise is better than any think-piece rant and something I’m beyond glad to be wrong about. This might be the case with Amy Schumer’s newest film I Feel Pretty.
The trailer of I Feel Pretty was filled with jokes that were at the main character’s expense. Yet, according to an interview Schumer did with Vulture, that is not the actual movie.
Schumer explains that she feels a lot of the feedback about the trailer is a projection of the audience filling in their own assumptions about the type of “pretty” Schumer’s character Renee feels about herself.
There’s been a lot of projection. I heard a lot of, “She doesn’t have a right to feel bad about herself because she looks however she looks.” But first off, it’s not about an ugly troll becoming beautiful, it’s about a woman who has low self-esteem finding some. Everyone’s got a right to feel that feeling, regardless of their appearance. We all struggle with self-esteem. I certainly have. Your friends who you think are so beautiful, they could be struggling too. You want them to see themselves the way you see them, but it’s not our place to say who should be allowed to have low self-esteem.
Schumer then goes on to say that Renee does not view her beauty as being “skinny” she sees herself and in awe of who she is: “I’m just seeing my same self and perceiving my body as beautiful. She doesn’t say, “I’m so thin!” She just says that she’s amazed by her jawline, and her boobs, and her ass. If anything, that sounds like a more voluptuous woman to me.”
Now, I will be perfectly frank, I’m not a fan of Amy Schumer and her track record in terms of bringing her good intentions to the screen is very mixed. It is easy for me to watch a trailer like I Feel Pretty and see the worst in it, especially when it seems to highlight the most stereotypical viewing of the film’s potential. Still, just like Blockers, if the movie ends up being truly hilarious and also super thoughtful at the same time that’ll be a win for everyone.
The interviewer and Schumer both say that the film isn’t making fun of Renee and hopefully, it isn’t, but maybe we need to sit the people down who are making the trailers for these potentially thoughtful comedies, raunchy or otherwise, and teach them to not go for the easiest jokes.
Will you be checking out I Feel Pretty?
(via, image: Mark Schfer/Courtesy of STXfilms)
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