this film has a lot more to offer than just a fat girl on a diet!
When we saw the trailer of “Brittany Runs a Marathon” at first, we thought: That’s not the kind of movie we need. A film that deals with how a fat person looses weight and is much happier afterwards. Hello, have you ever heard of #bodypositivity? But when we watched the movie, our opinion suddenly changed. Because “Brittany Runs a Marathon” is about much more than that.
All her life Brittany is judged by her looks. Just because she has a little more weight to carry, people think she’s lazy and unambitious. So Brittany starts to believe them and develops a very low self-esteem. She doesn’t understand why people want to be friends with her, lets herself be treated like dirt by the few friends she does have, because she doesn’t think that she deserves it any other way.
Until one day she goes to the doctor. Secretly, she only wants to get drugs for the next party, but the doctor is on to her game. And we didn’t quite like what comes next, because some curvy women know this problem: You go to the doctor because you have a sore throat or ear ache or cough and in the end it’s always somehow due to your overweight! But back to Brittany – the doctor recommends Brittany to lose weight because her BMI is too high. Brittany takes this criticism to heart and so she starts to run. At first only once around the block. But soon she becomes a member of a small running group that inspires each other to keep going. The goal: to participate in the New York Marathon.
Brittany looses more and more weight – and in fact she seems to become more and more satisfied with herself and her life. Men seem to pay more attention to her and in the subway doors are held up for her. Until the turning point comes and she suddenly begins to gain weight again. Unbelievably frustrated, she starts running several times a day. Obsessively she tries to lose weight until she gets injured and the doctor tells her to spare her leg for several weeks – even the marathon for which she trained so hard, she is not allowed to run. Brittany sinks into another low. Her friends try to help her, but Brittany doesn’t understand that this help is a sign of friendship. She takes it as pity and pushes her friends away.
At the end we learn from “Brittany Runs a Marathon” that our mental health is at least as important as our physical health. Because Brittany also notices that she has to work less on her body and more on her attitude. But we don’t want to reveal too much! “Brittany Runs a Marathon” is a really sweet movie, with likeable characters – definitely worth seeing.
