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The big fat truth

THE WORLD of entertainment is cut throat. It’s superficial and shallow and no amount of pep talk by Oprah or Dr. Phil about the importance of “feeling beautiful on the inside” will ever change that. What meets the eye matters the most in the business of glitz and glamour. Thus when a female celebrity starts packing on pounds, there’s often no shield strong enough to deflect the flurry of criticism that will come her way.

A-listers like Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Tyra Banks and Aishwarya Rai have had to face nasty comments and snide remarks when they lost their slim figures.

But these superstars have not cowered in front of scatching criticism. When unflattering photos of Banks in a swimsuit surfaced on the Internet, she came wearing the exact swimsuit on The Tyra Banks Show and passionately told all her critics to kiss her fat posterior. And when Rai was attacked for putting on weight post-pregnancy, she silenced her detractors at the Cannes Film Festival by looking absolutely stunning in designer wear that complimented her more voluptuous figure.

And recently it’s Lady Gaga who has lashed back at people who have been busy scrutinising her weight gain during her Amsterdam tour. The Born this way star, who has suffered from eating disorders since years, announced on Twitter that she’s “proud at any size”. In fact, Gaga even put pictures of herself in underwear to prove her point.

But one can’t help thinking that this defensive behaviour of the stars is a bit hollow. Months after Tyra Banks defiantly flaunted her rather generous thighs on her show and dedicated a series of episodes to body image, she came out looking much leaner. But it wasn’t all the unforgiving criticism that made her shed weight, the former supermodel explained earnestly; it was because of her newfound love for being healthy. But one cannot really help raising an eyebrow at her unconvincing justifications.

The truth is that appearances matter in the entertainment industry — how you look can make or break your career. And no matter how defensive celebrities are, established notions of body image are still going to persist. So it won’t be much of a shock if a leaner Gaga shows off her body in a few months ‘ time just to be back into the coveted league of skinny celebs.