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"To The Bone" (Noxon 2017) Case Study
Today's discussion focuses on Marti Noxon's To The Bone (2017) which tells the harrowing story of twenty-year-old Ellen (played by Lily Collins) who struggles with anorexia amidst a challenging family dynamic that aggravates her feelings of helplessness and lack of control. As one of the more recent cultural portrayals of EDs, I discuss how this film is problematic by employing film critic Laura Mulvey's understanding of fetishistic scopophilia.
Bibliography (show notes):
Anorexia Nervosa. 28 Feb. 2018, www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/by-eating-disorder/anorexia.
Bahr, Lindsey. “'To the Bone' Walks Fine Line of Depicting Eating Disorders.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 12 July 2017, apnews.com/article/0e2dd724949145c180569ee624245a97.
Boker, Pamela A. “‘How Can He Be so Nothungry?": Fetishism, Anorexia, and the Disavowal of the Cultural ‘I’ in ‘Light in August.’” Faulkner Journal, vol. 7, no. 1/2, 1991, pp. 175–191. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24907643. Accessed 2 Nov. 2020.
Chu, Paige. “Illness as Aesthetic.” The Varsity, 3 Sept. 2018, thevarsity.ca/2018/09/03/illness-as-aesthetic/.
Gilbert, Sophie. “'To the Bone' and the Trouble With Anorexia on Film.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 19 July 2017, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/07/to-the-bone-review-netflix/533517/.
Haynes, Todd, director. Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. Youtube, 1988, www.youtube.com/watch?v=H13d1nOorJM.
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, edited by Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, 8th ed., Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 620-631.
Noxon, Marti, director. To The Bone. Netflix, 2017, www.netflix.com/watch/80171659?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2C6ee4505264385b3738adfe32df0c1a8d3c45383d%3A8e7e3c6ff0af3bd21e67ad63ece30c9f8a91ce3e%2C6ee4505264385b3738adfe32df0c1a8d3c45383d%3A8e7e3c6ff0af3bd21e67ad63ece30c9f8a91ce3e%2Cunknown%2C.
Schmidt, Randy. Karen Carpenter: Starved of Love, by Randy Schmidt | Extract. 23 Oct. 2010, www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/24/karen-carpenter-anorexia-book-extract.
Tyson, Maggie. “The Modern Glamorization Of Eating Disorders.” HealthyWay, 3 Aug. 2018, www.healthyway.com/content/the-modern-glamorization-of-eating-disorders/.
Waldman, Katy. “We Need to Reject the False Narratives Around Anorexia. I Can Start by Telling My Story.” Slate Magazine, 7 Dec. 2015, www.slate.com/articles/double_x/cover_story/2015/12/we_need_to_reject_the_false_narratives_around_anorexia.html.
Williams, Linda. “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess.” Film Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 4, 1991, pp. 2–13. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1212758. Accessed 3 Nov. 2020.
Woolley, Dawn. “The Dissecting Gaze: Fashioned Bodies on Social Networking Sites.” Leeds Arts University Repository, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 23 July 2020, lau.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/17666/.
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By Kiera RussoToday's discussion focuses on Marti Noxon's To The Bone (2017) which tells the harrowing story of twenty-year-old Ellen (played by Lily Collins) who struggles with anorexia amidst a challenging family dynamic that aggravates her feelings of helplessness and lack of control. As one of the more recent cultural portrayals of EDs, I discuss how this film is problematic by employing film critic Laura Mulvey's understanding of fetishistic scopophilia.
Bibliography (show notes):
Anorexia Nervosa. 28 Feb. 2018, www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/by-eating-disorder/anorexia.
Bahr, Lindsey. “'To the Bone' Walks Fine Line of Depicting Eating Disorders.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 12 July 2017, apnews.com/article/0e2dd724949145c180569ee624245a97.
Boker, Pamela A. “‘How Can He Be so Nothungry?": Fetishism, Anorexia, and the Disavowal of the Cultural ‘I’ in ‘Light in August.’” Faulkner Journal, vol. 7, no. 1/2, 1991, pp. 175–191. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24907643. Accessed 2 Nov. 2020.
Chu, Paige. “Illness as Aesthetic.” The Varsity, 3 Sept. 2018, thevarsity.ca/2018/09/03/illness-as-aesthetic/.
Gilbert, Sophie. “'To the Bone' and the Trouble With Anorexia on Film.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 19 July 2017, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/07/to-the-bone-review-netflix/533517/.
Haynes, Todd, director. Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. Youtube, 1988, www.youtube.com/watch?v=H13d1nOorJM.
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, edited by Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, 8th ed., Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 620-631.
Noxon, Marti, director. To The Bone. Netflix, 2017, www.netflix.com/watch/80171659?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2C6ee4505264385b3738adfe32df0c1a8d3c45383d%3A8e7e3c6ff0af3bd21e67ad63ece30c9f8a91ce3e%2C6ee4505264385b3738adfe32df0c1a8d3c45383d%3A8e7e3c6ff0af3bd21e67ad63ece30c9f8a91ce3e%2Cunknown%2C.
Schmidt, Randy. Karen Carpenter: Starved of Love, by Randy Schmidt | Extract. 23 Oct. 2010, www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/24/karen-carpenter-anorexia-book-extract.
Tyson, Maggie. “The Modern Glamorization Of Eating Disorders.” HealthyWay, 3 Aug. 2018, www.healthyway.com/content/the-modern-glamorization-of-eating-disorders/.
Waldman, Katy. “We Need to Reject the False Narratives Around Anorexia. I Can Start by Telling My Story.” Slate Magazine, 7 Dec. 2015, www.slate.com/articles/double_x/cover_story/2015/12/we_need_to_reject_the_false_narratives_around_anorexia.html.
Williams, Linda. “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess.” Film Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 4, 1991, pp. 2–13. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1212758. Accessed 3 Nov. 2020.
Woolley, Dawn. “The Dissecting Gaze: Fashioned Bodies on Social Networking Sites.” Leeds Arts University Repository, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 23 July 2020, lau.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/17666/.