Body Shots: Hollywood and the Culture of Eating Disorders

“Body Shots tackles a variety of themes over its seven well-written chapters, including emotional identification with celebrities and their bodies, the ideology of fitness, teen films, makeover beauty culture, filmic treatment of large-sized women and a look at how some independent films are providing alternative body narratives for women. The author deftly weaves together psychological research, the voices of her students and patients, literary and film criticism, psychoanalysis, and political and economic perspectives into a coherent, sophisticated, compelling account.” – New England Psychologist

“This book … brings a unique perspective, in that Fox-Kales weaves abundant examples from contemporary movies with the compelling stories she has heard from her patients … The author’s vast experiences and knowledge in the treatment of eating disorders and her patients’ attempts to meet cultural expectations are well documented.” – Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences

“…an energetic, provocative invitation to witness the problematic effects everyday movies can have on the lives of girls and women … Fox-Kales’ unexpected, witty turns-of-phrase carry the reader effortlessly through a series of chapters that provide thought-provoking examples of Hollywood’s messages.” – Psychology of Women Quarterly

“…the study delivers rich material for a critical history of normalization. It exposes a dominating body uniformity and corporeal political correctness, revealing a culture of lookism and weightism.” – idrottsforum.org

“…a thought-provoking, insightful, and well-written critique of Hollywood film and its impact on societal attitudes and beliefs about food, beauty, and weight … This book may be a worthwhile teaching tool in undergraduate or graduate courses that explore theories related to sociocultural or media influences.” – Sex Roles

“The premise of Body Shots-that celebrity culture and its relentless focus on movie-star physiques have undue influence on real women’s views of their own physical selves-seems ripe for a gigantic, ‘Well, duh!’ But author Emily Fox-Kales makes this exploration interesting … Body Shots is eminently readable.” – Bitch

“In this aptly titled book, Fox-Kales offers a trenchant examination of Hollywood’s obsession with the bodies of young women … Packed with frame blowups and arresting arguments, this is a passionate, informed book, ideal for those interested in women’s studies and in study of the moving image.” – CHOICE

“Body Shots is a wake-up call to girls and women everywhere. Fox-Kales’ savvy analysis of filmic and other media representations of the female body in contemporary culture is riveting and utterly persuasive. Every woman, whether suffering from a disordered body image or not, will be compelled to reexamine the way she views her own body and her satisfaction or dissatisfaction with it in the light of this powerful and life-changing book.” – Madelon Sprengnether, author of Crying at the Movies: A Film Memoir

“In this essential book, Emily Fox-Kales takes on our ‘diet culture run amok’ and the way movies both reflect and reinforce America’s unhealthy and unethical ideas about weight. She shows how, in film after film, teenage girls, her patients for many years, fall under the spell of pencil-thin celebrities and makeover movies. The consequences are disastrous. Fox-Kales’ book spans psychology, cinema theory, and cultural studies. She has written a must read for anyone concerned with teenagers: psychologists, parents, or just concerned citizens.” – Norman N. Holland, author of Meeting Movies

“Body Shots is an engaging and fascinating exploration of the connection between Hollywood’s dream-factory and our eating disordered culture that is derived from Emily Fox-Kales’ vast experience and expertise in the treatment of eating disorders.” – J

Emily Fox-Kales is Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University, and Academic Specialist in the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at Northeastern University where she teaches film and psychology. She is also Clinical Associate at McLean Hospital/Harvard University and Executive Director of the Feeding Ourselves Program.