I haven't seen the film yet, but I assume that major themes of it are addiction and self-destruction. You can't explore these themes with most illnesses.

In an interview, Frazier said the movie is about relationships, which is a big part of the movie. What you mention is a definite theme also.

Because that was the plot intended and there are plenty of movies that focus on different disorders? Why are you lost here?

Not lost, as stated, Frazier said the obesity is not the key theme.

He's right. It's the self-destructive attitude line Captain Ahab had in Moby Dick which references are sprinkled about.

Frasier destroyed his relationship with his family due to his partner committing suicide. You also get a redemption arc with the teen going down that same path but in the end he returns home. He does that by listening to the girl.

The character was using food as a coping mechanism in his highly depressed state, I don’t understand this thought that the fact this happens in society shouldn’t be portrayed because it hurts the feelings of overweight people, it’s a stupid take. If it was about another type of addiction, like alcohol or drugs, sure but maybe an addict there would be offended, there’s a possibility anyone affected by events portrayed on film could be offended by it, it’s so silly.

I could not give less of a fuck about people’s feelings when those people call to have someone’s art altered or stopped, that’s where I land on things like this.

That makes sense!

Geez, dude, this is a discussion thread, no need to get nasty! And I am not morbidly obese, so the movie didn’t hurt my feelings. Chill!

pretty much overrated. and the ending is the cringest thing i've ever seen in the last 15 years (and i watch around a film per day).

Not nasty at all, I’m saying how I feel, and it wasn’t necessarily towards you specifically, just the constant bitching I see about this movie existing is exhausting.

It's FRASER ffs!! How can so many get it wrong so often?

Him being obese though is a self destructive and plays into the entire story.. But doesn’t define the story: it’s character building so without that we would lose part of the arc, no? It’s taking an actors words and playing with them literally

Aronofsky hates subtlety (not a bad thing imo) and uses obesity I think because it's easily visualized, there's a built in self destructive component, and it doesn't really need to be explained to the audience how any of it works

It was a creative decision made the playwright who wrote the stage play it is based upon, and also wrote the screenplay. According to The Whale's wikipedia page, "Hunter stated that his reflections on teaching were the initial point of inspiration for The Whale, and that he did not add the obesity aspect until later, as a way of making the teacher have a "distance" from the audience and the other characters."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whale_(play)

> There are multiple diseases that could have been depicted in the movie with the same story line.

What even is the point here?

People are so embarrassed they got it wrong that they are downvoting you.

I wouldn't watch it because I don't like sad movies but everyone I know who's seen it seems to like it

Also don’t forget about the boyfriend’s story arc. It’s mentioned throughout the film that the boyfriend’s lifestyle was rejected by the church and by his family, and that he had stopped eating and gotten very thin before ultimately committing suicide. So Frasier’s character basically eating himself to death contrasted with his boyfriend not eating and wasting away until he died.

It's called "The Whale", not just "Whale".

Why does James Bond have to dress well and drive nice cars?

Thank you for your insightful comment…

Thank you for your insightful comment..

Think about the question you asked and the question I asked.

You might get some insight after all.

I got some wonderful insight from other considerate posters. Not from you.

Probably because you didn't think about the question I asked. How was I not considerate?