Screenings: February 28, 6:30pm (Cam 12); February 29, 9:30pm (Cam 12); March 2, 1:30pm (Cam 12)
The opening scenes of “Disfigured” ring so true that they feel like a documentary. It quickly becomes clear that this is not, in fact, a documentary — but it often feels as if it were.
“Disfigured” tells the story of two women: Lydia, a fat woman trying to maintain her identity as a human and struggling with body image while living in appearance-obsessed Venice Beach, and Darcy, a recovering anorexic struggling with body image from the other side of the coin. The two meet when Darcy tries to join a fat acceptance group Lydia is in (after all, Darcy sees herself as horribly fat, so shouldn’t fat acceptance be helpful?). The group rejects Darcy, but Lydia protests and the two women wind up cautiously becoming friends. Their experiences as women struggling with food and weight issues are very different, yet on the same wavelength, and the deeper their friendship gets, the more clear that becomes — especially when Lydia, desperate to lose weight, asks Darcy for anorexia lessons. As Darcy leads Lydia into her world, both women find themselves changing.
This is a film about issues for which there are no easy solutions, which is why it is an important movie to see. The writing, direction, and acting are all very good in that invisible way that lets you simply enter the world of the film and ride along with these two amazing women as their lives are irrevocably changed. The world needs more movies like this one.
Official Site: http://www.disfiguredmovie.com/