"To The Bone" is a new film available on Netflix about a young woman who is struggling with an eating disorder. The film follows Ellen, who is a new inpatient at a group home. Before the release of "To The Bone," there were already dozens of articles and comments on social media about how horrible and sick it was for Netflix to be releasing such a film. Many people, when controversial topics are brought up, tend to automatically assume that it is wrong before viewing the material.
I am not an expert when it comes to eating disorders, which is why I am not going to be talking about the correctness of the film. I do know, from reading other articles, that the inpatient care that Ellen and the other residents go through is not how typical treatment goes. I also know that this alone is not a reason to hate on the film, nor is it even a bad thing that the creators decided to change this.
So first off, let's get something straight. In this article, I am going to be talking about certain aspects of the film and how they relate to what some people may call, "glamorization." To glamorize a film means "to make something seem exciting and attractive," and after watching the film, I saw no points in which this occurred.
As an initial point, lets talk about the beginning of the film, before Ellen has been admitted as an inpatient. Some of the things viewers will see are Ellen obsessively counting calories and struggling to eat food.
Something that Ellen says is that she won't throw up, which means viewers will hardly see her eat anything through the entirety of the film. You will also see her struggling and in pain while doing sit-ups for who knows how long. When she goes in to see a doctor, she has chronically bruised her back from the exercise.
With all of the above evidence from the film, everyone involved did their research and to me, none of those things have glorified or glamorized eating disorders. Honestly, can anyone read those things and say, "Yes, that is something that I want to be apart of my life?" My guess is no.
No one wants to be sick, no one ever wants to be hurting. Personally, the people saying that this movie glamorized eating disorders just seems insane to me. How could anyone watch the pain and struggle that these young adults went through and then thought that it looked like fun? If that's you, that may be a whole different problem and it sounds like it might need therapy.
Let's look at another example: Megan. Megan is a young woman already admitted as an inpatient when Ellen arrives. Megan's story is explained and we find out that she is pregnant through the miracle of chance. The child gives Megan the strength to fight her eating disorder and she starts gaining weight; getting healthier. Then one day, everything changed when she lost her baby because of how unhealthy her body was; how it couldn't support a child until conception.
"Glamorize" you say? What part of losing a child you learned to love; a child that helped you fight an illness that was plaguing your life is "exciting or attractive?"
"To the Bone" did not glamorize eating disorders. Some people may disagree but don't discount the lives of people that you weren't living. While living in a house of people just like you, always being around friends and always being supported may seem nice, don't forget what they were all feeling. Of course while watching the film you couldn't feel anything that they did, but to really be in that situation, feeling whatever they were feeling, is not something you want.
A message I want everyone to walk away with is this; just because people are smiling or laughing or dancing; it doesn't mean that their lives are envious. Don't get it into your head that being sick would be easier or that it is something you want. While a healthy life doesn't necessarily mean a happy life, a life of self-hate, pain, and loss is not something to call glamorous.