Movie News

From Janice Nator:

This is the funniest thing I have ever read! I am still laughing. So cleverly written and sooooooo true! I have e-mailed this story to all my friends and family. Great story.

From L. Straw:

Why is it OK in the minds of most people to comment on people's thinness, but it's not acceptable to comment on people's fatness? That should be a bigger concern than who's too thin. I'm just sick of the media and the double standards -- demanding that we be thin but then mocking us because we are living up to the American standard of beauty. All I can say to the writer of this article is: 'What, are you jealous, fatty?'

From Mirta Tamez:

Let's not forget about Keira Knightley. She reminds me of the paper doll cutouts I used to dress when I was 5. Paper thin, fragile and near transparent.

From Kara Kristian:

Did you not notice the way Jennifer Lopez is holding onto the folds of Marc Anthony's jacket? This is either to prevent the jacket from sliding off his shoulders or to prevent him from getting blown away.

You are so right -- these celebrities do look famished. Have you thought that probably it is because they are eating less so that the rest of the world will have more to
eat?

From Sheilah:

I agree 110 percent. Thanks for including males and females. You could actually add soooooo many more!

From Kelley Hoolihan, San Dimas, Calif.:

I read your comments on "Celebrity Thin" and I was laughing out loud. I really wonder what is going on in Hollywood when actors and actresses have to diet to be so thin for some unattainable goal. I am glad that some of them such as Julianne Moore admit that she is hungry all of the time. One tires of reading that an actress can "eat whatever she wants" and maintain a size 0 physique. It's not possible.

From Erin Tompkins:

I was appalled by your celebrity-bashing write-ups in "Hollywood's Hungriest Stars." Being thin does not automatically mean being hungry: I lost 20 pounds eating four meals a day. It's not necessarily how much you eat, it's what you eat and when. Undereating won't help you lose weight, because when you don't eat enough your body goes into starvation mode and stores anything you do consume as fat.

Even if everyone you criticized was in fact skipping meals, did it ever occur to you it's not as easy as you make it sound to gain the pounds back? Physically, the fewer calories you eat, the smaller your stomach gets and the more painful eating becomes (especially large amounts). Mentally, the thought of "getting fatter" does not appeal to someone who is underweight any more than it does to you or me. In the future, please take your ignorance and lack of sensitivity into account when you write.

From Tomie Orosz:

We need more, many more, stories calling the entertainment industry on its emphasis on THIN. Anorexia should not be admired but recognized as the painful and deadly illness it is. I know of no other mental illness that is so aspired to by others. Talent, honor, intelligence or contributions to our fellow man are rarely recognized, but thinness is glorified daily. I can only beg the forgiveness of our upcoming generation for the values we are teaching them.

From Maggie Gust, Oclala, Fla.:

I couldn't agree more with your article on too-thin celebrities. I see nothing attractive about these men and women. It pains me to see people who are so afraid of food, the sustenance of life. Someone needs to sit down with the producers in Hollywood and explain to them that normal people (i.e., movie audiences) do not find walking skeletons attractive. I think you should have included Billy Bob Thornton in your list.

In 1945, the world was shocked to find walking skeletal people in Nazi concentration camps. Now our society idolizes them as celebrities.

Thank you for not including Paris [Hilton] or Nicole [Richie], who are not actresses or much of anything but usually wind up in any story about Hollywood females.

From Dusty:

I hate the thin look and I blame the media and Hollywood for it! I'm not extremely old and I'm definitely not extremely heavy and would even like to lose a few pounds. I'm 5'2" and weigh 130, but these people look anorexic and terribly ill. Isn't there something that can be done about it? Why can't women look like women and men look like men anymore? They are not sexy or flattering in any way.

When you look back on the REAL movie stars -- Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Jane Russell, Clark Gable, Sean Connery, John Wayne -- it's amazing that actors and actresses have morphed into whatever it is they call themselves these days. They, for the most part, are great actors. They are just not very attractive. When I was younger and we girls had our dreams of being noticed or "dating" a star, it was because we found them attractive, sexy, all those boring things. Now all the young people think of is they want to be with a star (in whatever way) simply because they have a famous name, not because they are really attracted to them. It's sad, really.

From Jill R. Humberger:

Martha Brockenbrough is my FAVORITE journalist!! I enjoy every word she has ever written, and her commentary is always witty and straightforward. Martha, you're my She-ro!! I didn't realize she founded SPOGG, which is a very cool organization for grammar fanatics. I love this woman!

From Kay C.:

With the exception of two ladies, these actresses are not too thin.

You are doing a disservice to the obese American populace, including obese children. The so-called "plus size" is a euphemism for fat people and does not do anything to encourage people to lose weight.

I have always been slim -- not because I am starving myself but because I eat right. I don't snack. I don't eat meat but occasional egg whites, tofu and every vegetable under the sun. I use salad plates, not dinner plates, which I used in the past.

Breakfast is GoLean cereal with fresh fruit and 1 tsp nuts and freshly ground flax seed for the omega-3. Also, half cup soy milk on the side.

Lunch is one sandwich (peanut butter [Adam's] with the oil removed and salad including one carrot and broccoli, no dressing.

At dinner, I have the same salad, with cucumber and squash, and cooked vegetables. If a tofu dish, [then] onion, garlic and stir fry frozen mixed quality vegetables. In addition, I have a salad, as before mentioned. 99 percent of the time, I don't use dressing. Occasional dessert is black cherry Jell-O. I AM NEVER HUNGRY!!!

I hope very much that you publish this message about a lifelong, health-promoting eating habit on your Web site for the good of all the yo-yo dieters and the morbidly obese.

66 years and counting. I weigh a healthy 136 lbs.