On February 5th, Rex Reed wrote a review of the movie “Identity Thief”, which stars Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. Though it’s a relatively short piece, he spends a lot of time, and I mean A LOT, referring to Melissa McCarthy’s size. (Click on the link to read the entire review.) Here are a list of his references to Ms. McCarthy:
1) “cacophonous, tractor-sized Melissa McCarthy”.
2) “screeching, humongous creep”.
3) “Mr. Bateman and his female hippo”.
4) “Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) is a gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success”.
I’m not an expert, but I don’t think her body size or shape really contributes or detracts from a well-written or directed film (and according to Mr. Reed, this picture is neither one.) I’ve written about this before (see this blog entry from a few months back), so I’m sure all six of my readers know how I feel about this. I enjoy Ms. McCarthy’s work all over the place, and I think she is genuinely funny and talented. As Jon Stewart said on “The Daily Show” a couple of days ago, (and I’m paraphrasing) it’s nice to see such a good person work hard and achieve success.
So Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, scoot down on the bench and make room for another BFF around the Castle. I like this girl. I’d love to have a beer or coffee with her. I’d love to talk to her about her career and how her lack of conformity to the Hollywood norm has impacted her, if at all. I’d chat about husbands, kids, work, and how you balance it all without stabbing a fork into anyone or setting a record for most swear-words yelled in one breath (I’m looking at you, Casey the Incontinent Springer).
And, yes, I’ll say it. Rex Reed is a dick.
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Now you’ve done it! Dusting off the ol’ soap box and will be stepping up with my thoughts on my blog. His review is a classic example of a person’s need to insult others in order to feel superior, which makes him slimier than a maggot-infested spawn of a slug.
Ooh, I approve of your use of ‘maggot’ in a sentence. A+!!
Thanks darlin’. Maybe I should include my comment here on my blog, which has now been published. I do have ‘editing’ power!
Excellent idea! And thanks for the shout-out, too!
okay. I can’t even… it’s…. *speechless*
please include me in your drinks date with MM. love that gal!
Of course you’re invited. As soon as Amy and Tina get back to me, we’ll plan a BFF Par-tay!
Update: skipped Rex’s review, but read the comments. I believe Mr. Reed has been suitably, figuratively eviscerated : )
I skimmed a couple, and I also saw the post on the Cosmo website, too. My favorites were the ones who thought he’d been dead for years.
[...] morning, I read a blog from my friend Julie and she got me all fired up. Seems she ran across a review on the New York Observer written by Rex [...]
I’m posting my same reply from Ginger’s awesome blog about this here as well! This pisses me off on two different levels. First, for all the reasons you detailed here. Also I’d just like to add that the reviewer calls McCarthy’s career “short.” Um, check her IMDB. She’s been in the business for over a decade and has been on not one but TWO hit TV shows. Second, my real anger actually goes above this guy’s head. It goes to the producers of this movie (disclaimer: I haven’t seen it). The character McCarthy plays is “crass” and “loud-mouthed” – and I’m sure that the producers never considered Sandra Bullock or Cameron Diaz or Reese Witherspoon for this role. They went straight to the “fat” actress, because when a “fat” actress is loudmouthed, it’s funny, but when a “pretty” actress does it, it’s offensive. That’s why BRIDESMAIDS was so great, because it had six women of all shapes and sizes crapping in a bridal salon and it was hilarious. That’s why GILMORE GIRLS was so awesome because not once in all seven seasons did they ever mention McCarthy’s weight. Those are the women I want to see on screen. Oh, and out of the six producers listed for IDENTITY THIEF, four are men, and it was written and directed by men. That’s the real root of the problem here. We need more women in Hollywood.
A-men. Nicely said, Nicole!