Melissa McCarthy Critics – Melissa McCarthy is the star of the new comedy “Identity Thief” but one review from a popular film critic proved that Hollywood is still enforcing a terrible double standard that has movie goers outraged.
Fans of the movie “Bridesmaids” were more than excited to see if Melissa McCarthy could still keep them laughing in her new movie “Identity Thief,” so it’s no wonder they were eager to check out reviews of the new film.
Unfortunately, one film critic decided to spend his time focusing on the actress herself rather than the new movie.
Rex Reed wrote an article about McCarthy in the New York Observer that failed to explain any flaws in the movie but didn’t hesitate to bash McCarthy for being “obese” and “obnoxious.”
“Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) is a gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success,” Reed wrote. “Poor Jason Bateman. How did an actor so charming, talented, attractive, and versatile get stuck in so much dreck?”
Unfortunately, that was probably one of the least offensive insults in the sexist article.
“In the trashy, stupefying screenplay by Craig Mazin, Jason Bateman is a Denver accountant named Sandy Patterson – another in a long line of victims of the increasingly dangerous world of cyber crime – whose credit card has been hacked and copied by a felonious thief in Miami (cacophonous, tractor-sized Melissa McCarthy,” he wrote.
As you can probably already tell, Reed found a problem with the fact that the leading lady of the film wasn’t one of the usual petite actresses that usually land every leading role in Hollywood. He even went on to call Melissa a “female hippo.”
When it comes down to it, there are tons of male actors who are over weight playing the same comedic roles that McCarthy takes on – but none of them come under fire for their bodies. The 42-year-old actress, on the other hand, has somehow had the audacity to be fat and act according to Rex.
For years there has been a double standard for women in the film industry because they are all expected to fit a cookie cutter mold of “beauty” while men are free to get on camera looking however the please.
The uptight film critic was probably trying to push the double standard even more, but fans weren’t interested in hearing anything he had to say after he slammed the comedian with insult after insult.
“Wow, this review is seriously offensive,” one comment underneath the review read. “Calling McCarthy a tractor-sized hippo? Remind me never to read The Observer again.”
Many readers shared the exact same sentiments as their comments revealed they weren’t interested in reading anything from Rex or from The Observer again.
“Rex Reed, what is wrong with you? What benefit is there to attacking Melissa McCarthy personally when you’re supposed to be talking about the quality of the film,” another user wrote. “There are so few people you can count on in this over-saturated industry for true film criticism, and you just ruined any remaining shreds of credibility you had. At least this is one less website I need to visit now.”
While other readers kept it simple and slammed Reed for writing a “horrible, misogynist crapfest of a review,” others actually pointed out this hypocrisy and ignorance.
“Look from what I can tell, you’re calling it like you see it – yes, Melissa McCarthy is overweight and plays obnoxious characters,” another reader commented. “However, I’d like you to look at her male counterparts and ask yourself which of them has ever brought you to such hostility before. Jonah Hill, Seth Rogan, Jason Sudeikis – the list of overweight and unattractive men who are cast in wildly popular comedic roles goes on.”
As many other readers pointed out, Hollywood is perfectly okay with a fat funny man, but a fat funny woman makes critics feel uncomfortable.
What made the role even harder for Hollywood to swallow may have been the fact that in this film McCarthy wasn’t even playing a character who was supposed to go against the grain of femininity like she did in “Bridesmaids.” No, this time her character was a comedic exaggeration of womanhood with a bright pink house, floral prints, and pounds of neon colored makeup.
She was to be an average woman who happened to be a sharp talking, rude identity thief.
While Rex made it clear that he can’t stand a woman any larger than a size 6, we love the fact that tons of female comedians are deciding to do anything other than fit the mold that the movie world created for them.
With two Emmy nominations, one Emmy win and Oscar nomination we’re pretty sure McCarthy is far from being a “gimmick comedian.”
If you want to check out the button pushing, dirty comedy yourself, “Identify Thief” hits theaters today and yes it does indeed show the “Bridesmaids” actress on her worst behavior.
