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Rating: Image is everything. Aestheticism, or in much simpler terms, outward beauty, represents a must of modern culture, which demands slender lines and sculpted, sensual bodies. The standardization of beauty, which for years has corresponded to fashion and television contest canons, requires height, slenderness, and elegance. I've never tolerated the Miss Italia standards, which among others require a minimum height, and I despaired, thinking of the wonderful girls under one meter sixty who could have swept the obscene world stages with their femininity. The series Nip/Tuck teaches the insecurity of the average American, but not only that, who continuously resorts to aesthetic modifications to feel better in society, which, as I said, demands perfect (or standard) curves, youth, and style.
Thus, the Farrelly brothers, who have been amusing themselves for some years by mocking the weaknesses of the society we live in (the thread of Americanism overflows worldwide), in a carefree and slightly vulgar manner, try again to convey the "behind the scenes" message of people.
As in "There's Something About Mary," also in "Shallow Hal," there's a great emphasis on what isn't seen, what escapes notice but should truly matter in a relationship. Instead, in a spectacle of display, the eye is the first organ that must be satisfied. But it's not just about eyes. Once, in times of war, it was said "fatness is beauty," meaning fat is well-being. Even today, established aesthetic canons are pursued, in a sort of flattening dictated by current fashion and established measures. A sort of worrying silent Neo-Nazism that entails the pursuit of an "Aryan" race made of beautiful, perfect people, and as the intimate Jacksonian terror taught us with the standards of the French nose and white skin at all costs. Or for millions of women eager to have plastic breasts, and so on.
In their cinematic expressions, the Farrellys are usually coarse and irreverent, vulgar, and mockers of human weaknesses, in a word "outside Hollywood canon (but not too much)." Their style is sharp, and their accusation of the system is always masked by comedic oddities of seemingly low value. But in "Shallow Hal" there is a sort of unexpected delicacy that leaves one speechless. The starting point is, based on the concept of American possession, the promise of a child to his dying father never to end up with a woman who isn't beautiful. Behind this absurd superficiality, the directors' project starts, attempting to demonstrate throughout the film the triviality of the starting standard, beauty, against the real necessity of man who seeks a fulfilling relationship to complete himself. Not just the display of a trophy.
It doesn't matter how the film ends if Jack Black's brain gets activated or not, if everyone will be happy or unhappy, if everyone will learn the lesson. The comedy remains silly and predictable, but unexpectedly delicate and allows for some good reflection. Plus, and it never hurts the eyes, an impressive handful of beautiful girls.
Paltrow fitting. The thin and beautiful actress recounts that during filming, having to undergo 4 hours of makeup to be fattened up and then walk around the studios in costume, many crew members didn't recognize her and she noticed that no one would cross her gaze anymore due to her new appearance.
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