Of Gloops and Goldbergs: An Analysis of Fat Boys and Class in United States Children’s Films with Ensemble Casts

Abstract

HILDREN'S FILMS WITH ENSEMBLE CASTS ARE RIFE WITHstereotypes, pushing characters into formulaic, predictable roles. A character frequently seen within ensemble casts in children's films is the fat kid. The presence of overweight and obese children in ensemble films is well established, dating back at least to the 1920s with Joe Cobb, Chubby Chaney, and the iconic Spanky from Our Gang, yet, research on the fat kid role is limited in the growing area of fat studies scholarship. The overweight and obese child population has risen steadily for more than a decade, with recent data showing 18.5 percent obesity prevalence among the United States youth in 2015-16 (Hales et al.). Unsurprisingly, over 90 percent of adults believe childhood obesity in the United States is a serious social problem (Panagopoulos). Antifat biases are common and reflect notions of fatness resulting from lack of personal control or engaging in excessive behaviors, fatness as tragedy, and fatness as detrimental to health (Crandall and Biernat).Income inequality in the United States has escalated since the 1980s, now rivaling the economic disparities preceding the Great Depression (Zucman). With this stratification comes increased attention to socioeconomic class and associated biases. Enduring stereotypes and master narratives that lower-income people lack motivation or the ability to work hard persist and reflect conservative partisan politics (Cozzarelli et al.; Dunn; Lichter and Crowley). People who identify with the middle class more frequently attribute poverty to