Alfred Hitchcock on Obesity

Obesity is a serious social epidemic that can be commonly found in people who live in the United States. Alfred Hitchcock is a famous absurd fiction filmmaker in the early 1900’s. He was morbidly obese from his childhood up until he was an adult, who was described as a “brazenly glutinous fat man” ( Greven, 2018, pg.1). His move to Hollywood is believed to have been what caused his rapid weight loss since producers would often make comments about his weight (pg. 1). The way that he empathized with the women in his films was caused by his obesity because he could relate with their struggles with the male gaze (pg.1). Alfred Hitchcock would think that the obesity epidemic was sad and unacceptable because of his relationship with food and his body image.

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Alfred Hitchcock often made light of his appearance despite his hatred for his heavy weight ( McKittrick, 2018, pg.1 ). He was born during the Victorian era when it was socially acceptable to be fat since being thin showed that a person was poor because they couldn’t afford to buy food ( pg, 1 ). Throughout the years, this slowly started to lose its meaning and being fat became a bad thing. This drastic change in society made Alfred very self conscious about his weight. His roles for women in his works portrayed how he felt about his weight. He would represent women in a degrading way in his films which showed people how women truly suffered in those times ( pg.10 ). Some people thought that he would represent women this way in his films for his own misogynistic pleasure but in reality he actually just related to their suffering. “Hitchcock understood cinematic femininity, just as he understood cultural femininity”( pg. 1). Much like women, he was used to being judged for his body. 

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Alfred Hitchcock wasn’t necessarily okay with his weight. He would try to  make an effort to lose weight, but most of the time it would just be a crash and burn diet (Olsson, 2015, P.1). His weight fluctuated drastically throughout his adulthood. He would lose hundreds of pounds just to go back to his original weight, which was nearly 300 pounds ( pg.1 ). Hitchcock would get news articles written about his weight and appearance which not only made him feel worse, but it also made people think that it was ok to also talk about him this way; “In the public genre of gossip columns in the 1940’s and 50’s, it is hard to find similar unflattering inventories of bodily traits in regard to anyone else” (pg. 1). There weren't very many people who were also obese in these times so this made him stand out in a way. 

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Alfred Hitchcock's weight was turned into his signature trademark, which made him stand out as a filmmaker. Although he made light of his appearance, his rapid gain in weight had a sad backstory; “He had a brother who committed suicide in 1942 and shortly after his mother also passed away” (Haeffner, 2016, pg.9 ). His father died during his childhood so he felt alone during these times ( pg.9 ). He ended up gaining hundreds of pounds in a short span of time since he would eat to feel comforted ( McKittrick, 2018, pg.5 ). The only way he found comfort was through food. 

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Eating to feel comfort could fall into the symptoms of a binge eating disorder.  He ultimately lost all hope in losing weight and his weight continued to fluctuate up until his death. He owned many suits that were all the same style, but they were different shades of dark colors, which made people think that he only wore one suit, “Most of his suits were in different sizes because he was prepared in case he lost or gained weight.” (Chandler, 2009, P.2). Although he was never diagnosed with this, Alfred Hitchcock showed many signs of having a binge eating disorder.

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Alfred Hitchcock never planned on being his size, which was overweight. He often fantasized about being fit and what he considered a normal weight ( Chandler, 2005, pg.1). Hitchcock avoided looking in the mirror as much as possible, which shows that he was insecure about his appearance ( pg.1). He often referred  to Cary Grant being his alter ego because of his thin appearance, as well as his successful career, “Hitchcock believed that the reason why he never received an oscar was because he was overweight and didn’t look like a typical thin artist.”( pg.11). He had almost no athletic ability and led a very isolated life, which contributed to his obesity.

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Obesity is a serious health condition that is rising rapidly among citizens of the United States. Alfred Hitchcock was an absurd fiction film maker in the 1900’s, who was also overweight most of his life. Throughout his adulthood, he would envy men who were much thinner than him: “Alfred Hitchcock was embarrassed of his body and dreamed of buying clothes straight off of the rack rather than having it custom made because of his size” (Chandler, 2005, P.1). All of these factors could contribute to how, if he knew about the obesity epidemic, he would think that it was unacceptable.