Now Jennifer Aniston's doing it...

 

Again, mixed feelings here.

Actress Jennifer Aniston is getting attention for her physical transformation in her upcoming film, “Cake.”

“…I basically just didn’t work out for two and a half months. I stopped working out and I stopped being as careful with my diet as I normally am…”

Aniston, of course, it not the first actor to embark on the extreme transformation process.

 

Renee Zellweger, Charlize Theron, Tom Hanks and Robert de Niro are just a sampling of actors.

 

And last year, Jared Leto 'stopped eating' for the new film, 'Dallas Buyers Club.' He lost 30 to 40 pounds for his role as a transsexual living with HIV in the 1980s.

 

And, for that role, critics praised Leto, calling him "simply wonderful ..."

 

And that’s where I find myself disturbed as I wonder if, yet again, Aniston will get attention for the physicality. And then we’re left to sift through the fallout of conflicting, unhealthy messages sent from those comments.

 

 

Again, it’s a sore spot with me. I’m concerned about the message it sends, a kind of Machiavellian method, in the name of dedication to the craft, as well as to the image it presents.

As an actor myself, I starved, purged, over-exercised and used a variety of extreme techniques for different auditions and roles. Health was not on my mind; “the “end result,” be it an image or an acting goal of the moment, however, was.

 

I’m sure Aniston, Leto and the other actors out there who have dramatically altered their weights have no intention of conveying harmful messages to those of us struggling with food, weight and body image issues.

However, we do encounter the power of the message all the same. “Triggering” is an often used term in our struggles and recovery. Hollywood, the independent film industry, the stage, theatre critics and those actors embracing the weight modifying decisions, in my opinion, are part of the risky problem, not the healthy, artistic or noble solution.

 

And, yes, again, I trot out an often cited scripture, for my edification and for others:

 

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”

Psalm 139:14

Right now, with no altering, whatsoever, we’re incredible. This scripture reality check I find is needed, unfortunately, as we encounter current news trends such as this. I wish it wasn’t the case.

 

Copyright © 2014 by Sheryle Cruse