By Alexandra Lescaze
A story of love, loss and last resorts
Through the personal stories of three severely obese women who choose weight-loss surgery, All of Me shines a fresh light on the causes, challenges, and intense psychological struggles surrounding obesity in our society, as well as our attitudes and prejudices towards the obese.
The "girls", as they call themselves, have been friends for years, having met through the Size Acceptance Movement. They've unsuccessfully tried every diet and pill in an effort to lose weight. Getting older and facing more health and mobility challenges, they choose gastric band or gastric bypass surgery as a last resort.
With searing honesty, the girls take us through their struggles before and after surgery, including a host of issues and consequences, some they expected, some they feared, and some they never could have imagined. They have varied post-op experiences, but one reality is true for all of them -- the surgery means the loss of their primary coping strategy (eating). And trying to shed hundreds of pounds changes everything in their lives -- their health, their self-images, their marriages, and even their friendships.
These women's stories represent the more than 200,000 Americans a year who choose weight-loss surgery, 80% of them women, as well as the millions of Americans who struggle with obesity and weight loss. Our society's standard diet and exercise talking points do not compute for many of those needing to lose a significant amount of weight.
All of Me provides a unique and thoughtful look at a community of people that is often vilified, the butt of jokes, or quite simply ignored in our society, and encourages viewers to examine their own prejudices and complicated relationships with food, fat, and their bodies.
Reviews
~ "Outstandingly potent. This coolly penetrating film honors women who address the reality of their lives with ferocious eloquence." - Wall Street Journal
~ "The movie was very well done and so frank. It showed the real struggles of those who suffer with obesity both before and after weight loss surgery. We were all moved by the lives of these women." - Katy Merriman, Surgical Specialists, Shreveport, LA
~ "All of Me' grapples with the (often fraught) conversations surrounding weight loss surgery with inexhaustible compassion." - Kaye Toal www.bigfatfeminist.com
Award
~ Winner, Audience Award, Austin Film Festival
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