COMM 380:  Media Criticism

In the US and other Western nations, it has long been understood that overweight and obese are exposed to stigma and bias that can result in discrimination in the workplace, healthcare, and other life areas (Cameron, 2016). This phenomenon is reflected in the film as well as news media. In the movie Richard Jewell and the media coverage of the FBI investigation, we see Jewell's weight become a point of mockery for those around him. In media criticism, we must look at how stereotypes play out as a function of power. Critical theory helps to identify and discern between different ways that the media, their use, and content affect power relations in society (Hanson, 2013). When we use critical media analysis, we think critically about the media's impact on the distribution of power in society. Using critical theory, media critics can examine how Richard Jewell's weight is used as an oppression tool. His status as a fat person, compounded with his working-class status, continually functions to 'other,' demean, and discredit him. 
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Fat studies is a still-emerging field of academia, but some of its key points include the portrayal of overweight people in the media. In our society, fatness is equated with laziness, a lack of discipline, and undesirability (Cameron, 2016). Under our capitalist system, these things are unacceptable, and thus the fat individual is intolerable. This explains why the eating nation's eating disorder rates are some of the highest in the world, with at least one percent of the population being diagnosed with an eating disorder at some point in their lifetime (Dennerstein, (2004), and why most individuals report body dissatisfaction (Presnell, 2006). With this framework in mind, we examine Richard Jewell and how the character is treated and seen by those around him, the media, and the officials investigating him. 
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Movies can tell us what groups have power and which groups do not (Stocchetti, 2016). In Richard Jewell, we know very early on that he is something of a social outcast. Jewell is working in a subservient position at the Bureau of Small Businesses and tending to the higher-ups' needs by bringing them their mail and bringing Watson Bryant his snickers. This tells us a lot about who he is within the context of the larger social structure, and also about his class position. 

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A central theme is that the media and the FBI are trying to cast Jewell negatively to discredit him. They do so by portraying him as a failed police officer who is power-hungry. Because he is a white, cisgender male, he has certain privileged statuses that give him power and credibility. To separate Jewell from the power those identities afford him, they focus on other areas of his life. They do this by starting a rumor that he is gay, focusing on his status as a social outcast and his weight. The Philadelphia Daily News called him 'Bubba the Bomber,' and the New York Post called him a 'fat, failed former sheriff's deputy". Jay Leno, in his nightly monologue discussed the story and called him a 'big stupid fat guy.' The Vanity Fair article upon which the film was based described him as "pawing through the candy bowl", "stocky", having a "porcine" look. The article also mentioned a CBS article in which Mike Wallace told Richard to lose weight, after Jewell's name was already cleared. All of this goes to say that the media continually ridiculed him for his weight because of our cultural conception of fatness.
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The media can demean individuals by inducing our society's deeply held fatphobia. This was one of the many factors that made Jewell that much easier to cast suspicion upon. The FBI's investigation was searching for someone who wanted to be seen as heroic but ultimately put many people at risk. As a fat individual, Richard Jewell seemed to fit this prototype because we believe that overweight individuals are insecure and incompetent. The media capitalizes on this cultural idea we have. 

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In Jewell's own life, his character reports experiencing weight-based stigma. When Watson Bryant asks him why Jewell chose him to represent him, Jewell says, "I picked you because you were the only one at the US Small Business Admin bureau who didn't treat me like a five-year-old, and call me, "bag of snacks" and "blimp," "Michelin Man, and "Pillsbury Doughboy." You're the only one who treated me like a human being!" This quote gives us a lot of insight into Jewell's life as a member of a fatphobic society that has alienated and shamed him for his weight.

 

In addition to the bullying Jewell reports experiencing, we also see people around him react to his weight. When Kathy Scruggs describes him as 'that fat fuck that lives with his mother', she's invoking a kind of cultural symbol that we all recognize. This is a form of symbolic interactionism; the theory states that what holds us together in a culture is our joint creation of society through language (Stochetti, 2016). We engage in symbolic interactions that we attempt to arouse in others because we know to associate an individual social status with being fat. This quote also makes a statement about class in our society. In understanding these quotes, we see how those around him see Jewell, how he is visited by himself, and ultimately what makes it that much easier for the media to treat him as a criminal.

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As more than half of Americans are overweight, it's fair to reason that 50% or more Americans face a chance of experiencing weight-based stigma in their job, at their doctor's office, or in other settings (CDC, 2020). The media reflects this, and if we can criticize the presence of fatphobia in our films, television shows, etc., we can begin to examine how to eliminate it from our society. Many overt stereotypes and stigmas are more frequently discussed, like race, gender, or sexuality. But to criticize all forms of oppression in the media, we must look at how overweight individuals are continually used as a punchline and are dehumanized. Richard Jewell died in 2007 from a heart attack. However, Bobi Jewell, Richard's mother, stated that she believes he was so emotionally affected by the media scrutiny that he was never the same, and that that trauma played a role in his death (ABC News, 2019). In a 2019 interview, she stated, ""I think it killed him," Bobi Jewell said, "I really do." 

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Works Cited

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News, A. B. C. (n.d.). Mother of Richard Jewell, hero-turned-suspect in 1996 Olympics bombing, says he was ‘worn, torn and tattered.’ ABC News. Retrieved October 6, 2020, from https://abcnews.go.com/US/mother-richard-jewell-hero-turned-suspect-1996-olympics/story?id=67694901

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Cameron, E., & Russell, C. (2016). Introduction. Counterpoints, 467, 1-10. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/45157124

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Hanson, R. E. (2013). Mass communication: Living in a media world. Washington, D.C: CQ Press.

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Bearman, S. K., Martinez, E., Stice, E., & Presnell, K. (2006). The Skinny on Body Dissatisfaction: A Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Girls and Boys. Journal of youth and adolescence, 35(2), 217–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-005-9010-9

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Stocchetti, Matteo, and Kukkonen, Karin. Critical Media Analysis: An Introduction for Media Professionals. Frankfurt am Main, DEU: Peter Lang AG, 2010. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 14 May 2016.. 

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