History Main / HollywoodThin

* ''Literature/BridgetJones'' presented a ValuesDissonance example. To pass as the British every woman (who obsesses over a weight of 125-138 lbs), Creator/ReneeZellweger had to put on nearly three stones (42 pounds) to carry the part. To British eyes this made her appealingly attractive (and by no means fat). To American (Hollywood) eyes she had become disgustingly obese. Renee had to lose this weight before she could get Hollywood jobs again. British fans of the film were appalled and asked if Bridget had become dangerously ill or anorexic. She gained the weight back for the second film but not the third - and there was a line from Bridget mentioning that she was now at her ideal weight.

* ''[[Series/AmericasNextTopModel America's Next Top Model]]''. ''All'' of them. Even the contestants portrayed as [[HollywoodPudgy "big" or "full figured"]] are [[strike:underweight]] [[CurvesInAllTheRightPlaces fantastically curvy]] but nowhere near fat.

* Speaking of Sarah Michelle Gellar, one of her former ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' stunt doubles talked about how hard the popularity of this was on female stunt doubles. The stunt double was previously a suit actor for the Pink Power Ranger and several of the monsters at different times, and, despite being the double for wispy gymnast Amy Jo Johnson and willowy dancer Catherine Sutherland, it gave her a little more room in terms of body shape (since the identity-obscuring costume and scenes shared with a team of muscular male stunt actors always made her look smaller by virtue of perspective.) However, she went to ''Buffy,'' and as the "Lollipop" look (as she called it) came in vogue in Hollywood, she said she had a hell of a time matching body-type with Gellar and still being healthy enough to do her job. She also said that ''Rangers'' switched over from an American to an Asian stunt team around the time she left for possibly the same reason (she mentioned the male actors they brought over from Japan and Korea were about the same size she was, right after she mentioned she was sweating herself down to nothing doing fight scenes in the California sun under several feet of foam rubber.)

* [[FieryRedhead Cinna]] [[PlayingWithFire Grossul]] of ''Webcomic/{{Pacificators}}'' is one. However, it's not for FanService - her teammate [[NewMeat Daryl]] [[LightEmUp Smithson]] is doing [[TeamMom her best]] to get Cinna to eat more.
** It's actually given Cinna some trouble; for example, she's particularly susceptible to [[BlowYouAway wind attacks,]] which could easily pick her up and toss her away. [[IncrediblyLamePun Blow Her Away, indeed]].

* ''Series/{{House}}''. Particularly Thirteen (Creator/HughLaurie is skinny--which given the fact he had been a rower at [[{{Oxbridge}} Cambridge]] makes sense--but any perception of sexiness arises out of his [[UnkemptBeauty scruffy beard]] and big blue eyes).

For men the opposite holds true. Any male who isn't sporting [[MuscleAngst a six-pack, ripped pecs, or biceps as thick as oak trunks]] is often portrayed as, or is implied to be, scrawny and weak, [[DawsonCasting even if the character is supposed to be fourteen years old]]. (The opposite may be true in cultures that favor the {{Bishounen} archetype for male beauty.) Again, if you were to take these guys and compare them with a random selection of men in the real world, their bodies would not be seen as very average-looking.

For men the opposite holds true. Any male who isn't sporting [[MuscleAngst a six-pack, ripped pecs, or biceps as thick as oak trunks]] is often portrayed as, or is implied to be, scrawny and weak, [[DawsonCasting even if the character is supposed to be fourteen years old]]. Again, if you were to take these guys and compare them with a random selection of men in the real world, their bodies would not be seen as very average-looking.

* Along with the Twiggy example above, Creator/AudreyHepburn set a standard in the early 1960s for HollywoodThin. She suffered starvation during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands when she was a teenager, which damaged her body's metabolism and led to a relatively early death at 63, after a lifetime of health problems.
* ''Literature/BridgetJones'' presented a ValuesDissonance example. To pass as British, Creator/ReneeZellweger had to put on nearly three stones (42 pounds) to carry the part. To British eyes this made her appealingly attractive (and by no means fat). To American eyes she had become disgustingly obese. Renee had to lose this weight before she could get Hollywood jobs again. British fans of the film were appalled and asked if Bridget had become dangerously ill or anorexic. She gained the weight back for the second film but not the third - and there was a line from Bridget mentioning that she was now at her ideal weight.

* April Hunter stopped eating when she arrived to Japan on her first trip to Chiba to do a Toyota commercial, leading her host/employer to worry she'd get too skinny, something no one had apparently hassled her about before. She then realized Japan where many athletes follow a sumo diet, including the ladies, she realized she came off as fairly small for her size, where she was used to being bigger than most peers at home.[[/folder]]

Women considered "fit" enough to be shown on TV generally fall into the fifth percentile when it comes to shoulder width and rib cage depth. These are hereditary traits that no woman can actually control and that have nothing to do with actual physical fitness. Yet these women are the ones who Hollywood shows as "average", especially if they have [[GagBoobs unrealistically enormous breasts]] hanging just above that extremely narrow waist.

* The male counterpart would be newer ''Franchise/GIJoe'' figures. If blown up to full size, they would have roughly 25-inch biceps. For comparison, jacked-as-all-hell Mark [=McGwire=] had about 22 inches at his peak, and Wrestling/HulkHogan, at his steroid-laced hugest, would brag about his 22-inch "pythons".

* ''Film/BridgetJones'' presented a ValuesDissonance example. To pass as British, Creator/ReneeZellweger had to put on nearly three stones (42 pounds) to carry the part. To British eyes this made her appealingly attractive (and by no means fat). To American eyes she had become disgustingly obese. Renee had to lose this weight before she could get Hollywood jobs again. British fans of the film were appalled and asked if bridget had become dangerously ill or anorexic.

* [[Wrestling/BellaTwins Brie Bella]] has gotten hateful comments hurled at her by fans claiming she looks like a stick insect and "needs to eat something". This is ignoring the possibility that she merely just looks much thinner because she is next to a lot of very curvy and muscular women on ''Series/TotalDivas''. Additionally the twins have said in interviews that Brie is naturally slimmer proportioned than Nikki. Additionally Brie is a vegan so she's bound to be a little less curvy than her sister. Showing how HateDumb really is in effect, her sister Nikki has gotten the reverse of this and been referred to as [[HollywoodPudgy "the fat twin"]].[[note]]Back when they became identical models, Nikki had to do daily ab and cardio workouts to match Brie's naturally skinnier frame[[/note]] ''Series/TotalDivas'' does show the effects of this trope. Brie panics about an upcoming photoshoot and tries to get her sister to do a juice cleanse with her. As in drinking nothing but smoothies for 30 days. While a cleanse is often a good idea if one wants to detox after too much junk food, it's the sort of thing that should just be done for 2-3 days at most.

* Wrestling/CMPunk was later on the receiving end himself in WWE, where he was called a "Skinny Fat Ass" by Wrestling/KevinNash. In the wake of the Wrestling/ChrisBenoit paterfamilicide, US news media put a spotlight on WWE and it's drug issues. In a preemptive bypass to the buffer StaightEdge Punk's presence would have been to the inevitable criticism, reporters made sure to emphasize Punk was "half the size" of the other wrestlers in WWE.

* Starting in 2004, Wrestling/CMPunk teased Wrestling/DaizeeHaze for being too thin in IWA Mid-South which eventually lead to her flexing muscles at Punk before tossing him to the mat while "[[PaperThinDisguise disguised]]" as his [[SitcomArchNemesis nemesis]], [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]], in 2005. Punk was later on the receiving end himself in WWE, where he was called a "Skinny Fat Ass" by Wrestling/KevinNash.

* Wrestling/StacyKeibler was nearly 6 feet tall with a BMI of 19, which is barely above being anorexic, but was considered "perfect" by fans.

* Wrestling/LayCool referred to Maria Kanellis as "the underfed redhead" while they were also mocking Wrestling/MickieJames for being overweight. Giving this some uncomfortable RealitySubtext, Maria has confessed that she was told she was "too fat" by management.

For men the opposite holds true. Any male who isn't sporting [[MuscleAngst a six-pack, ripped pecs, or biceps as thick as oak trunks]] is often portrayed as, or is implied to be, scrawny and weak, [[DawsonCasting even if the character is supposed to be fourteen years old]]. Again, if you were to take these guys and compare them with a random selection of men in the real world, their bodies would not be seen as very average looking.

This is quite possibly a side effect of the entertainment industry's tendency to cast, and then depict, an entire slate of attractive and healthy people, except for when the plot demands otherwise.

* Tabloids. Pick one up at random and you'll see a Shocking Exposé of some star's Embarrassing Body Flab or Cellulite, accompanied by ancient stock swimsuit pics. Anyone with ten pounds of extra fat or more is considered "struggling with weight problems."

* {{Bratz}} are this. They've probably done less physical damage than Barbie though, because their bodies are more an anime style. What's more concerning is the stereotypes for fashion, makeup and hobbies that they set little girls.

* The ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackDown WWE SmackDown!]]'' writers deserve to be slapped for having Michelle [=McCool=] call Wrestling/MariaKanellis "underfed" when Maria has said she was told by management [[HollywoodPudgy that she was too fat]].
** The Wrestling/{{LayCool}} characters are probably a subtle TakeThat to this trope; one promo had Natalya insult them by saying their IQ was lower than their combined (non-existent) waist size. Of course you have the heels in the situation as two fashion-crazy {{Valley Girl}}s obsessed with their weight thinking that was a compliment.

* [[Wrestling/BellaTwins Brie Bella]] has gotten hateful comments hurled at her by fans claiming she looks like a stick insect and "needs to eat something". This is ignoring the possibility that she merely just looks much thinner because she is next to a lot of very curvy and muscular women on ''Series/TotalDivas''. Additionally the twins have said in interviews that Brie is naturally slimmer proportioned than Nikki. Additionally Brie is a vegan so she's bound to be a little less curvy than her sister. Showing how HateDumb really is in effect, her sister Nikki has gotten the reverse of this and been referred to as [[HollywoodPudgy "the fat twin"]].
** ''Series/TotalDivas'' does show the effects of this trope. Brie panics about an upcoming photoshoot and tries to get her sister to do a juice cleanse with her. As in drinking nothing but smoothies for 30 days. While a cleanse is often a good idea if one wants to detox after too much junk food, it's the sort of thing that should just be done for 2-3 days at most.

* Nearly every woman in the show ''TrippingTheRift''. ''All'' of them, human and alien alike, have wasp waists and ''massive'' racks. [[{{Gonk}} T'nuck's]] race is the major exception.

Contrast HollywoodPudgy and HollywoodHomely. Compare InformedAttractiveness.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[caption-width-right:226:Mischa Barton hasn't worked much since Series/TheOC Casting directors probably think she needs to lose a few.]]

* [[CiemWebcomicSeries Ciem]] is the closest to this that {{Machinomics}} are capable of committing. Almost every female character uses the same custom [[BarbieDollAnatomy "Barbie" mesh]] (Zenman's Curvy Default Replacement at Mod The Sims, with size B breasts.) Candi herself is extremely prone to narrowly avoiding being the poster girl for HollywoodThin, especially as a teen. Her sisters, however, are [[InformedFlaw implied]] to be slightly curvier with their clothes off; though there is little evidence in the written canon. Then again, since her sisters aren't superheroes, their being thinner [[ThisLoserIsYou is tolerated]], if not actually justified: not having Candi's job gives them an excuse to be laz[[strike: y]](-ier).

* Fashion photography has reached the point, in its ever-stricter search for vanishing thinness, where the models are starting to look like death warmed over. So, [[http://jezebel.com/5543863/an-editors-mea-culpa-on-making-thin-models-look-bigger the visible ribs, the bags under the eyes, the other signs of starvation are photoshopped away]], though, of course, the model remains as twig-thin as she was at the start. Readers are led to assume that this kind of body shape can be attained without looking like a walking corpse, and the search for a model who [[http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/39/2010/05/ralph_lauren_ann_taylor_photoshop.jpg actually looks like Gumby]] goes onward.

* A lot of people tend to go on about how the Characters/WWEDivas are too skinny but it was quite a shock when Maria Menunous got in the ring and she looked like a skeleton next to Wrestling/AliciaFox, Rosa Mendes, Wrestling/GailKim and Wrestling/KellyKelly. Though the difference is obviously down to the divas being actual athletes and having muscle on them even if it's not too visible.

* On ''The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency,'' Janice very honestly seemed to believe there was no such a thing as "too skinny." When she was told it would be good for business to at least have a few plus-sized models on her roster, she was openly hostile toward them, saying (''in tears'') they were bad role models and wondering how she would be able to explain health, fitness, and nutrition to her young children and not sound like a hypocrite for employing them. This was then undercut by one of her models named Crystal (who Janice seemed to be grooming as her protege,) who later said she had dieted down so far she was no longer having her period, talking as though it were some kind of necessary sacrifice instead of the giant red flag it was.

* Hiko Seijuro in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''. He spends a lot of time pumping iron [[spoiler: to offset the side-effects of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryu]], to the point where he has weights put into his [[BadassLongcoat trenchcoat]]. As a result, he has biceps the size of tree trunks, washboard abs, and huge pecs. Contrast this to his student, Kenshin, who does not spend as much time weight-training (and, while not flabby, is nowhere near as muscular as his teacher.)

[[caption-width-right:226:Mischa Barton still hasn't gotten much work lately. Casting directors probably think she needs to lose a few.]]

* Wrestling/MichelleMcCool faced ''massive'' insults from fans while she was getting pushed. She had a massive Hatedom that called her "Skeletor" because of her thin body type. On the flip side, Bryan Alvarez accused her of having an eating disorder, stating it was the reason she had been hospitalized sometime prior to ''Wrestlemania 23''. Michelle denied the eating disorder story plenty of times, even in a shoot interview on her website (where she had no problem discussing other issues).
* The ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackDown WWE SmackDown!]]'' writers deserve to be slapped for having Michelle [=McCool=]] call Wrestling/MariaKanellis "underfed" when Maria has said she was told by management [[HollywoodPudgy that she was too fat]].