User blog:Laurabrooks/Jennifer Lawrence Body Image

When Jennifer Lawrence was selected to play the role of Katniss in the first Hunger Games film, she was immediately told that she must lose weight. She was told she had to drop a certain number of pounds or be fired. This appalled her and what followed may have started a chain reaction in the way female actresses are portrayed on screen.

 “Somebody told me I was fat, that I was going to get fired if I didn’t lose a certain amount of weight,” she said, “They brought in pictures of me where I was basically naked, and told me to use them as motivation for my diet. It was just that.”

Thankfully, being the down to earth yet confident person that Jennifer Lawrence is, she was able to say no to these requests. She understood the effects in girls form what they see on TV and knew that to just lose weight so she can conform to the Hollywood ideal on television would go against everything she believes in.

She told Entertainment Weekly, "I'm never going to starve myself for a part. I don't want little girls to be like, 'Oh, I want to look like Katniss, so I'm going to skip dinner!'”

 Katniss is an actress that lots of people will look up to and to show her as some unreachable expectation would be wrong. Jennifer Lawrence understood this and refused to change her body to please someone else. These unobtainable figures that girls see when they are young change their perspective of themselves and of others. Luckily, Jennifer Lawrence had the confidence that others lack to say no to this kind of treatment. She is a role model to all young girls and her self-acceptance should be a new standard that all actors can work towards.

 She is a great person to play the role of Katniss Everdeen, to represent this literary idol by becoming one in reality as well.



http://www.scifinow.co.uk/news/jennifer-lawrence-i-refused-to-lose-weight-for-the-hunger-games/

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/10/jennifer-lawrence-was-once-told-to-lose-weight-or-get-fired/

http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/04/jennifer-lawrence-reveals-she-was-told-to-diet-or-get-fired/



