My sister and I sat down tonight and perused On Demand and we came across the movie “Phat Girlz” and boy was it fabulous. I am in love with Mo’Nique now, the movie’s star. The movie tells the story of Jazmin, an aspiring plus-sized fashion designer. She is feeling down on life and luckily wins a trip to a Palm Springs resort with her cousin and her best friend. The three meet a group of Nigerian doctors there on a medical convention and soon discover that in Nigeria, it’s more attractive to be a bigger woman.

Adventures abound but unfortunately Jazmin passes down a perfectly good opportunity for a relationship with the young and handsome Dr. Tunde. She is feeling very depressed about herself and her weight and goes home to never leave her room for three days, eating her sorrows away.

Fortunately, like all romantic comedies, the movie has a happy ending. It was the first movie I watched in months that made me feel really happy after it was over. It had a wonderful message, that you can be pretty and attractive no matter how much you weigh. I also think that the movie tackles a lot of problems in today’s society. For instance, the plus-sized clothing industry does not offer great clothing for women who wish to dress trendy. It wasn’t until recently that places like Torrid have been offering more stylish choices for women. However, there still doesn’t seem to be a more affordable trendy clothing store for big girls, as Torrid can get pricey at times.

Also, there was a particular scene in the movie where Jazmin is having a meal with Dr. Tunde and the extremely rude waitress, after making some snide comments, leaves the two with: “Well enjoy your time with your sister.” It’s like she couldn’t fathom the fact that someone who looked like Jazmin would be dating a man as handsome as Dr. Tunde. It made me so angry to see something like that, because I can definitely see waitresses thinking that with plus-sized women and their dates, but not actually outright saying it. Watch the movie to see how Mo’Nique handles the situation…you’ll be proud! All in all, the movie really made me stand up and cheer for Jazmin because she seemed to represent fat girls everywhere.

Anyway, I definitely fell in love with this movie and all of its hilarities. If you have digital cable, it’s under HBO’s free movies. It’s only available until tomorrow, so watch it ASAP. If not, it’s worth a trip to your local video rental store.

“We don’t have a weight problem, people just have a problem with our weight!”
- Phat Girlz