The part where people looked at mom

lol ya, thought it was an overly dramatic scene as well

Why do you mix SI units with non-SI units?

There's two parts to why it made sense, in my opinion.

Firstly, people are far more accepting of larger people now than they were twenty years ago. While yes, there are currently an abundance of obese people in the world, Mrs. Grape is still significantly larger than a lot of them. To be completely honest, I am a larger person myself, and I still find myself stare a little when I see people as big as Mrs. Grape. It's human nature to be curious.

Secondly, they live in in a small town where Mrs. Grape has become somewhat of a novelty. The whole town would have had rumors about her never leaving the house, so to actually see her out would cause people to start regardless of whether she was obese or what. She's a story all the children hear... like when the little kids are trying to see in the windows of the Grape house to get a glimpse of her.

Also - I think that the amount of obesity in the population has severely increased since the time this film was set in.

As others have stated, this movie was made in 1993, nearly 20 years ago. Back then, people could get harassed in the US for even being chubby. Being chubby was a big deal. Really big people were rarer. She was jaw droppingly huge for the time. Fat is no longer 'fat'. People who were considered fat (which was about 100 times smaller than her) back then are now just considered normal.

Sort of have to agree in a way. While I seldom see anyone as large as the Mama character, I do see very obese 9some morbidly so) out and about every day. They might be having to ride on those little scooters to get around stores and such, but it's rare that the very large person really elicits that much attention. It's the same with severely handicapped or mentally challenged people, all of whom I routinely see out in public every day. Most people just try politely not to stare. That's not to say there might not be the occasional snicker from a rude person, but generally, most people are more polite than to openly gawk and stare at someone, no matter what they look like (let alone even going so far as snapping photos! Of course, that being said, I have seen more than a few "let's make fun of the fat person" type videos on Youtube where someone discreetly shot with their camera phone. So it's not to say people don't make fun; only that usually they are a lot more subtle about it). But on the whole, I think most people are simply too caught up with going about their own business to worry too much about gawking at someone just because they're fat.

However, in the context of the film,the scene works in helping to heighten our sympathy for this character, especially since up to that point she has mostly been treated as comic relief. This is the scene that finaly humanizes her for us. Also, I think it is more than just that the town is turning out to see "the fat lady." In the novel, Bonnie Grape had had a bit of a reputation as the town beauty. She had broken several hearts, and enraged many wives (many of whom had husbands who all used to be in love with Bonnie). Then, over the years, as she had disappeared from view and ate herself into oblivion, there had built up this great town mystery about what had "happened" to Bonnie Grape. Thus, her moment of bravery in stepping out of her house and going into public also becomes a chance for everyone in town to satisfy their curiosity, and for the jealous women of the town to exact a little revenge.

None of this is ever really explained in the film, but I think the scene is trying to stay true to the spirit of the book, in which Endora finally gets its moment to satisfy their burning curiosity about the former town beauty and to find out if all the rumors about what had happened to her since her husband's death were really true. So really, it's not that they are staring "just because" she is a 500-pound woman, but because of who the 500-pound woman just happens to be.

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At the time - 1995 when the movie was made, she was considered large. Now that there are more over weight people especially starting at such a young age, it isn't as shocking.

As others have stated, this was 20 years ago and you must also remember that Mrs. Grape fascinated a lot of people in that small town not only because she was so obese, but also because she hadn't left the house or been seen in years.









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