Daniel: what do you think of Mellie?
me: I like the character more as I get to know her
12:51 AM the breathy voice gets less annoying
12:52 AM Daniel: anyway
I ask this because like every girl I talk to about Mellie says she's too fat
while every guy I talk to wants to marry her
me: WHAT - too fat??
they're crazy
Daniel: Ned and I went on for a good ten minutes about how attractive she is
12:53 AM me: she's probably like a size 4 or something
maybe a size 6
just because the other actresses are stick thin
12:54 AM wooow
when I have time I'll look at posts about the character
Daniel: mmmm
me: maybe write a blog post about the show
Daniel: go for it
12:55 AM me: its one of the few with a normal sized actress
think about it
Daniel: that would be something very link worthy
me: she's not FAT
Daniel: a long rant about that
me: she's curvy
Daniel: yes she is
Joss Whedon basically made her my dream girl
me: haha
Daniel: because as of late, I haven't dated anyone who's shy around me in their crush
which I deathly miss
so exchanges like
12:56 AM m: "I've been meaning to come down here."
p: "You've been meaning to come down to the federal building?"
m: "Oh...you know..."
me: haha
You know what i realize now? That this blog post was actually my idea. Oh well. He's the one who pestered me about it. So, long story short, my take on Miracle Laurie and the only actress I can think of in a popular series who is NORMAL sized on a popular TV show.
Here are a couple pictures of Miracle:
There are two reactions to Miracle Laurie that I've seen so far: 1) OMG SHE'S BEAUTIFUL/GORGEOUS AND I WANT TO MARRY/DO HER ALL NIGHT LONG!!! and 2) The woman's a fatso who needs to lay off the doughnuts and lose 20 pounds (accompanying statement about how the guy commenting likes his girls skinnier). I'd be interested to know what you guys and girls think.
Personally, I think she's perfect - she is the only actress on screen who I feel shares my body size. When I saw her on screen, I thought yes - that is a person who looks like the person I see in the mirror in the morning. That is someone who looks pretty, who is normal and who might be able to survive in the absolutely brutal world of show business.
I know that this will make certain people feel uncomfortable, but here are some measurements. According to her resume (http://resumes.actorsaccess.com/miraclelaurie), Miracle is 145lbs, 5'9" tall. So she's got some height to her. According to a bmi calculation, she's happily in the "normal" range of weight - a 21.4(ish). Now here's me - your "average" girl - I'm 5'5 and 140lbs - a 23.3. ("Normal" is anywhere from 18.5 to 24.9). So, obviously, I'm on the heftier side of normal. But to have approximately the same BMI that Miracle has, I have to lose 10 pounds. That is the 10 pounds that you always hear that the camera adds. Mellie, on Dollhouse, is supposed to be a girl who looks like me.
So how did I initially react to seeing Mellie (Miracle's character) in Dollhouse? With dismissal. My first thought was to say "oh - that actress will need to lose a few pounds to fit in with the other actresses." But that shouldn't be right. Why was my first reaction to dismiss her rather than Dushku or any of the other women in the show? Sure, they're pretty, but they look like sticks - just take peek at their collarbones. (I just looked up Eliza Dushku's measurements - she's 5'5 and 105lbs - for comparison BMI 17.5) Although shows shouldn't be supporting overeating, or unhealthy weight, why should there be a stigma against otherwise "normal" sized actresses?
Also, I blame some of my reaction on Whedon. One of the first images you get of Mellie is of her proffering a huge tray of lasagna to her next-door neighbor. For a girl, the automatic reaction: wow - all that girl does is eat! If you're going to have a larger-than-standard actress on your show, please don't make the automatic reaction towards her from girls be FOOD. Make it be something else, like oh she's so wonderful and cool. That would go a long way towards breaking down stereotypes. Although, to be fair, he's been doing that more with her lately. So she's become my favorite character bar none.
Another reason to like Miracle: this video.
THE WOMAN HULA DANCES AND PLAYS UKELELE!! and she does it in front of people along with her castmates. So give her a round of applause, and if I thik about something else to say about her, other than that I really like her character, I'll add it in another post.
She is 'smoking hot' as you Americans would say! I'm a Limey by the way.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I know I'm late to commenting on this post (which is insanely good Cara) because my thoughts are known. Nevertheless this is a great post. It's weird how Whedon likes his skinny women too much. Can't a normal woman, as you say, be a warrior vixen too?
ReplyDeleteWell, Kaylee on Firefly was also a little heavier than is typical. In fact, the actress who plays her was asked to gain 15 pounds for the show, which she had to work to keep on through the duration of the show.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Miracle Laurie's weight is concerned, her non-Dollhouse pictures at IMDb seem to depict a woman who's considerably slimmer (at least in the face) than she is in Dollhouse. It's possible that she put on some weight to be in Dollhouse, so the 145 lbs doesn't apply to her in that show.
I thought she looked OK in the first series, if a little heavy for TV, but she's just turned up again and either the costume people hate her or she's gained weight. Looks like a UK size 14 to me, bordering on a 16 - and that's edging into the plus-size department. Also, the orange skin is not helping. I don't know what's happened to her, but she's lost any charm she had.
ReplyDeleteWhat do I think? Miracle Laurie is lovely and voluptous - both very very good things.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I approve of your attempt to be objective with weights, heights, BMI's, etc. This gives your commentary more "weight" (if you'll excuse the pun).
A question: what happen to the Laurie pix?
And a request: publish a picture of yourself, now that you've made us curious.
Oh, and one other thing:
ReplyDeleteA woman, greeting you in the hall, with a pan of lasagne is better than:
A woman, greeting you in the hall, without a pan of lasagne.
She's the best looking woman on the show IMO.
ReplyDeleteI actually got something different from November's character. I thought of her as a reversal of the usual "geek/loser guy gets the smokin hot model" cliche that we always see in movies. Here was an average looking girl, with a real inferiority complex, who ends up with a guy who appears to spend 12 hours a day in a gym.
ReplyDeleteWe see "meh" guys end up with the hottie in movies all the time. You almost NEVER see the reverse. In fact, I can only think of Shallow Hal as a second example. But Hal saw a stick figure for most of the relationship, so that doesn't really count.
I realize this post is way late. But I was looking up something about Miracle, and came across this article. I just thought I would add my two cents.
She's gorgeous. Really really gorgeous. As you say, it's mostly the girls who are complaining, not the guys, ofc there are many exceptions. I am a girl myself, but I like it when a girl isnt a stickfigure.
ReplyDeleteI love her body, but I especially love her face. If we are talking lookwise.
She's a dream! and she's talented and at peace with herself. I totally adore the way she looks and i wish i could see her in more movies instead of the stick figures who get to play the leading roles.
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