So apparently there is a critic, Alastair Macauley who writes for the NY Times and he did a review of “The Nutcracker.” I couldn’t find his column but I did find a quote on Jezebel where he said the ballerina Jennifer Ringer who is playing the part of the Sugar Plum fairy, “looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many.” Naturally there was an outcry from the public as Ms. Ringer has admitted to having an eating disorder in the past. Mr. Macauley defended himself with these comments.
As I said, I couldn’t find the column in question, but I did read his response to the outcry. He does make a point that he has referred to other performers (all males) by various words used to describe someone who is heavier than is perceived to be normal. Are people pissed off because he is calling a recovering anorexic fat?
I cannot speak for the general population, but I can speak for myself. I don’t believe a critic should be making comments about people’s appearances, regardless if they are male or female; fat or thin. His job as a critic is to critique the performance, the staging, lighting, sound effects, costumes etc. Not the physical appearance of the performer.
Since no-one knows what another person’s life journey is about, we should be careful who we throw stones at.
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