MAE WEST’s plump, curvaceous body was a vital element in her comedy. Academics have emphasized that “excessive body is one of the qualities of female unruliness, suggesting that she is unwilling or unable to control her physical appetites.” Japanese film historian Mio Hatokai discusses how Hollywood publicists and fan zines responded to this “fatness” in 1933. This is Part 28 of a lengthy piece.
• • Laughing off the “Fatness” ― Mae West’s Body Image and Female Spectators in the Early 1930s • •
• • Mae West: Is “teetering on the edge of fatness” • •
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Second, as the title and the first paragraph of the article clearly indicates, the magazine expects its readers to follow the trend in Hollywood.
• • Hollywood studios had declared: Curves are desirable. But being fat is unacceptable. • •
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Third, there is an imposition that being fat is an unacceptable idea.
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: All of these factors amount to this: with such articles, the fan magazine culture is creating discourses that favor a certain body image and dismiss being overweight, which would lead the readers to have an obsession with their own weight.
• • Mae West: Leading fans to favor Mae’s voluptuous figure • • ...
• • Mio Hatokai’s lengthy article will continue on the next post.
• • Source: Academic anthology on film stars released by Waseda University, 2015.
• • On Thursday, 26 November 1931 • •
• • The New York Herald Tribune reported on the intense displeasure to white Washingtonians when Mae West brought her Harlem play "The Constant Sinner" to D.C. where the local D.A. was Leo K. Rover. Leo roared about the profanity and the dances performed by the black cast. The D.A., apparently, had been telling the media he would "arrest the entire company of fifty one if another performance were given," noted the Herald Tribune on Thursday, 26 November 1931. Racism reared its head.
• • On Friday, 26 November 1954 • •
• • In a vintage catalogue that kept track of Decca's 78 rpm platters, it was listed that Mae West recorded "Frankie and Johnny" and the B-side "All of Me" [Decca # 29452] on these dates: Friday, 26 November 1954 and Monday, 29 November 1954.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West's costumer designer Edith Head told a newsman: "There are three fashion periods: the past, the present, and Mae West."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'm my own original creation."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on "Diamond Lil" quoted Mae West.
• • Thyra Samter Winslow wrote: Mae West says that people want dirt in plays, so I give 'em dirt. Miss West is secretive, especially about her past and family. When "Diamond Lil" closes, Mae will star in another of her plays, "Men." ...
• • Source: The New Yorker; published on Saturday, 10 November 1928
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • •
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — —
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 17th anniversary • •
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,874th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • costumed as Lady Lou in 1933 • •
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