In mid-November, HBO will be airing a documentary film called Thin which will center on the lives of four women suffering from eating disorders. The rise in the demand to be skinny in our society is not the only thing that causes women (and men) to starve themselves. The depth of eating disorders goes much further than that for most people.
The director of the documentary, Laura Greenfield, is also a photographer and author of the book “Girl Culture”. She’s spent the better part of her career studying the inner workings of today’s girl/woman. Greenfield is using the documentary to shed light on the eating disorder epidemic.
We can hope that this documentary is less corny than that ‘Lifestories: Families in Crisis’ episode that HBO put out back in the 90’s. It was called “The Secret Life of Mary Margaret: Portrait of a Bulimic” and it starred America’s favorite way-too-thin actress, Calista Flockhart. If the title’s not ringing any bells, perhaps the image of a mother finding jars of vomit in her daughter’s closet will jar your memory.
Thin will premiere on HBO on November 14th at 9 PM EST.
