Film Analysis Of The Film 'To The Bone'

For my film paper, I watched an independent movie on Netflix called, To the Bone (2017) directed by Marti Noxon. The main character is Ellen who is twenty years old suffering from anorexia. The movie follows her development of going through anorexia and treatment for it. It shows her interactions with not only herself, but with family, peers, and her psychiatrist. In this movie, there are applied concepts easily found from the Health Communication class. The concepts are stigma, self-identity, body images, relationships, and voice of medicine versus voice of lifeworld. The movie starts off with Ellen already in an in-patient treatment most likely in the hospital and in a group therapy. One of the girls there shares her feelings, but Ellen

Theorists in Du Pré’s book mentions pathologizing the human body which is “making natural functions seem weird and unnatural” (Du Pré, 2017). Teenagers are susceptible to this because they are undergoing puberty and experiencing changes in their bodies. They are also extremely susceptible to peer and societal views on physical appearances. According to the National Eating Disorders Association in the book, 30 million Americans will experience an eating disorder and two-thirds of the total are made up of females (Du Pré, 2017). The movie’s main point is about body images and how those suffering eating disorders usually deal with it. In the beginning, Ellen believes that she is fine and healthy even though she is undergoing anorexia. However during her family session with Dr. Beckham and convincing of her sister, she decides to try harder during her treatment to get better while still feeding into her mental addiction of anorexia. During the movie, she still suffers from body image issues supported by her ritual which was wrapping her fingers around her upper arm. It did not make a complete circle until near the end during her uncontrollable downhill spiral after the incident with Megan and Luke. At the end of the movie when she swallows the coal in her dream, she realizes that she is truly sick and accepts that the group home is the only way for her to get better and healthier (Curtis et al,