Eating Disorders In The Film 'To The Bone'

'To The Bone' is a film that shows the struggle of Ellen, a 20 year old with anorexia. Her ever growing list of failed treatment programs leaves her on the doorstep of her 'workaholic' father and his wife. Throughout the duration of the film we watch as her family struggles to understand her mental illness, "Why can't you just eat!?" This shows the misconception of eating orders in todays society. I believe that most of todays society does not understand that eating disorders are mental illnesses and not a choice people make. Anorexia, Bulimia and other eating disorders can be caused by a mixture of biological, psychological and environmental factors. It usually coexists with other conditions such as anxiety or depression. "She's dying right

I think this is because there is not enough knowledge around eating disorders and how to support the people suffering. Noxon's purpose was to bring light to an illness that effects 70 million people in the world today, according to Mirror-mirror. We as a society need to continue to help and educate people on eating disorders and stop hiding it from the world. An eating disorder is a mental illness as important as depression and is just as fatal.

Another topic this film comes across is the effect divorce has on a child. We see this through Ellen who's parents spilt when she was young resulting in her having step-mothers on both sides. "People say they love you. But what they mean is they love how loving you makes them feel about themselves." This highlights how Ellen struggles

LGBT rights is very present within this film as Ellen's mother and her partner are lesbian. I believe that this had a positive and negative impact on her life while she grew up. It would have had a positive impact because she would have learnt from a young age that being different is okay and that same sex relationships are also okay. It would have also been negative because she most likely was one of the only children in her area that had openly lesbian mothers. This would have resulted in her being outcasted because until recent years LGBT's have been frowned upon and continually told that it wasn't "right." "I do think this is a record number of mothers for one patient." This shows the change happening in the world as we begin to accept LGBT's as they should have been from the start. There are many celebrities and everyday people that support gay marriage in the world today, but I think Julianne Moore described it perfectly, “I think it’s a very basic human-rights issue. Everybody has the right to marry the person they love and be represented as a couple and family." I believe that as this world continues to grow we will look back and ask why that was ever an issue because in the end everyone deserves the right to be happy. Noxon wanted us to realise that no matter who you are, gay or straight, you are as important and have equal impact on the lives around