Eleanor and Park does not reflect Myer’s definition of the kind of diversity needed in storytelling because Rainbow’s portrayal of ethnic characters fails to be authentic depictions of real people and only depict harmful stereotypes. Although she adds a different level of diversity through characters who struggle with body image.
Eleanor is fat, but the specificity of her weight is never revealed because Rowell doesn’t think it matters. Park loves her for who she is on the inside and out because he is attracted to her and thinks she is beautiful. Rowell doesn't feel the need to draw a line between sorta fat or very fat because Eleanor is deserving of love regardless. This concept of thicker heroines who are not obligated to change themselves or become the thinner girl within to be happy and worthy of love is rare. It is refreshing to have a fat female protagonist in a young adult fiction novel amongst all the cruel fat characters or fat jokes in the media and all the weight-loss commercials for pills. People don't realize that constantly being bombarded with this fat shaming media can be harmful and can cause self-loathing in people who struggle with their weight. Kaye Toal, a writer for Buzzfeed BFF, wrote an article called How Finding a Fat YA Heroine Change My Life in which she expresses the struggles of finding a character she could relate to as …show more content…
It is truly distressing to find such a racist and stereotypical book in young adult literature, much less in school curriculum. Diversity is needed in our books, movies, and TV shows, but not all representations are healthy representations. It is up to our authors to research and completely understand the characters they write about. Racist novels like Eleanor and Park that promote stereotypical views of minorities are prime examples of no research. I hope that the movie based off of this book turns these characters into well-thought out and non-stereotypical characters that they deserve to
Eleanor is fat, but the specificity of her weight is never revealed because Rowell doesn’t think it matters. Park loves her for who she is on the inside and out because he is attracted to her and thinks she is beautiful. Rowell doesn't feel the need to draw a line between sorta fat or very fat because Eleanor is deserving of love regardless. This concept of thicker heroines who are not obligated to change themselves or become the thinner girl within to be happy and worthy of love is rare. It is refreshing to have a fat female protagonist in a young adult fiction novel amongst all the cruel fat characters or fat jokes in the media and all the weight-loss commercials for pills. People don't realize that constantly being bombarded with this fat shaming media can be harmful and can cause self-loathing in people who struggle with their weight. Kaye Toal, a writer for Buzzfeed BFF, wrote an article called How Finding a Fat YA Heroine Change My Life in which she expresses the struggles of finding a character she could relate to as …show more content…
It is truly distressing to find such a racist and stereotypical book in young adult literature, much less in school curriculum. Diversity is needed in our books, movies, and TV shows, but not all representations are healthy representations. It is up to our authors to research and completely understand the characters they write about. Racist novels like Eleanor and Park that promote stereotypical views of minorities are prime examples of no research. I hope that the movie based off of this book turns these characters into well-thought out and non-stereotypical characters that they deserve to