Why ‘Chubby’ Jokes in My Rom-Coms Were Not Cool and How I Learned to Change

Richard Curtis, the renowned screenwriter and director known for his romantic comedies and dramas such as Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and Love, Actually, recently discussed the problematic aspects of some of his films. In a captivating interview with his daughter, Scarlett, at the Cheltenham literature festival, Curtis opened up about his regrets, as reported by the Guardian. “I remember how shocked I was five years ago when Scarlett said to me: ‘You can never use the word “fat” again.’ Wow, you were right,” he exclaimed. “In my generation, making jokes about someone’s weight was considered funny—I even included such jokes in Love, Actually. But now, those jokes are no longer humorous.” It’s worth noting that similar jokes can be found in the Bridget Jones films as well.

As highlighted by the Independent, Curtis has previously expressed discomfort and a sense of foolishness when it comes to the lack of diversity in Love, Actually. The subject of diversity was also addressed during the festival discussion. Considering the historical significance of London’s Notting Hill as one of the birthplaces of the British Black civil rights movement, Curtis’s daughter remarked on the absence of Black characters in the film Notting Hill. Curtis openly admitted, “I wish I had been more ahead of the curve. Coming from a non-diverse background, I held onto the belief that I wouldn’t know how to write those parts. I now realize that I was simply ignorant and wrong.” (Read more Richard Curtis stories.)