Now, as “Fat People” crosses the vaunted 3 million views threshold, Arbour is being fired from a movie job because her director is outraged over the video he calls “cruel and lame.”
“[I’m making] a dance movie, so obviously we needed a choreographer. We met with a woman who not only did traditional dance choreography, but was a cheerleader as well. She was fun and nice and had a lot of energy,” explains director Pat Mills in a statement to Zap2it. “‘[Arbour told me she] had a YouTube channel and identified as a ‘YouTuber.’ She seemed like a perfect fit for the project. I shared the script with her. She said she dug it and was excited to come on board.”
“I was supposed to get together with her this week for what she called a ‘choreo party’ to watch my favorite dance scenes and talk ideas,” says Mills, the director of 2014’s “Guidance.” “And then a crazy thing happened on Saturday — I saw something on the Internet that made me never want to see her again.”
As it turns out, Arbour’s video runs contrary to many of the things Mills hopes to achieve with “Don’t Talk to Irene,” the film she was slated to work on when it begins filming next month.
“It’s a body-positive teen dance movie set in a retirement home,” Mills says of the plot. “It’s about a 16-year-old girl who dreams of being a cheerleader, but she is constantly bullied for being fat. She learns that she doesn’t have to change anything about herself to be awesome because she already is.”
According to the filmmaker, Arbour’s video really hit home. “I’m gay. I was bullied a lot as a kid,” he reasons. “I am no stranger to ridicule and loneliness.”
“[‘Dear Fat People’] is an unfunny and cruel fat-shaming video that guises itself about being about ‘health’,” Mills says of the clip. “It’s fat phobic and awful. It went on for over for six minutes. I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I was so upset I was shaking like Shelley DuVall in the ‘The Shining’.”
“Bullies like Nicole Arbour are the reason I am making this movie,” he says. “I’m tired of body shaming. It’s everywhere.”
This latest development raises an interesting question. A self-professed comedian/actress like Arbour clearly operates her YouTube channel for self-promotion, and posting a vid like “Dear Fat People” aims at courting controversy (she even begins the clip with a mocking “Argh! Some people are already mad at this video!”) that falls in line with the old adage “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” But what good is 3 million views if it gets you fired from the job you aspire to?
“It’s very odd that we live in a world now where people post their opinions on YouTube (to get views), but they cannot say these opinions to our faces,” says Mills. “My film celebrates being different. It celebrates not fitting in. I want to arm teen girls of all sizes with confidence. People like Nicole Arbour strip this confidence away.”
At the end of his statement, Mills directs the YouTuber directly: “Nicole: Did you even read my script? It is a body positive teen movie. It has a message that is in direct opposition to your cruel and lame YouTube rant,” he says. “We will not be working together. You are not hired for ‘Don’t Talk to Irene’.”
Staff at Ipswich’s Christchurch Mansion want the boy to know the 18th Century Delftware puzzle jug he knocked off a window ledge last summer has been fixed.
Thanks to a conservation officer’s efforts, each of the 65 pieces it broke into have been painstakingly glued.
A campaign has begun to find the boy who is thought to be aged about five.
Councillor Carole Jones hopes the little boy will see the story of the broken jug has a “happy ending”.
Let’s spread this and see if he gets to see the completed work!
I feel so sorry for this boy! It’s also accepted that museum workers will eventually break an object – everybody makes mistakes.
Looks like flying is coming to draenor after all! 😀
BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
there u go
“In an upcoming Public Test Realm build, we will be introducing a new meta-achievement called Draenor Pathfinder. You’ll earn this achievement in Patch 6.2 by mastering the outdoor environment of Draenor—exploring Draenor’s zones, collecting 100 treasures in Draenor, completing the Draenor Loremaster and Securing Draenor achievements, and raising the three new Tanaan Jungle reputations to Revered. Initially, this achievement will award a rylak mount: the Soaring Skyterror, one of the native beasts that roam Draenor’s skies. Players will remain ground-bound on Draenor until a small follow-up patch (6.2.x), when all players who have earned Draenor Pathfinder on at least one character will unlock the ability to fly in Draenor on all their level 90+ characters.”
“Look we tried to be nice and make you explore with limitations, now you HAVE NO CHOICE. U WANT IT. YOU WORK FOR IT!” Blizzard confirmed for stressed mother who came in to find the dishes weren’t done!
We still think a 6.1 patch seems like a pretty reasonable point where flying would become available in Draenor, likely with some kind of aforementioned prerequisite.Maybe it’s gold, maybe it’s some kind of epic quest, maybe something more straightforward. But we’re staying open to changing that post-release if it seems like it’s working out really well and we want to keep rolling with it. I’m digging that there seems to be a pretty reasonable mix of beta experiences here though. Definitely looking forward to feedback when we get to the max-level content too.
