The Normal Heart and “sickly” body: The case of Matthew Bomer’s extreme weight loss

ABSTRACT

Actors often lose or gain weight to satisfy specific esthetics for their roles. When Matt Bomer reportedly lost forty pounds for The Normal Heart, public discourse went well beyond the typical explanation for the weight loss. That discourse explained Bomer’s body transformation as a part of his sacrificial duty to the gay community. Rhetors positioned Bomer’s weight loss as a sacrifice to educate, envision, and justify a united gay community that would continue to act to address the many challenges the community continued to face. Yet, the case of Bomer’s extreme weight loss also serves as a cautionary tale about how exclusionary norms, including whiteness, ageism, and ableism, circulate within rhetorical efforts to build and sustain community. The essay provides insights into the relationships among bodies, public memory, commemoration, and community.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV/AIDS
• community
• public memory
• rhetoric
• film

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Throughout this manuscript, I use “gay” or “gay men” largely because the discourse I am analyzing largely referred to only gay men. Because much of the discourse omitted lesbians, trans individuals, and non-binary people, I did not want my language use to imply that it did. Therefore, I use “gay” or “gay men” to maintain the precision of the analysis that likely would not have been possible with more expansive language, such as LGBTQ+. In addition, I use “gay” or “gay men” to highlight one of the ways in which the discourse failed to invite a broad, united LGBTQ+ community based on its language use. When I use broader language like queer or LGBTQ+, it is to mirror specific scholarly works that use broader language.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joshua H. Miller

Joshua H. Miller is an Assistant Professor at Texas State University.