WTF?!? I Am Sorry, But Rhoda Wasn't Fat!!!

[Brian Damage]

All I hear or read when Rhoda is described, is plump, chubby or just plain fat! WTF??? That is so far from the truth. Why did critics think that???

[Jude The Obscure]

I never understood that myself......and it's certainly that stupid Hollywood perception that has lead many a young woman to think their healthy bodies were "fat".

[Retro4Life]

I always assumed Rhoda just had a complex about weight, and that the writers themselves didn't consider her 'fat'. Plus having ultra thin Mary as a neighbor/best friend probably added to Rhoda's weight insecurities.

[LittleRickyII]

All I hear or read when Rhoda is described, is plump, chubby or just plain fat! WTF??? That is so far from the truth. Why did critics think that???

Because that is the perception the creators of TMTMS intended for people to have of her character. No, Valerie Harper was not fat, probably not overweight at all. But they dressed her in loose-fitting clothing to make her appear heavier than she really was, and gave her dialogue to back up that perception. By today's standards, though, she may not look overweight, even in the loose-fitting clothing. Obesity rates have doubled to tripled since TMTMS premiered in 1970. So what may have looked a little heavy then may seem close to normal today with so many people now carrying excessive weight (nearly half the population in some states today are obese).

[robyrob]

it was just schtick - she wasn't fat at all

too many women are overly sensitive about their weight unnecessarily, not just in the 70's but now as well.

also, most sitcoms back in the 70's were full of "fat jokes" so they seemed to want to play that angle a lot just for cheap laughs.

[old grouch]

Rhoda was a self-deprecating character who saw herself as fat. ('Why don't I just apply this chocolate directly to my hips?') Actually, Rhoda was quite pretty.

By the way, in the picture above, is it just me or is Mary wearing a quilt as a skirt?

[scotsguy]

Its well known that Valerie Harper did lose weight during her time on the MTMs but I agree she was never really that heavy.

They did dress Rhoda in unflattering baggy jeans or jogging pants to make her look heavy.

Julie Kavner looked heavier at the start of Rhoda,season1 but lost weight very quickly.

[rcbrad]

The Rhoda character was overweight at one point, especially as a child. The character and the actress did lose weight, as the MTM show continued. Valerie and Rhoda slimmed down and they both really did look great. (even before the weight loss too) I seem to hear more about the qualities of the character of Rhoda, instead of the weight issue though.

[McGillicuddy]

Do you think the portrayal of Rhoda on the first couple of seasons of TMTMS, wearing large dresses and baggy jeans, next to the fashionable Mary, could be compared to the frumpy looking Ethel by the side of the more glamorous Lucy, on I Love Lucy?

Of course they did allow Rhoda to evolve into a more confident woman with her weight loss.

[LittleRickyII]

Do you think the portrayal of Rhoda on the first couple of seasons of TMTMS, wearing large dresses and baggy jeans, next to the fashionable Mary, could be compared to the frumpy looking Ethel by the side of the more glamorous Lucy, on I Love Lucy?

Of course they did allow Rhoda to evolve into a more confident woman with her weight loss.

That's a very apt comparison, in more ways than one. Like Valerie Harper, Vivian Vance was never fat. She may have carried a few extra pounds, but she wasn't fat. And they dressed her in frumpy clothes to make her look heavier, just as they did with Valerie Harper. By the time her initial five-year contract ended, Vivian Vance insisted on better wardrobe in order to continue on series. Wish granted, of course, as she was so valuable to the series. And for the remaining four years, there were no more frumpy clothes. By the eighth season, she had also slimmed down and was looking rather svelte. At that point, you really did start to wonder sometimes what she was doing being married to that old man! In spite of this, the overweight jokes continued occasionally, even though the visuals didn't match the dialogue. I have in mind one scene in the episode with Danny Thomas where Lucy and Ricky are struggling to close a suitcase. In walks Ethel, slim as ever. She proceeds to sit on the suitcase, and of course it closes easily. The intended joke was that Ethel is so heavy, naturally the suitcase will close if she sits on it. But in reality, she looked every bit as slim as Lucy at this point! So the scene comes across as a bit strange. Someone watching this scene who was not familiar with the earlier, frumpy Ethel wouldn't get the joke.

[McGillicuddy]

Also, interesting, is that Vivian made a rare guest-star appearance on Rhoda. Valerie and Vivian may very well have felt they had a special bond.

[OOliver]

The character of Rhoda was created to be the foil to MTM, which meant she had to be the single 'unattractive' one who never gets the guy to Mary's slim and slender girl who gets the guy all the time.

To do this the directors had to make people believe she was fat and somewhat unattractive...by giving her frumpy big clothing, and telling everyone she was the ugly kid growing up.

To me, this just didn't work. You can see how pretty she was, and she was rather slender. We didn't see how thin she was until they started dressing her in more flattering clothing.

(This reminds me of the movie 'The Mirror Has Two Faces'. In the beginning, we're supposed to really believe that Streisand is overweight because she wears oversized sweatsuits and keeps 'Ring Dings' in a drawer?)