"You can always be thinner, look better," growls Patrick Bateman, the infamous protagonist of American Psycho. "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels," Kate Moss controversially declared.

We have long been surrounded by a relentless pursuit of thinness in film and media. But overweight characters, particularly those depicted humanely, are far and few between in the film industry.

The Whale, directed by Darren Aronofsky, tries to address this. It centres around a morbidly obese English teacher, Charlie, trying to reconnect with his estranged adolescent daughter.

Aronofsky claims that The Whale was intended to humanise people who suffer with obesity: "This film shows that we are all human."

But the critics have been unsparing. One accused the director of treating Charlie as an "unsightly object of pity", while writer Roxane Gay described it as "egregiousNoticeably bad. ", "exploitative and at times cruel".

Most of all, the film has been described as "fatphobic". It is a term increasingly in the public consciousness. Specialists describe fatphobia as more casualised than other forms of discrimination, although it is ubiquitousEverywhere..

Studies show that people who are fat are more likely to face bullying, to have their health problems dismissed by doctors, and to be convicted by juries. In the workplace, overweight people are hired less, have a lower average salary and receive fewer promotions.

One study even suggests that for every six pounds gained by an American woman, her hourly rate of pay drops by 2%.

Where have these views come from? Artefacts indicate that our oldest beauty standard was fullness, especially in women. VenusIn mythology, the Roman goddess of love, beauty, desire and fertility. figurines, statues from up to 25,000 years ago, depict large, curvaceous women whose bodies symbolised fertility and beauty.

But by the Middle Ages in Europe, the Church was extolling the virtues of a skeletally thin frame, regarded as a sign of commitment to Christian values of underindulgence and asceticismSevere form of self-discipline and avoidance of all types of indulgence. Typically practised for religious reasons..

In the Baroque period, the scales tipped again in favour of larger bodies, which were symbolic of the joys of sensual pleasures - food, alcohol, a life without work. 

That is, until the end of the 18th Century and the dawn of the Industrial RevolutionA period of sudden, rapid industrialisation that transforms a country from an agricultural to an industrial economy.. Both aesthetically and practically, thin bodies were in vogue.¹

In the 20th and 21st Centuries, these fluctuations became yet more volatile. In authoritarian and fascist regimes, thin but toned bodies were feted as signs of self-discipline. In free America, by contrast, full bodies were viewed as symbolic of the luxuries of capitalism.

And where slim bodies used to hint at poverty, now some say they symbolise wealth. A third of 11-year-olds in England's poorest areas are obese. Campaigners say unprocessed, healthy foods are becoming unaffordable, leading to a proliferation of health problems among lower income groups.²

Some say this proves that body size is political. And though many say it tends to overlap with other forms of prejudice - including racism, sexism and classism - there is still startling ignorance about fatphobia.

"Stories have an impact. They contribute to perception," Roxane Gay says. But telling them in the right way is harder than it may seem.

Yes: The important thing is that obesity is being dealt with on screen. Fat people are often rendered invisible in the media and this representation could be a step towards featuring more of their stories.

No: Perhaps if the film had been more humanising, it could have touched on some important issues with sensitivity. However, this film did not hit the mark and has probably done more harm than good.

Or... We should not be looking to films at all to get rid of fatphobia. Each of us needs to work on our own individual prejudices and on campaigning to stop fat people from being discriminated against.