Dying to be thin

Produced by WGBH / NOVA, c.2000

Run Time: 60 minutes

Recommend for grades 6+
Actors: Susan Sarandon
Directors: Larkin McPhee

A Nova documentary about anorexia nervosa and the people afflicted with it.  It was recommended in Booklist’s Notable Children’s videos for 2002.  It is an objective examination of the disease, narrated by Susan Sarandon.  It does not glamorize it, as some films can unintentionally, and it presents a broad spectrum of patients – not just young pretty ones are shown.  Strikingly, a former ballerina, now in her 60’s, is shown hobbling along with the help of a walker, her legs wasted thanks to anorexia, interspersed with images of her dancing as a beautiful young woman.  This film is really something to see; it hits the point on what it looks like when your anorexic

I thought this film could be incorporated into a “Love the Skin You’re In” event at the library.  I thought a night for middle school girls to come in and get either a manicure or henna tattoo, maybe get someone who sells youth-oriented skin care products to do facials, and then maybe have a station where girls can re-design t-shirts using a couple of books that are popular recently.