Society teaches us that the naked bodies of plus-size women are shameful, and it's a lesson we learn whether we want to believe it or not. Film and television have been great teachers in that way. Hollywood not only by mocks women outwardly for being plus-size (see: Shallow Hal, Norbit, or even "Fat Amy" from Pitch Perfect), it also erases plus-size women from narratives completely. With very few exceptions ( Kate from This Is Us, or Queenie from American Horror Story, to name recent examples), these women often don't get important story lines or the opportunity to show emotional complexity on screen. They are either rendered irrelevant or the butt of the joke. My mind immediately went to the latter.Was I right? Did Ford truly want these women on screen to make us laugh, to lighten the mood of an otherwise devastating story? Yes and no. Ford told Vulture that he originally intended for the women to represent America — gluttonous, tired, and sad — however, something changed for him when he actually met these women. In reality, they didn't represent any of the negative traits that Ford had imposed on them due to their bodies."I found [the women] so beautiful, so joyful, and so happy to be there." Ford explained. "They were so uninhibited, and I realised that actually, they were a microcosm of what the whole film was saying. They had let go of what our culture had said they’re supposed to be, and because of that, they were so totally free."I'm embarrassed that my first reaction to the opening scene was discomfort. No one's body alone should make someone else uncomfortable. However, unpacking the scene is a reminder that Hollywood rarely allows for complexities in its depictions of plus-size women: Ford may have seen the beauty in the gallery women, but it's worth noting that he still prefers casting thin, just as the rest of the industry does. Until that changes, I fear plus-size bodies will receive the same reaction as the one I initially had to them in Nocturnal Animals.