Whether we want to or not, we all fit a “type.” We have a look or a shape or a demeanor that throws us into a particular category. No one knows this better than actors. Actors try to be chameleons, but at the end of the day, they’re told in every audition room just why they’re not right for a part. But sometimes, the box they’re put into is just the right shape for a certain part.
Author Dan Radlauer has sought out to explore the themes of representation, intention, and the reality of Hollywood in his novel FAT: The Other F Word. Below is my review of the novel followed by an interview with Radlauer about his book.
FAT: The Other F Word plot summary
Quincy is a 14-year-old child actor who has just landed his first starring role in a major TV sitcom playing the comic relief middle child who uses self-deprecating fat jokes to get laughs. The role is a dream job for Quincy who, up until now, has only landed commercials and parts in small indie films. The excuse to get out of school paired with the opportunity to be funny and act as his alter ego, Jack Diller in front of a live audience, feels like the role of a lifetime.
But just after he lands the part, a health scare forces Quincy to have to watch his weight, necessitating major changes to his eating habits and physical activity. As he loses weight, the need to continue to look as heavy as he was when the show started presents a challenge to both Quincy and the showrunners, forcing them to come up with creative ways to keep him right for the part.
At the same time, Quincy receives mixed reactions about his character. Some find him refreshing and comical. Others find him offensive and stereotypical. Over time, Quincy finds the pressures of the job overwhelming as he finds himself torn between his dream job and those telling him that that dream job makes a mockery out of a group with which he has always identified. He then begins to question whether he wants to continue to play the part or give it all up in order to stop the abuse.
The story
FAT: The Other F Word is essentially an entertaining novel full of unexpected twists and turns with some deep and difficult issues that are explored within its pages. A story set in Hollywood featuring a child actor immediately drew me in, opening up numerous possibilities about how it could all unfold.
Front and center, though, is Quincy’s weight, which starts out as a personal struggle that he has learned to live with and develops into a public issue that others begin to tell him how to feel and approach. Timing isn’t always on our side during major life moments, and it can spoil a lot of moments that one has spent a long time imagining. This story depicts one of those moments.
Quincy’s dream part coincides with some alarming medical news which presents an unsurprising yet poorly-timed challenge while the growing opinion that his character is politically incorrect leads to unexpected consequences that Quincy could not even prepare for. It’s a situation that no 14-year-old should have to deal with, yet it’s one that’s increasingly expected of children who are thrust into the spotlight, whether willingly, unwillingly, or by accident.
The characters
Quincy is an optimistic, easygoing, extroverted kid who loves to poke fun at himself to show that he is comfortable in his own skin. He has lived as an overweight person his whole life, and because of that, mixed with his years of acting experience, he understands the character he is playing and plays it to the satisfaction of the head writer, Paul Akin.
Paul wrote the material specifically because he himself is overweight, as is his son, Jeremy. However, Jeremy doesn’t share in his dad’s approach to using humor as a way to help people see more than just his weight, and it has contributed to his success in the television industry.
This path is one that Quincy hopes to emulate. However, Jeremy willingly shares his differing opinions with Quincy and not only makes him think twice about the character he’s playing but also prepares him for similar opinions from a coalition that forms in protest of the show and the Jack Diller character in particular.
But Quincy has plenty of allies in his fight. There are his parents and little sister, Amy, who support his acting and love the show while helping him change his eating habits. His best friend and fellow actor, Cole, also fills him in on the news from the outside world while letting him vent via text and phone calls. And he finds an unexpected ally in his costar, Jessica Freeland, a teen star who is used to being judged for the way she looks and can relate to the microscope that Quincy has been put under.
The message
This novel centers around one boy’s story while throwing around several differing viewpoints, all of which are valid on different levels. However, some go too far in order to get their point across, and they make Quincy their target, putting the weight and the blame on the shoulders of a 14-year-old boy who was just trying to play a part and serve as a representative, not the representative of the fat community.
As the tension builds, you find yourself getting angry at the mob mentality of the protestors. You want to shake them for thinking that screaming in the face of a child actor is the right way to help their cause. Yet, it’s an effective and believable tactic that heightens the drama and gives Quincy pause.
The story is teen-friendly in its execution and content. However, it deals with very mature social issues with which today’s teens should no doubt be familiar as they show up on every corner of our cultural conversations. And Radlauer does an excellent balancing act of representing differing viewpoints without putting one front and center. Weight is a sensitive topic, and no sensitive topic has a simple answer.
My recommendation
FAT: The Other F Word is an entertaining yet deep read about show business, weight issues, and social justice. It does run a little long and tends to repeat itself in driving home Quincy’s conflicts. I would have liked to have seen the TV show that Quincy is on developed further to make it feel like a more believable show as well as a more organic on-set experience rather than glossing over the details. Quincy’s jokes didn’t always land either, though it’s hard to translate humor to the page, and I did get the gist that Quincy was trying to be funny in order to break the tension of the more serious issues at hand. But ultimately, the story has a fun premise with a deep and meaningful message behind it.
My rating
An interview with Dan Radlauer
How did you come up with the idea of having a child actor who lands their dream job as a starring role on a hit TV show and the pressure that comes with that job?
I started thinking about “character actors” and the “casting calls” that go out. For film, TV and commercials, casting will include all kinds of specific qualities. Including Fat** people. **(Please note that I’ve done a lot of research, and people in the Body Size movement prefer the word “Fat” over many other euphemisms; so I will use it freely). I wondered what the life of a Fat Kid actor would be like. At school or elsewhere, his size is often a liability, yet in Quincy’s case (he’s the main character) his size was his key to acting and success.
There are multiple conflicts at play in the novel including Quincy needing to control his weight for health reasons, the fear of losing his job as he loses weight, and the protests that occur as the result of his character’s tendency to poke fun at himself. Which conflict did you develop first, and how did the others evolve from this initial conflict?
The initial idea of the book is: What happens when you have an identity, and due to various circumstances, it’s threatened or taken away from you? Quincy’s size is his key to doing what he loves: ACT. He’s convinced that his “brand” is “Fat Kid Actor.” When he starts to lose weight, that brand is threatened. That was the original idea of the story. The other parts grew organically as I wrote and actually took over much of the plot. It was really fun to have these people and events hijack my keyboard and tell the story.
How planned was this book? Did you know the ending when you first started writing, or did it come later?
As I mentioned, the basic premise is this “loss of identity.” But I didn’t know where it would end up. I don’t want to give it away, but the ending happened very organically. As I wrote, I started to understand the characters better. At one point, I felt stuck, so I wrote the ending. Like a bridge, I could now build the middle that would lead to the ending. Then, I started another draft knowing where I would end up. That way, I could plant little things to make the ending or other events make more sense.
What part of the book was the most fun to write? The hardest?
The most fun was creating characters and giving them a voice. I’ve had some very nice comments on the “authenticity” of the dialogue. I also enjoyed trying to make it funny and/or poignant. I hope I succeeded. Clearly, the hardest was, as I said, the ending. I don’t want to give it away because many readers have said it didn’t end quite like they expected…so, I guess you’ll just have to read it and see…:) But the ending was a challenge, I hope you like it. Let me know! 🙂
Who, other than Quincy, is your favorite character?
I really loved writing Chloe. She is probably the most “caricatured” character. Then to start to chip away at what the reader assumed about her was fun. Jeremy was also fun because he was so passionate and focused. It was fun to borrow traits from many people in my own life and put them in fictional characters. I really worked at giving the characters dimension, not have them be predictable stereotypes. I also enjoyed showing “Hollywood” as just another workplace…which it is. People see the end result, not what goes into it.
Was the idea of featuring aggressive protestors in the novel meant to show people how NOT to try to get their message across to the public, or was it more to show how best to handle these types of people the way that Quincy is forced to in the novel?
I hope the protesters were believable. I didn’t see them as aggressive, but passionate. But, maybe I’m too close to it, since you saw them as aggressive. I just tried to show realistic people working to change the world and make it a better place.
Passion and anger is not always pretty. Quincy was caught between what he wanted: to act and enjoy his role in the TV show, and the possibility that some people who looked like him thought he was doing harm. Ultimately, he learned something about the world and himself, largely because of the protesters. Also, (and this is a BIG theme in the book) that the World isn’t Black and White…that almost any situation has mostly gray, with the extremists on either side.
Who do you most want to read this book? What message do you want readers to take away from the story?
I wrote this book to be entertaining. Along the way, I became educated in Sizeism and all the mixed messages around fat, health and diabetes. It was never meant to be any kind of manifesto or message about anything in particular. I created these characters and put them in the world as I see it.
A number of people helped me create authentic experiences for the fat characters. I am not fat; so I really appreciated their perspective. Barbara Bruno was especially helpful. She has been part of the Anti-Sizeism movement for decades and has been fat all her life. She helped me SO much with language and authenticity.
I also read blogs and websites from body positive activists. I don’t claim to have gotten it right, but I tried as best I could. I’m sure I’ll offend some and please others. I don’t have any real audience in mind. It’s pretty much a YA book, but mature readers seem to really enjoy it.
I hope it’s entertaining. Many have said it has made them think about fat and our culture. But I hope the real takeaway is that it was a fun read and made you think about something you might not have given much thought to.
This story feels complete to me. The last chapter called “The Way After Party” is as close as I’d ever come to a sequel…that is unless it was made into a movie and they wanted a sequel… little chance of that happening…
What’s next for you?
I’m always coming up with ideas. It’s the execution that is the challenge. A novel is a BIG time and energy investment, with very little potential payoff. I have my other career (composing music for Film, TV and commercials) which is good, because I doubt I’ll make much money as a writer.
The biggest payoff has been the many people who have enjoyed the book. I’ll speak with them and, just like the questions you posed, I see that they “got” the book. I’ve had comments like, “I cried twice,” or, “I couldn’t put it down,” or “it made me think.” Those are music to a writer’s ears. I’ll take that and hope I’ve given people some enjoyable time reading and possibly thinking some new thoughts.
Visit Dan Radlauer’s website to learn more about his music and writing careers here!
Buy a copy of FAT: The Other F Word on Amazon here!
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It’s great that he wrote about sizeism and how it impacts a young boy. most of these stories highlight hos girls deal with it.