‘Love Actually’ Director Regrets Film’s Weight Jokes, Which ‘Aren’t Funny’ Anymore: ‘I Was Behind the Curve…I Was Unobservant’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Love Actually” writer-director Richard Curtis admitted at the Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival (via Today) that he regrets the many weight-centric jokes he wrote into his 2003 Christmas classic.

The character Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) is often mocked for her weight throughout the film, with her dad calling her “plumpy,” a colleague noting she has “huge thighs” and her love interest (Hugh Grant) saying “God, you weigh a lot” after she jumps into his arms. “I remember how shocked I was like five years ago when [my daughter] Scarlett said to me, ‘You can never use the word ‘fat’ again,'” Curtis said. “And wow, [she was] right.

I think I was behind the curve, and those jokes aren’t any longer funny, so I don’t feel I was malicious at the time, but I think I was unobservant and not as clever as I should have been.” Many of Curtis’ films have come under fire in recent years for being outdated, especially when it comes to featuring predominantly white casts.

Such is the case in films like “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “Notting Hill.” “I think because I came from a very un-diverse school and a bunch of university friends,” Curtis said when asked about the lack of diversity in his films. “[With] ‘Notting Hill,’ I think that I hung on to the diversity issue, to the feeling that I wouldn’t know how to write those parts.