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A Matter of Size

Name: A Matter of Size
Director: Erez Tadmor, Sharon Maymon
Released: 2009
Duration: 90 min

Representation Score

6.7/10

Good

2009

Director

Erez Tadmor, Sharon Maymon

Runtime

90 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

A Matter of Size is a character study that disrupts conventional expectations of physical desirability. It avoids mocking weight, instead using Sumo as a vehicle for empowerment and dignity. The film succeeds in subverting standard social hierarchies regarding the human body. However, it lacks high-level multi-layered complexity. The narrative remains heavily focused on a male subculture and lacks explicit depictions of diverse sexual orientations or significant female roles.

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Category Breakdown

Does A Matter of Size have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film uses a coming-out metaphor to describe the protagonists' journey toward self-acceptance. Although it doesn't explicitly include non-straight identities, the underlying message aligns with queer narratives of identity reclamation.

How does A Matter of Size portray gender?

Fair

The story focuses on a male-dominated social circle and the camaraderie of four male friends. It lacks significant women's ability to drive the story or presence within the main storyline.

How racially and ethnically diverse is A Matter of Size?

Fair

The film introduces cultural diversity through a Japanese mentor and a Japanese restaurant, adding a nuanced layer of ethnic diversity within the Israeli setting.

How does A Matter of Size represent religion and culture?

Good

The narrative challenges Western beauty standards and the pressures of dieting culture by reframing weight as a source of communal honor through the lens of Sumo.

Does A Matter of Size include disability representation?

Good

The film treats physical size as a central identity marker rather than a source of mockery. It grants characters ability to act in redefining their relationship with their bodies.

Present on Screen

Subverts traditional beauty standards by framing physical size as a source of strength and honor.
Avoids 'inspiration porn' by granting overweight characters ability to act and dignity.
Introduces meaningful cross-cultural dynamics through the integration of Japanese Sumo culture.

Limited or Absent

Lacks significant women's ability to drive the story or presence in the primary narrative arc.
Provides limited explicit representation of non-straight identities.
Focuses heavily on a male-dominated social circle, limiting gender diversity.

Official Synopsis

Four overweight friends from the Israeli city of Ramle are fed up of dieting and the dieting club they belong to. When Herzl (155 kilos), the main protagonist, loses his job as a cook and starts working as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant in Ramle he discovers the world of Sumo where large people such as himself are honored and appreciated. Through Kitano (60 kilos), the restaurant owner, a former Sumo coach in Japan (who is supposedly hiding from the Yakuza in Israel), he falls in love with a sport involving "two fatsos in diapers and girly hairdos". Herzl wants Kitano to be their coach but Kitano is reluctant - they first have to earn their spurs. "A MATTER OF SIZE" is a comedy about a ‘coming out’ of a different kind - overweight people learning to accept themselves.

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