Real Women Have Curves (2002)

Director:

Patricia Cardoso

Writers (WGA):

Josefina Lopez (play)
George LaVoo (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

8 November 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Real women take chances, have flaws, embrace life...

Plot:

This is the story of Ana, a first generation Mexican-American teenager on the verge of becoming a woman...

Plot Keywords:

Womens Lib | Faked Pregnancy | Overweight | Beautiful Girl | Size Positive

Awards:

7 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

America Ferrera	...	Ana Garcia
Lupe Ontiveros	...	Carmen Garcia
Ingrid Oliu	...	Estela Garcia
George Lopez	...	Mr. Guzman
Brian Sites	...	Jimmy
Soledad St. Hilaire	...	Pancha
Lourdes Perez	...	Rosali
Jorge Cervera Jr.	...	Raúl Garcia
Felipe de Alba	...	Grandfather
José Gerardo Zamora Jr.	...	Juan José
Edgar Lujan	...	Juan Martin
Lina Acosta	...	Norma
Celina Belizan	...	Glitz Receptionist (as Celina Belazin)
Ramona Garcia Coronado	...	Singing Woman
Marlene Forte	...	Mrs. Glass

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and some language.

Runtime:

90 min | Switzerland:87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Germany:o.Al. | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Bern) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13

Company:

HBO Independent Productions

Trivia:

The producers put out a casting call for girls who were "fat" or "overweight", and had thousands of girls show up who were clearly not fat or overweight, but all thought that they were.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Ana's boyfriend, about to graduate from high school, says he will now go to "Teachers College." Teachers College is a graduate school only; it has no undergraduate program.

Quotes:

[Rosali has just said she looked like a cow]
Ana: If you're a cow, then I'm a hippo.
Estela: And I'm an elephant.
Pancha: [laughing] And I'm Orca.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 2003 IFP Independent Spirit Awards (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Tenemos La Culpa

Comments on the Film

A coming of age story in which Ana (America Ferrera) deals with the effects of tradition, gender, social class and race on her future and on her family. The cinematic gaze on Ana is that she is a healthy sized Latin woman with curves and intelligence coming from a lower class family. Certain stereotypes of Latin people and women are reinforced in this movie in the form of Ana's mother, Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros) and sister, Estela (Ingrid Oliu), which are then in turn critiqued by Ana. For example, Ana's sister owns a clothing sweat-shop which relies on the upper class white people for everything. Estela fears the upper/dominant/powerful class, while Ana confronts them and makes her demands perfectly clear without compromising herself. Ana's mother has revolved her life around getting married and raising a family, while Ana refuses to compromise her future and dreams by taking a husband and household on before she really wants to.

The movie revolves primarily around Ana's college application. This is the plot device whose effects progress the film. The scholarship to the University is dependent upon the fact that Ana is a minority, and without the scholarship, Ana and her family make it clear that they could not financially afford to send Ana to college, which would then reproduce stereotypes of women and minorities of being less financially stable.

Eventually, both despite and with the help of her gender, race and social and economic class, Ana is able to advance herself and develop a sense of confidence in herself and her identity.