Written By Alicia Lara
A few weeks ago I was at a barbeque at my friends Kyle and Tracy Ray’s house (a Mardi Gras themed BBQ, if you must know) where I struck up a conversation with Carrie Certa (here she is on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1395850/ ) She was talking about a project that piqued my interest, and the name of that project was “Plain Jen.” In between trying on feather masks and piling on the Mardi Gras beads I asked her about the film, as the name suggested, could it be?, a lead character that’s not society’s version of a perfect 10.
What inspired Ms. Certa to begin on this course of producing “Plain Jen?”
“I knew I would never be taken seriously as an ‘Action Star’ so I did the next
best thing, I wrote and produced ‘Plain Jen’ so I can show that ANYONE can be what they want to be. No one is plain or average. We are what we make ourselves and inside, I’m an action star, a hero. My main goal is to prove that someone like me, a size 10, can be taken seriously as an action actor. Name a feature film with a curvy woman in the lead, kicking some serious ass? Can’t? Okay, I’ll make it easier. Name a feature film with a curvy woman in the lead?”
Carrie admires brave women like Sara Rue, Melissa McCarthy, Amber Riley and Camryn Manheim (winning the Emmy for “all the fat girls!”) all of whom took on the industry, head-on, just as they are.
“We’re not fat, we are real women with curves. And we’re beautiful, damn it!”
I, for one, have to applaud taking on the daunting task of creating your own projects. I do the same thing, and know how much work is involved. This film comes from the heart—and real effort has been put into getting a role model out there for the women, who happen to make up a majority of the population, who are bigger than a size 4. Check out the film here: http://www.ursaproductions.com/Films/PlainJen.html
Size 4’s are still beautiful, it’s just that so are size 10’s, and 16’s, etc.! Variety is the spice of life…it’s great to see some new flavors being thrown into the mix.
Beautiful article empowering women! I love what you are doing here. Alicia is a new champion for women!
Thank you Kyle
Really great idea and I can’t wait to see the film. One of my favorite actresses is curvy gorgeous Queen Latifah. =D
Good call to mention Queen Latifah, Aleisha! Her confidence shines through and it’s inspiring.
This is a wonderful article Alisha. Been one of my pet peeves forever.
A man can be chubby and balding and have the hot size 2 wife but a chubby woman can’t have the so called hot man on a tv sitcom. And again like you said beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.
So many stereotypes need to be broken
Keep up the good work
So proud of this gal and her film! And you for bringing it to our attention!
Yes Ellen, let’s support efforts made to put ALL kinds of role models out there, not just one “type”.
This may be counter productive to the article, but I actually think “Plain Jen” is very pretty. ;P
Oh, I agree Karina!
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