To The Bone
'To The Bone’ was released on Netflix in 2017 and stars Lily Collins as Ellen, a college dropout dealing with anorexia, mirroring the actress' own issue with an eating disorder as a teenager.
Director Marti Noxon's movie had been criticized for promoting eating disorders, despite her objections.
In an interview with TV channel Window to the World, Illinois-based Northwestern University psychology professor Renee Engeln said: “There’s a very real sense in which the film could be used as a how-to manual for someone struggling with eating disordered behavior. From my perspective, a good film about anorexia doesn’t provide a how-to manual; it doesn’t show close-ups of ribs and spines like this film does.”
Noxon - who also struggled with anorexia - hit back, telling Vanity Fair: “We didn’t want to show a whole lot of behavior [and] make it aspirational. But we also wanted to tell the story in a way that felt authentic. So, it was a tricky balance.”