Upcoming Amy Schumer flick is the epitome of white feminism

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Schumer’s upcoming film, “I Feel Pretty,” is scheduled to release next month.

The trailer for Amy Schumer’s new movie, “I Feel Pretty,” will be releasing in a month and needless to say it’s…problematic. In the 2:31 minute long trailer, Amy Schumer starts out as a plain Jane, named Renee, who struggles with finding her size at a clothing store and getting the attention of a bartender. Then, when she falls off her bike and hits her head in a cycling class, she alas, remains a plain Jane, but suddenly acquires unshakable confidence. With this new confident view of herself, Renee struts around in short dresses and befriends a man she meets at the laundromat, which predictably develops into a romantic relationship.

Although Schumer loves to brand herself as a dogmatic feminist, she comes closer to a white feminist than anything else. White feminism, defined, is a form of feminism that focuses on the struggles of white women with the assumption that all women experience oppression in the same way, failing to consider the fact that different women experience more oppression than just sexism. In her clumsily white-washed idea of beauty, Schumer seems to forget that the white, blonde, blue-eyed, straight and cis-gendered woman has always been the conventional standard for beauty.

Of course, Schumer chooses to ignore all these privileges she already possesses to point out: “I’M FAT!” Based on the trailer, Schumer perpetuates that the largest self-image problem women face today is about their weight and, of course, not complex societal oppressions like colorism or ableism. Although body positivity related to weight is an important topic to continue discussing and evaluating, it seems almost offensive that out of all these diverse issues facing women today, Schumer chose to make a movie about “being fat.”

Additionally, the storyline is so overplayed and unoriginal. Out of all the female-empowering, interesting issues women face every day that Schumer could have chosen to make her movie about, she chose to focus on a woman’s confidence in her physical appearance. That in and of itself, among the thousands of cliché makeover-ugly-duckling-to-total-babe films, prompts a long, exhausted sigh from the intersectional feminist movement.

While Schumer was busy filming this predictable disappointment of a movie, pop culture has been making advanced efforts to provide more diversity in the beauty, fashion and entertainment industries through the launch of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, fashion designers like Prabal Gurung and Tome hiring models of different ages, ethnicities and sizes and the release of movie titles like “Hidden Figures,” “Girls Trip,” “Coco,” “Power Rangers” and “Black Panther.” With all these new, diverse representations of people,“I Feel Pretty” almost feels like a step backwards and a slap in the face of diversity.

During an era of female-empowerment and representation, this movie seems to be out of place. However, to be fair, we must try and give this film the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps Schumer does discuss complex female issues in the film (e.g. sexism, colorism, and homophobia, among just a few). Maybe she has finally learned from her many many offenses (such as her distasteful parody of Beyonce’s “Formation” music video in 2016). Although it’s predictable what the movie be look like based on Schumer’s previous mishaps, it’s impossible to judge a movie by its trailer. So, here we sit, awaiting the release of this film on April 27. Then, the critics will do the talking.