Tina Nezic - Shallow Hal: Question #3

In the beginning of Shallow Hal, it is obvious that Rosemary has low self esteem when it comes to her self image. She came to a realization with herself that she will always be unattractive and overweight. Because of this mind set she comes to a conclusion that no man will ever love her for her; or if a man is trying to get into a relationship with her she’d think that it’d be a joke because of the way she looks, or for a way for him to get to her successful father, Steve Shanahan. When she first meets Hal, Rosemary is shocked with the fact that he wants to keep seeing her and confused as to why he keeps on complimenting her when she sees and everybody else sees her as obese and unattractive. When Rosemary finally begins to let Hal into her life she begins to mentally change as to how she views herself as a woman. Because Hal gave her the attention she hadn’t ever gotten before it boosted her confidence tremendously. She began to view herself as a beautiful strong woman and slowly came to a realization that there is someone out there who will truly love her for her. Hal brought out the woman Rosemary truly was.

            If I were a friend of Rosemary I would definitely give her a few good pointers. For starters, I would tell her that no matter how men or society in general might view her she should always love herself no matter what hatred she might get toward others. Life is full of people who will constantly try to put others down and Rosemary shouldn’t let ignorant people like that take control of her life. I would tell her that her shape and looks will never be as important as to what is on the inside. When a woman is proud of whom she is and has a strong personality that is what makes her beautiful; make up, clothes, or money isn’t what makes a woman a woman, it’s what’s in the inside that matters. A last pointer that I would give her is a saying that my grandma always told me. Because my grandma told me this saying in my native language (Serbian) it’s hard to explain it in English, but I’ll try to make it as clear as possible. In her words (translated), every rag finds a rag. This means that no matter what a person will always find someone for them. There are so many people out there in the world that it’s impossible to not find a significant other. For this case, Rosemary thought that she would never find someone that would truly love her, but in the end she found Hal.