KEY ART ANALYSIS: Norbit

The emasculate reception

WHO: Norbit
WHAT: Comedy
WHEN: February, 2007 (Black History Month)
WHERE: $95M domestically, $69M internationally
WHY: The point of this key art is that the main male character will be oppressed/harassed physically and mentally by the leading female character.
HOW:                     

• the “smushed” wording
• the exceedingly robust (computer-generated) buttocks and arms
• the lingerie is significant in that it cues viewers in to the irrationality of the leading female who is myopic as to what “looks good on her,” blind and oblivious to how repulsive and shocking it may appear to onlookers who are attracted out of a macabre sense of fear and fascination
• the horrified look on the leading male’s face
• the race of the only two characters indicates the movie’s status as geared for minorities primarily, Blacks specifically
• the poster employs the services of internationally-recognized Black comedian Eddie Murphy in both roles
• dual characteristics of obesity AND race will provide the fodder for a majority of the jokes 

BOTTOM LINE: Any viewer going into this theater will unlikely expect: a) a high quotient of “serious” or important White characters in this Black movie world, b) stereotypical imagery surrounding big, Black women.