This week, Sydney Sweeney found herself in yet another storm of body-shaming hate after pap pics of her lounging by her pool in her Florida home went viral. Instead of taking it lying down, she clapped back at the haters by naming and shaming the commenters. It was brilliant. While it’s undeniably shitty that body shaming is something Sydney — and many other starlets — have to deal with, I feel like this shifting discourse could be good for her career. Hear me out.
Sydney Sweeney is objectively beautiful. You simply can’t deny it! To use internet parlance, her body is tea and her face card never declines. If you look at the roles that made her famous — Cassie in Euphoria, bratty teen Olivia in The White Lotus, and most recently Beatrice opposite Glen Powell in Anyone But You — her looks are part of her character. If you throw in Sydney’s hobby of fixing old cars into the mix, you’d think she was written by a man. (In fact, that character was written by a man: Megan Fox played her in Transformers.)
Recently, the actor has stepped away from the blonde bombshell trope. She’s played a nun in the horror film Immaculate and now, she is currently filming a biopic about American professional boxer Christy Martin.
In the ring, Christy was known as The Coal Miner’s Daughter and she became such a legend within the sport that she helped to legitimise female boxers worldwide. Behind the scenes, Christy was enduring a much darker reality. She was gay and suffering abuse at the hands of her much older, violent husband and manager, Jim Martin.
She had also developed a cocaine habit — which was supplied by her then-husband. Christy’s secret life was hidden up until November 2010, when Jim shot her in the chest and stabbed her three times.
Against all odds, she survived, going on to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and marry her former boxing rival, Lisa Holewyne.
So, as you might have gathered, playing Christy — a physically muscular, mentally powerful, gay woman — is a little bit different to a lusted-after teenager still learning how to navigate her place in the world.
The world first found out about Sydney’s upcoming portrayal of Christy in October, when paparazzi pictures of the actor on set were shared online before the project was announced publicly. With her stylised dark, mullet-esque hair and 80s fit, people were pretty shocked to see Sydney look so different. And dare I say, masc.
In response, the actress White Lotus star shared her own behind-the-scenes pics, creating waves and headlines with her transformation.
“Well, the cat’s out of the bag thanks to some paps in bushes so here’s a little BTS from the film I’m working on right now,” Sydney wrote on Instagram.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been immersed in training to bring to life the story of an incredible woman—a true champion who fought battles both inside and outside the ring. her journey is a testament to resilience, strength, and hope, and I’m honoured to step into her shoes to share her powerful story with you all.”
Despite many positive comments praising her for the transformation, there was an overwhelming amount of people — predominantly men — tearing down the starlet for the change in her appearance.
Then, fast forward to this week, the online hate reached fever pitch when Sydney was papped in her own home, unposed yet looking fit and healthy in a bikini.
Comments like “Quite frumpy, isn’t she?”, “whoever this individual is, she has a horrible body”, and “butterface” went viral. One tweet sharing the pictures, which straight up told women to “stop getting fat”, was seen by more than 16 million people, and liked almost 5k times.
While there is a strong chance that these people have never seen a woman’s body up close and personal, these comments are indicative of chauvinistic, misogynist views that don’t seem to find value in women who aren’t deemed fit for objectification by traditional, hetero standards.
The thing is, pretty privilege has two sides. Yes, it can undoubtedly help land roles and help people get their foot in the door. But for women in Hollywood, it can be hard to break out of the shackles of objectification and the male gaze. Many women, like Sydney Sweeney, struggle to actually be taken seriously within their craft.
Just take Charlize Theron, whose role as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster saw her shift from starlet to acclaimed and “serious” actor, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in the process. Without the gloss and glamour of a bombshell role, her undeniable talent was taken seriously. She was always incredible, but it took stripping back her beauty for people to finally take note.
Director Niki Caro, who cast Charlize in her film North Country in 2005, touched on the way Monster helped to shape Charlize’s public perception.
“You’ve got to be pretty to get their attention, but then that becomes your prison, as well,” she said.
“[Charlize] was never given an opportunity until she took the opportunity herself with Monster to show people just how much depth and how much character she’s got.
“Her physical transformation was really interesting and astounding, but it was her emotional transformation, what she was doing emotionally in that film. Her work was unbelievable.”
The commentary around Sydney Sweeney this week was horrendous. Body shaming is never appropriate, and never kind.
But in this case, maybe it’s exactly what Sydney Sweeney needed to finally be liberated from the male gaze and actually be taken seriously for her work. As shitty as that is.
