Let Me Have Men About Me That Are Fat

"Would he were fatter!" Julius Caesar says in the Shakespeare play that bears his name. He is speaking of Cassius, whom he says has a "lean and hungry look: He thinks too much: such men are dangerous" (Shakespeare, 176). Of course, Caesar's comments are directed more at Cassius' political ambitions than his actual physical appearance, but nonetheless, these lines have not only frustrated portly would-be-Cassii for hundreds of years, they have had a lasting and profound impact on how an audience equates physique with power in dramatic production.

Simply put, well fed men, politically speaking, should be fat. Or if not fat, at least less attractive than the proverbial good guy. Perhaps more effeminate, or short. If all else fails and the actor really is a handsome guy, in the case of figures of power, his looks should be suppressed, possibly by contrast to the 'hero,' or just not exploited visually through any means. Ambitious men, on the other hand, are somewhat thinner. Like Cassius, their appetites are yet unfulfilled, or perhaps fulfilled in the course of the dramatic action.

Generally speaking, these assumptions hold true for films which fall into the Roman genre. Considered here will be three films in particular, Quo Vadis, Demetrius and the Gladiators, Titus, and Gladiator.

 

 

In Quo Vadis, the figure of power is Nero, played by the brilliant and disturbing maniacal Peter Ustinov. At the risk of insulting this fine actor, I must point out that he is not, as you might say, a specimen of bodily perfection. Mr. Ustinov, while fabulous, is a bit on the chubby side. Thus he falls into the first category. His power is at its height and he has grown healthy on reaping its benefits. He is contrasted in the film against the strikingly handsome and certainly less round actor Robert Taylor (right). Taylor, however, as the hero, is not ambitious. He is not 'lean and hungry,' but rather of a body type that could be said to be just right, so to speak.

 

 

 

 


Peter Ustinov as Nero


Robert Taylor as Marcus Vinicius
In Demetrius and the Gladiators, the emperor is Caligula played by the equally brilliant Jay Robinson. While at the outset of this film, Caligula is already emperor, it must be recalled that this film is a sequel to Koster's 1953 epic The Robe, in which Caligula's ascension to the throne takes place. Keeping this in mind, let us examine his physique. He is not fat. In fact, he is thin, disturbingly so some might say. Thus he is a Cassius, driven by a lust for power. In contrast to the spindly and lean Robinson, the protagonist of the film is Demetrius, the ex-slave and Christian who took the robe of Christ from his feet at the Crucifixion. Demetrius is played by the incomparable, illustrious beefcake Victor Mature. Obviously, Mature is the more handsome, the more physically fit, and the more attractive of the two.


Jay Robinson as Caligula


Victor Mature as Demetrius

Cummings and Hopkins
 Julie Taymor's Titus offers a visually surrealistic adaptation of the already sadistically violent Shakespeare play Titus Andronicus. The evil (fictional) emperor of this work is Saturninus played by Alan Cumming. Like Robinson's Caligula, his position is precarious, having been installed as emperor at the opening of the work. He too is lean, almost anorexic. So again, a thin frame reflects a driving ambition, starved physically as its entire appetite is bent on a craving for power. The contrast in this film is harder to make. Its protagonist Titus is, as only Shakespeare can illustrate, a figure whose actions the audience may have difficulty relating to. In the film, this character is played by Anthony Hopkins. His physical appearance mirrors his sympathetic ambiguity in that Mr. Hopkins is not exactly fat, but not thin either. He looks like, in all respects, what a gentleman of his age and position should look like, much as the character Titus should. He does not aspire for power, in fact he turns down the offer to be emperor. Yet he is not all powerful as the emperor is, and his weakness is displayed by the much less visually imposing Saturninus.
Lastly, there is Ridley Scott's blockbuster Gladiator. This film brings to life the historical emperor Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix. Initially, this figure is hard to place. He is most certainly ambitious, even hailing it as his primary virtue. He is not fat. He is not exactly thin, at least, not to the point of a 'lean and hungry' look. He is, by any objective standard, an attractive man. However, his looks are not capitalized on within the film as those of protagonist Maximus (Russell Crowe) are. His physique, while impressive, is masked and overshadowed by the more hunky and less clothed Crowe.

Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe