Thin (2005)

Docs Rock

I don't understand why these girls want to deperately to go to this top of the line treatmant facility, only to get there and be unahappy. no one wanted to do the work. just a free ride to relive college dorm life once again and at an outstanding expence to their families. Excellent doc on the daily lives of the girls living at the facility November 19, 2008

A Film that Is a Little Thin

I watched the HBO documentary "Thin" because I thought it might lend some helpful insight for me to better understand eating disorders. Instead, I came away frustrated and still asking questions.

Directed by Lauren Greenfield, "Thin" is a documentary covering the lives of four sufferers of some type of eating disorders: Shelly, a psychiatric nurse who is 25; (b) Alisa is a divorced (?) mother of two and 30; (c) Polly, who is just a mess, and is 29; and (d) Brittany, who is 15. It is filmed at Renfrew Center in Florida, a center for eating disorders.

All of these women look horrible. Most have suffered some type of major organ damage because of their eating disorders, yet they still choose to pursue their own death. Polly, for instance, tried suicide because she (gasp) let herself eat two pieces of pizza. Shelly was on so many pills she probably should have also gone into detox. The one that affected me the most was 15-year old Brittany, who literally wanted to die rather than get fat. The fact that her own mother was her enabler (she, too, suffers from an eating disorder) made me all the madder. Watch for the part where Brittany tells about her and her mother's "chew and spit" cycle of eating, and then cringe when you hear her sob at the end when she tells another patient that she "misses being up at 2:00 a.m. changing her clothes all the time, and at least if she dies, she'll die thin."

I think that all these women have suffered some type of major trauma in their lives, but that was never touched on. Shelly and Alisa seem to have some kind of monsters they are running from, but you'll never know what those monsters are. I do not know if eating disorders are considered a mental illness. If not, they should be. However, these eating disorders remind me of ANY addiction: if these women refuse to admit they have a problem, no one can help them. There is no wonderful ending to this documentary. The outcomes are mostly stark and offer no resolution. August 11, 2008

Informative, but a bit misleading of Renfrew

Even though this documentary shows the cold truth about the struggles of eating disorders, they focus only on the drama (to sell more) and not in hope and success.

When my therapist recommended Renfrew for my treatment this summer, I told him there was no way I would go there. This documentary scared the hell out of me and I thought it wouldn't work. But he convinced me to give it a chance, for this documentary does not portray the goodness of the treatment. And he was right. The program does work. It might take more time for some people , but it works. While I was there, I also learned that they had follow this girl for the documentary, but they didn't put her on it... she did overcome her eating disorder. And I could tell you a whole lot more success stories.

This dvd is good for educating parents and friends of people with eating disorder so they can understand them better. But never for someone with an eating disorder because it may be triggering for them (believe me... I know).

Anyways... I'm all better now. Not that the struggle is over (it takes some time), but I'm a lot stronger and determined. We can beat this!! July 27, 2008

Good

Very good movie, but I should have just Netflix-ed it, it's not something that you will watch over and over. June 20, 2008

A great "How-to" for women with eating disorders

This documentary is very informational, and could help some people become more aware of how hard it is to live with an eating disorder and/or how hard it is to recover. Unfortunately, this shows many of the women's behaviors. Having once been a fairly innocent young woman without an eating disorder, I learned much of what I know now from films like this one.
Please don't buy this for your daughters with eating disorders, or who you think might be at risk for eating disorders. June 16, 2008

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