For many of us, our relationship to our body is a complicated one. Not least because of the existence of the patriarchy.
Here with some words of wisdom is none other than Emma Thompson, who has a nude scene in her upcoming film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. In the scene, she looks at her unclothed body in a mirror with a look of neutrality. Speaking to Stephen Colbert about the significance of that scene, Thompson talked about her own relationship to her body.
“I think that I started hating my body when I was about 14,” she said. “I think those neural pathways are kind of well carved into my soul. I know we laugh, but you think of all those eight-year-olds out there going ‘I don’t like my thighs.'”
Colbert asked Thompson if she had a message for 14-year-olds who are experiencing poor body image.
“Don’t waste your time, don’t waste your life’s purpose worrying about your body. This is your vessel, it’s your house, it’s where you live, there’s no point in judging it, absolutely no point, but it’s very hard to do,” she said.