treatment

Tomorrow evening at 9 pm HBO will air Thin, a documentary directed by famous still photographer Lauren Greenfield that looks at the lives of four women trying to overcome eating disorders at the Renfrew Center in Florida, where she previously shot photographs. Greenfield has written about anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders before, once for a 1997 piece for Time. This is her first time directing.

Greenfield stayed at the center for six months in order to obtain access to the patients, their families, and the staff. The documentary will examine not only the women who have improved with the help of the center, but also those who did not, and one who was unable to continue when it was found out her insurance would not pay for her treatment. You can see a trailer for the documentary here.

I'd love to see more documentaries like this to balance out the onslaught of media images that make pencil-thin appear to be the norm, when anyone with optic nerves knows that's not the case. Not to say that overweight men aren't also stigmatized, but it's especially true for younger women and girls.

The family of Chris Farley has given approval for his image to be used on outdoor advertisements for alcohol and drug treament from Hythiam Inc. The ads will feature a photo of Farley and the text, "It Wasn't His Fault." Chris Farley died eight years ago from an overdose of morphine and cocaine, at the age of 33.

The first billboard will appear on Monday near the Chateau Marmont, the hotel on Sunset Boulevard where fellow SNL alum John Belushi died of a drug overdose in 1982. Several other billboards will appear in the Los Angeles area. Executives for Hythiam Inc. say they are in negotiations with the estates of other dead celebrities to use their images for the same campaign.