Any points that Eddie Murphy might have gained from his performance in Dreamgirls was surely negated, and even trumped by this vile concoction of distasteful images and vulgarly offensive "comedy" that is Norbit. There's not much else to be said about the film.
I would expect this type of buffoonery from the Wayans brothers (it was no shock that Marlon was a character in this). And Katt Williams has made his whole career as a comedian by playing on a racial stereotype and performing self hating and degrading comedy. But I figured Eddie Murphy for much more class than this.
My sister has pointed out to me on a number of occasions that Eddie Murphy has a dark skin complexion complex. She has noticed his choices of leading women, and even his tendency to make darker skinned women the "bad guy" in his films while lighter skinned women are the desirable women of the main character's dreams. I'd argue with her, but I was never convinced of my own stance. Today I say she's right. (And I tell you, I feel terrible for that girl who played Young Rasputia.) ...
I found this film to be every bit as offensive as Soul Plane, and likely more damaging. Soul Plane was nothing more than a 90 minute skit based on stereotypes. The people in that film didn't have a lot of choices as far as their film careers go, so they did that piece of crap. But Norbit is a film that is legitimized by the presence of a true star with choices. And though I found it to be very offensive as a black man, I thought that it was much more abusive to overweight people and to people who don't fit a certain ideal of beauty.
The film is sickening.
