Digital slimming is nothing new for, say, magazine covers or ads. But one place we didn't expect to see the controversial practice used was in Suicide Squad, the 2016 film that won an Academy Award despite having a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. (The Oscar was for "best makeup and hairstyling." But still.)
A YouTube video posted Monday appears to show the digital retouching process that Sony Pictures Imageworks used to create the Suicide Squad visual effects. The studio added a lot of effects to Delevingne's character, Enchantress, to make her costume look super badass. But if the viral video is any indication, Imageworks may also have used the digital process to flatten the model-actress's stomach.
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If you don't want to watch the full effects video, Delevingne's transformation takes place between the 1:20 and 1:31 marks in the clip below.
As Marie Claire points out, there does appear to be digital slimming going on. Just look at the two thumbnail images on the video for side-by-side confirmation.
To be fair, Imageworks isn't hiding anything — the new video is actually an extended version of one the effects studio posted on Youtube in March. The Imageworks video shows the same retouching on Enchantress.
If Suicide Squad did use digital effects to slim Delevingne's body down, that's really not okay. Enchantress is just as powerful a character no matter what size her body is.
Sadly, this is far from the first time that women have undergone undue retouching for superhero/villain movies. The Wonder Woman trailer was criticized for its retouching of Gal Gadot's armpits — some fans wondered why there was no evidence of stubble, and one person noted that she "was raised on an island of women with no Schick advertisements." It may not seem like a big deal, but the underlying message — that women's natural bodies aren't good enough to sell movies — really isn't great.
Refinery29 has reached out to a rep for Warner Bros., as well as Imageworks, for comment on this story. We will update this post if and when we obtain a response.
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