Can you make a film about anorexia in a responsible way? Marti Noxon says she had to try
It’s a common rule of thumb among Hollywood screenwriters is to “write what you know.” For Marti Noxon, one of the things she knows a lot about is what it’s like to live with an eating disorder.
"First with anorexia and then it morphed into bulimia for about 10 years, starting when I was around 14 and then going until I was in my mid-20s," Noxon says. "And that was many years ago. I'm in my mid-50s now. So it took me a long time to figure out how to tell the story."
Noxon wrote and directed the new film “To the Bone,” which is now on Netflix. In the movie, Lily Collins plays a young woman named Ellen. Her eating disorder has become so life-threatening that she's sent to live in a group home with other people struggling with similar eating disorders.
Even though the subject matter seems grim, Noxon, whose writing credits include “Mad Men,” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer," has tried to make “To the Bone” a story with a sense of humor. The film co-stars Keanu Reeves as a therapist trying to treat not only Ellen, but also her entire family, who are largely unable and unwilling to do what’s best.
When Marti Noxon spoke with The Frame's John Horn, she talked about how she approached this difficult and triggering subject.
