Will fat people ever find their Martin Luther King?

Seriously, how much more abuse are fat people going to take before they get together and march on Hollywood to demand equal treatment under the MPAA? Beyond its potential to start a tsunami of a political movement, the prospect of a "million fat march" should be a matter of national concern as it will likely also devastate all crops and food stores in its path. But seriously, who among the oppressed obese will finally stand up to the ridicule, and before the hushed mob on Hollywood and Vine rise up and say, firmly and with righteous conviction: "I have… an ice cream."

See? It's just too easy. I can't help it. I have… a theme: It's open season on the obese, and in "Norbit" Eddie Murphy takes full advantage of every easy potshot in sight. It's the humor equivalent of one of those "hunting parks" full of birds that have already had their wings clipped (the ones that Dick Cheney seems to be so fond of).

Perhaps the craziest thing about a film where the male star cross-dresses as a fat, outrageous black woman is that it's already been done ("Big Momma's House"). Twice. ("Diary of a Mad Black Woman.") Perhaps Murphy thought that the previous films didn't fully plumb the emotional complexity the genre had to offer. Or perhaps he knew box-office would increase from Google searches for "Eddie Murphy and cross-dressing." Either way, he dives right in, playing geeky Norbit, his horrible obese wife Rasputia and walking Asian caricature Mr. Wong. Thandie Newton plays Norbit's startlingly thin soul mate.

The plot is simple: Fat women are mean, disgusting and evil. Thin women are beautiful, kind and deserving of twice the love. And if Thandie Newton is any indication, the thinner the better. She's not just thin; she's starvation thin, wasting-disease thin, Rex-Grossman-Super-Bowl-legacy thin. You spend most of her scenes wondering if she'll faint in the hot sun or blow away in a stiff breeze. It's seriously distracting. Not that Mr. Cranky would throw her out of bed for eating crackers. Let's get real here.

However, casting the ridiculously thin Netwon as the counterweight to the ridiculously obese Rasputia makes it seem like the film is going beyond a simple comedy to underscore the point that fat people are unredeemable and should just throw themselves in front of a speeding bus, killing themselves and everyone in the bus in the process. I'm not sure whether to laud this film or revile it for refusing to add the tiniest shred of PC garnish to that harsh message.