Jennifer lawrenceThe obvious reason Winter's Bone actress Jennifer Lawrence and others were nominated for Best Actress Oscars last night: They can act. But what we don't seem to remember is they're likely performing when they're off-screen, as well -- especially when they're giving interviews or "eating."

"Eating" in quotes, because, as a recent brilliant New York Times article reports film publicist Jeremy Walker puts it, many skinny actresses frequently put on a show known as the "documented instance of public eating," or DIPE.

DIPE can be summed up by this coy little quote from Lawrence to the interviewer doing a piece on her for Esquire magazine:

I’m freakish about breakfast. You’re not gonna order, like, fruit or something, are you? Because I’m gonna eat.

Then, of course, the interviewer has to let us all know that the waifish blond “orders the eggs Benedict without looking at the menu." Because, FYI, she can and does actually EAT!

There seem to be people who actually feel bad for these actresses, because they obviously have no choice but to turn meals into PR stunts. It's kind of like they're damned if they do, they're damned if they don't -- wolf down a plate of mac 'n' cheese or fried chicken, or whatever. Because if they order a salad, they'll be cast as a self-obsessed twig. They're left with no choice but to prove to the person writing a story about them that they eat like "totally normal women!"

But you know what? I don't feel bad for them. Going out of their way to make a show of eating fattening, high-calorie food is BS! It's an act. It's smoke and mirrors. They cannot possibly eat that way, despite cooing about their penchant for burgers and fries or spaghetti carbonara. 

I also don't get it, because when they do these interviews with glossy mags, aren't they supposed to be selling that Hollywood glam image? Who equates that with chowing down on lard-fried food? I don't need my red carpet-traipsing actresses to swear that they eat crap! I'd rather they were forthright enough to say, "Actually, I will be having the mixed organic greens with 2 ounces of salmon and a squeeze of lemon juice." But if a healthy diet isn't how they're maintaining that size 0 figure, and they're actually starving themselves or purging, I'd MUCH prefer to know that.

And you know what? The truth will set us free! So many of us "non-actresses" feel like we have to look like these women. But the worst part is that some of us think it's actually POSSIBLE to look like Minka Kelly even if you regularly just about ever stuff your face with double deep-dish bacon-laden pizza. Noooooo, ladies, please. It is a LIE!

So, please, Drew Barrymore (who loves to talk about her affinity for Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese), Cameron Diaz (who supposedly swears by burgers and fries), Cate Blanchett (who has made a point of ordering Parmesan-fried zucchini) -- refuse to dish out more DIPE lies! You'll be doing all of us "regular women" more of a favor than if you keep pretending you actually are "just like us."

What do you think about actresses who go out of their way to look like they eat junk?


Image via YouTube.com