Summary: The story of Portia de Rossi (Ellen deGeneres’ wife) during the time before she met Ellen. The story details her transition from a teenager in Australia to acting on one of America’s most popular shows, ‘Ally McBeal’. Her onscreen person was far from the body-conscious, anorexic, bulimic, distressed young woman who battled daily with food, exercise, and trying to maintain the perfect image.
Thoughts: This just goes to show you can’t always believe what you see/hear/read. Someone who’s life seemed perfect – attractive, rich, famous – was actually experiencing a horrific eating disorder. Her honesty is jarring – if someone so successful can feel so negative about herself, what hope do us ordinary folk have. Her rigid self-control is admirable, albeit for the wrong reasons, but the how and why she ended up almost dying from self-inflicted starvation makes for scary reading, especially as the perceived ‘perfect’ body image for young girls continues to permeate the media.
