It's practically a part of her, largely indispensible and representative of her personality and insecurities. The food is not used to sexualize her or suggest how gluttonous or sloth-like she is, but rather to represent a piece of Bonnie that can be relinquished after some self-inspection and realization. Most importantly, the token food items are always accompanied by an expression of one of Bonnie's many emotions. Whenever she is pictured eating, the audience is given a glimpse into her vulnerability, considerable guilt, weakness, obsessions or a combination of many of those mentioned.

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             For example, when the family is sitting down to dinner and talking about Arnie's upcoming eighteenth birthday party, Bonnie is shown in a very fragile state. She talks about food almost obsessively and shows immense anger and sadness when Gilbert, one of her three sons, talks about their deceased father and Arnie repeatedly yells, "Dads dead! " Screaming, Bonnie urges Arnie to "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! I said stop it right now! " She is depicted in pure desperation, devoid of any power or conviction as Arnie continues to yell. Or a bit later in the film, where Bonnie is ironically pictured watching food infomercials, smoking cigarettes with plates strewn about her, you see her hopeless vulnerability. Amy, Bonnie's daughter, tells her mother that she "Made up that bed for you. Just in case you wanted to change." Bonnie replies weakly, "I'm happy right where I am." " This interaction between Amy and Bonnie is very indicative of Bonnie's emotions, depicted through the help of food, and her life as a whole. Although she's not completely convincing, Bonnie seems, at least at this moment, content with the direction her life is going. She represents the age-old stereotypical fat person; immensely lazy with an insatiable appetite and full knowledge their habits are making them obese. This harsh reality sets the stage for Bonnie's internal transformation that happens in the latter half of the film.