Emme

As models get skinnier, the average American gets larger. According to statistics, 62 percent of females in the US are overweight, so one would think that there would be a huge market for plus-size apparel. However, retailers are hesitant to cater to these customers because of the stigma it still carries. The battle between real-life beauty and ego has marketers in a tricky situation. “When a woman sees herself in the mirror, despite her size, she still thinks Angelina Jolie, not Jennifer Hudson,” said retail consultant Emanuel Weintraub.

It's time to embrace real beauty and give Americans what they want: cute clothes that fit. Plus-size model Emme says it best: "When are retailers and manufacturers going to snap out of being narrow-minded and unable to see the enormous opportunity right under their noses? If they give a customer what she needs, wants and desires, she will be loyal for life.” I second that notion.

Source

Hey, reimagining Jane Austen's novel Emma so it takes place in SoCal and centers on a valley girl worked for Clueless, so I guess why not make a hip-hop version of the classic work? Set in a contemporary inner-city high school, this tweaked version of Emma will revolve around a stepbrother and stepsister and "will include at least 15 song-and-dance numbers." Variety has more:

Screen Gems topper Clint Culpepper said he came up with the idea for Emma, which will likely be redubbed Emme, after watching the music video "Lip Gloss" by Lil Mama.

"Now it's urban," Culpepper said. "This is the way it should be reimagined in the new millennium."

The inner-city high school setting is one thing — certainly no more far-fetched than Beverley Hills — but the 15 song-and-dance numbers is a whole other thing. I'll be extremely curious to see how this turns out.

To see the Lil Mama music video that inspired it all, click here.