Julie’s father has a reaction of contempt: “what is all the fuss about? If Julie is unhappy, it’s because she doesn’t put in perspective her problems. And by the way, there are worse problems than those!”
At the cigarette break, her colleague Cerise strikes an other blow: “Yeah, you didn’t really want it.”
Bernard, the editorial manager, goes further. He has long identified his collaborator character and refers sententiously to “Julie’s general lack of will”.
Uncle Gérard has another discourse: “You have no weight problem, darling. You are perfect like that. Everyone is different, this is the salt of life. The secret of happiness it is to accept oneself. This is how one can find peace with oneself and the world.”
Finally, her sister Carole contemplates the situation under its social aspect and declares “Julie’s problems are imposed by the alienating standards of society. It is this society that needs to be changed. Happiness will take care of itself.”
Julie and the work on oneself
Of these advice, Julie retains she should “work on herself”, without knowing exactly how. She eventually joins a Letting Go Seminar strongly recommended by Gérard: “The Way of Acceptance, the teaching of the yogi Jogourta Tata”. For a tidy sum of money, she is introduced to relaxation, breathing and meditation techniques supposed to reconcile her with her self. Indeed, it helps ease her suffering. Unfortunately, one month later, the special issue “Lose Weight before Summer” of “Attractive, Thin and Attractive”, the magazine, leaves her with a twinge. Everything starts all over again. Bernard was right, Julie has neither will nor consistency. Between guilt-creating advice and compulsive nibbling, Julie goes from bad to worse. She feels depressed and is now subject to fits of crying.
On medical advice, Julie books an appointment with a psychiatrist. He makes her talk, listens, and raises some questions on her diet obsession and suffering. Through flashes of irony, he suggests her problem is closely linked to a question of self-image. The therapy will be long, he warns. It will be necessary to come at least once a week. Julie follows this therapy during a few months. According to the psychiatrist, the fact that she eats chips is an epiphenomenon that needs to be dedramatised. Julie speaks and speaks every week during her twenty-minutes consultations. After a while, Julie declares “I solved my problem with my parents”. She switches from chips to chocolate bars and is now subject to panic attacks. Her psychiatrist prescribes antidepressants that calm her but make her put more weight. What a great result!