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In the The Nutty Professor, filmmakers chose to make the main protagonist (Sherman Klump) morbidly obese as his main concern in his life. The film is a remake of the 1963 film of the same name in which the protagonist (Julius Kelp) has the main problem of acting and looking socially awkward, but is not overweight. Actually, Julius visits the gym to bulk up and gain weight.

Sherman Klump appears to be extremely shy and socially awkward in his own right without being overweight. Both protagonists transform into the same alter-ego named Buddy Love who acts pretty much the same way in both films after drinking a potion.

Is there any explanation from filmmakers on why they chose to add the problem of obesity to an already socially awkward and shy Sherman Klump?

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  • Apparently, the weight loss storyline was inspired by daytime television. Murphy allegedly came up with the weight loss theme of the movie while watching a daytime chat show’s segment on the topic.
    – Livrecache
    Commented Dec 11, 2017 at 7:44
  • it was a pretty questionable source –– mentalfloss.com/article/60951/… and I haven't found anything else to verify it.
    – Livrecache
    Commented Dec 11, 2017 at 22:16
  • The movie is based on an older one called the nutty professor, in which he was a skinny middle aged white man, so they effectively made him as far away form the original character as they could without using an actress.
    – Aaargh Zombies
    Commented Sep 2, 2023 at 8:54

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Apparently, the weight loss storyline was inspired by daytime television.

Murphy allegedly came up with the weight loss theme of the movie while watching a daytime chat show’s segment on the topic.

This link is all I could find. I could find anything to substantiate or elaborate on the answer.

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