Doesn't that quote basically say that if you're offended by these shows, you're a gross fatty without a sense of humor and you should really just lose some weight and enjoy them with the rest of us?
@sequined: No, he's saying if you enjoy these shows it is either because you are a gross fatty who can relate or because you are a mean skinny person who likes laughing at fatties.
I don't think the possibility you would be offended even entered his mind. Why would anyone be offended by Fatty Catharsis programming?
Also, I would like to name my band Fatty Catharsis.
@PerinealFavorite: "No, he's saying if you enjoy these shows it is either because you are a gross fatty who can relate or because you are a mean skinny person who likes laughing at fatties."
That's what I got. And he thinks it's his readers who are the misanthropes ...
"I don't think the possibility you would be offended even entered his mind."
Yeah, the I-am-the-fount-of-all-truth tone was what put me off most.
He should move to Oz. I hear there's an opening.
I hope I never see the word "fattertainment" again. Ever. And please make sure to hide this article from the networks because I can honestly see Fattertainment Fridays on Fox. I love alliteration, but not like that.
"Bullshit! If you're watching these shows, it's because there's drama, and a human story."
It makes me really, really sad to say this but there are girls at my school who watch these kinds of shows because "it makes them feel better about themselves." Doesn't sound too bad, right? Well, when they talk about feeling better, they're talking about how they feel superior in their skinny bodies when they see "fat people try to be like them." So, unfortunately, not everybody watching these shows have good intentions. The world kind of sucks that way.
Maybe the fear that's keeping American's awake is that we have hateful prejudices against people that we see every day, and who give us no reason to hate them. Maybe we're noticing those people in our lives, and trying to retrain our consciences to fit with our actual beliefs about people. Watching TV shows about big people may be a first step for some who need a safe, distanced first view at people they had never thought worth their time before.
Ruby is the shit. I'd watch her do pretty much anything on TV; the fact that she's trying to lose weight and change her life is just the inspirational part that makes you cry in every episode.
@tell Dolly Parton again: Me too. I really don't like most of these weight loss reality shows, because they're either exploitative or I'm just not interested, but Ruby's personality is just so endearing, you want her to succeed in whatever she decides to do.
I must say, I watch exactly zero shows that center around fat people specifically, and I am fat myself. The reason behind this is that shows like Biggest Loser, More to Love, etc. EXPLOIT fat people. They don't embrace or celebrate them, they use them for ratings, as an angle. I personally think shows that use people that way are disgusting, and I refuse to give them the ratings they are seeking.
Yeah, I don't agree with this article at all. I watch The Biggest Loser because I'm a sucker for inspirational stories and even if you're not obese, most people of all sizes can relate to a person trying to eat healthy, beginning to work out, struggling with body images issues, etc.
Fat is fabulous? Half these shows about fat people are about trying to BECOME NOT FAT! The others are all about how the fat people are fat but deserve love "anyway."
ideally, stories told on television and film should involve the whole of human experience; that means wealthy, poor, middle class, tall, short, old, young, skinny, overweight, black, white, et al. it's not a plus-size thing. it's about offering an option that sells, and surprise surprise! people are buying it.
@BabyJane: We all know it is. It's the same driver that keeps TV-land coming up with these ridiculous "reality" shows. We need people we can feel better than, or we can mock mercilessly in the comfort of our Barc-o-loungers for being saps. Up until now, larger people were just "jolly folks," to be used as comedy relief; now, they can be "big business" [pardon the pun].
I watch all of these shows except Dance Your Ass Off. I adore Drop Dead Diva. I think it is one of the best new shows of this summer. And Brooke Elliott is amazing. I just hope she gets a lot more work because of the show.
Eat a cyanide tablet, terrible weight-related puns. Just because an article is about larger people does not mean you get to string together a bunch of thinly-veiled fat jokes and call it journalism. I'm not sure it's progress if we put larger people on TV and then spend the whole time talking about how large they are.
"It's not strange that people are interested in seeing plus-size people on TV; it's strange that up until now, plus-size people have been mostly ignored on TV."
@J.D.Regent: Exactly! There are a few, but even in those shows that don't feature plot lines constructed around weight, there are still jokes and comments made by or about the characters.
One show this season that has handled this issue well, in my opinion, is "10 Things I Hate About You." (YES, I'm actually a 15-year-old viewer in a 26-year-old body!) The best friend is plus, and she talks to Kat about her feelings over being told she couldn't ride something at a theme park and about things people have said that hurt her. She's not the "fat friend." She's the friend.
@JerseyGrrrl: I'm having trouble uploading just the bottom part of this comparison photo, which is the part showing the actress I'm talking about. What you see is the actress who played Mandella in the movie version and the top of the head of the woman I'm loving on.
09/28/09
Because that's how I'm reading it.
09/28/09
I don't think the possibility you would be offended even entered his mind. Why would anyone be offended by Fatty Catharsis programming?
Also, I would like to name my band Fatty Catharsis.
09/28/09
That's what I got. And he thinks it's his readers who are the misanthropes ...
"I don't think the possibility you would be offended even entered his mind."
Yeah, the I-am-the-fount-of-all-truth tone was what put me off most.
He should move to Oz. I hear there's an opening.
09/28/09
08/25/09
It makes me really, really sad to say this but there are girls at my school who watch these kinds of shows because "it makes them feel better about themselves." Doesn't sound too bad, right? Well, when they talk about feeling better, they're talking about how they feel superior in their skinny bodies when they see "fat people try to be like them." So, unfortunately, not everybody watching these shows have good intentions. The world kind of sucks that way.
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And I love me some Margaret Cho.
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Can I get an AMEN!?
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@J.D.Regent: Exactly! There are a few, but even in those shows that don't feature plot lines constructed around weight, there are still jokes and comments made by or about the characters.
One show this season that has handled this issue well, in my opinion, is "10 Things I Hate About You." (YES, I'm actually a 15-year-old viewer in a 26-year-old body!) The best friend is plus, and she talks to Kat about her feelings over being told she couldn't ride something at a theme park and about things people have said that hurt her. She's not the "fat friend." She's the friend.
08/25/09
07/22/09