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Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV

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t-yo3
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
Hmm, what about if they'd flipped it a bit? Started with a couple of "mild" fat jokes, where the joker was laughing heartily, sort of in implied collusion with the viewer, and then moved to one of the more vicious racist/Holocaust/homophobic ones (joker still laughing, audience presumably jolted and taken aback) and then back to a third "mild" fat joke, with the teller just motoring on as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, while the audience is kind of like, wait, what just happened there? Same concept, slightly different delivery. Maybe that might have worked better?
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Red-headed bookworm
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
You know, I kind of like the ad. I think it's good for all kinds of discrimination. It reminds me of the video they showed at work for the anti-harassment training. So many people don't think that jokes like these are a form of discrimination. They think jokes don't really mean anything or offend.
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t-yo3
05/14/09

@Red-headed bookworm: I don't think that this PSA would change the minds anyone who thought these jokes weren't offensive. Like, if a person can't see that jokes about the Holocaust or killing gay people might be hurtful, then this ad will probably just make that person laugh and think how ridiculous it is that folkg get touchy about stuff that's "just a joke"; I don't think it would bring about any kind of epiphany or mindset change.
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Red-headed bookworm
05/14/09

@titilayo-yo-yo-yo: You're probably right...wishful thinking that it would, though.
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juinee
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
Okay, I didn't get most of the jokes and I went through the comments to find out a couple but I still don't understand the last one.

"so fat chicks can get a root?"

What does this mean? Can anyone be kind enough to explain, please.
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Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni!
05/14/09

@juinee: The secrets to our magical slang are on pg 1.
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gobblegirl
05/14/09

@juinee: Root is slang for fuck. The "joke" is that dudes will only sleep with fat chicks if they're falling-down drunk.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
I think it's effective. To me, it's not so much about the actual prejudices themselves but about the jokes. What are people comfortable joking about, and what is considered 'crossing the line'?

I'm sure plenty of people are fine with some of the other jokes (e.g. the homophobic one), but they would never dare tell them in public. Not so for fat jokes, or at least that's the message I get.
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samethingwedoeverynightpinky
05/14/09

@HeatherNumber1: But the fat joke is not about genocide. I think the concept could have worked if the first three jokes were less horrific, and more on the level of "people in these groups are mockable/ not attractive or desirable," as opposed to "people in these groups should be killed."
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Asmo
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
I'm sure that I'm alone here, but I don't think any topics should be off limits to joke about. I know it's not really the point here, but people who get offended by jokes are the ones with a problem.

I'm jewish and I've heard about a million anti-semetic jokes, many of which were about the holocaust. I found lots of them funny, and none of them offended me.
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lisas
05/14/09

@Asmo: Therefore, everyone else in the world should be as ok with traumatic events as you are? Does that really sound reasonable to you?
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t-yo3
05/14/09

@Asmo: Oh my goodness, you are right. It's completely wrong-headed of me to be offended by a joke that's about how people like me are no-good criminals and how the world would have been better off if my mother had aborted me. Thanks for helping me see that I'm the one with the problem.
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samethingwedoeverynightpinky
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
I think I'd be too busy sobbing/being horrified/writing my local television affiliate after seeing the bit about black women and abortions to even pay attention to the bit about "fat chicks." I think of myself as being fairly well adjusted most days, but I couldn't handle a commercial that was all Look! Here are all of the reasons the world might find you useless and disgusting, packed into a single commercial!
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Jack_Burton
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
How to reply to that joke:

"Well tomorrow, I'll be sober, but you'll still be an asshole."

(The premise being equally applicable that alcohol was invented so that people - of any stature - could tolerate screwing assholes).
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t-yo3
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
This ad doesn't because the point of it is smothered by how shocking those "jokes" are. And also because the fat joke is, to me nowhere near as offensive as the others, which are essentially about minorities dying/being killed, not just about them being not attractive/sexy. It completely contradicts the concept that fat discrimination is as bad as other kinds of discrimination, because I'd venture to say that not being able to get laid is not as much of a tragedy as being murdered.
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t-yo3
05/14/09

@titilayo-yo-yo-yo: This ad doesn't work is what I meant to say, but other people had already said it anyway, and said it better than I.
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Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni!
05/14/09

@titilayo-yo-yo-yo: Or, as I had to explain to one of my mates when discussing our teenage experiences: hangover/drunken vomiting =/= illness/vomiting from chemotherapy.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
05/14/09

@titilayo-yo-yo-yo: You're just saying that because the guy who told it was pretty.

(I'm kidding, of course. Except about his prettiness.)
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Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni!
05/14/09

@Fridge Hussy :STOP ACTING LIKE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN A TITTY BEF...: Ususally, I'm totes on the FA bandwagon out of basic decency, but this is not the facet of the larger persons' experience that would best compare with the rest of the jokes.
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Acquanetta
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
Am I the only one who doesn't get the Santa "joke"?

Santa comes down the chimney. A Jewish person does what-comes through the door?????

What's not to like?

Oy.
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t-yo3
05/14/09

@Acquanetta: I didn't get it at first, but then I did. The Nazi concentration camp ovens had chimneys. What went up those?
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slowpoke.r
05/14/09

@Acquanetta: Er, they mean that Jewish people go UP the chimney. See "holocaust" for more information.
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Triphena
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
For me, the tone of the first three jokes really derail the message of fat prejudice being as serious as racism, homophobia, etc. I mean, two of them are about KILLING PEOPLE and another is about a group of people as "known criminals". The fat joke is a fratty (and offensive, don't get me wrong) "who wants to have sex with a fat girl?" piece of nonsense. Like, they just aren't comparable to me.
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girlwonder
05/14/09

@Triphena: I just view all of the jokes as having the same fundamental effect on the member of the group being made fun of: it hurts. Sure, the joke about the fat girl is fratty, and isn't violent, but it cuts to the core of what society says about women who are overweight (that no one will want to have sexy time with them, let alone love them).

I'm not at all offended by the ad itself. The jokes are horribly offensive, but that was kind of the point.
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t-yo3
05/14/09

@girlwonder: I disagree. The first three jokes are essentially about how worthless the lives of the groups being made fun of are. Those jokes are much more vicious and hateful, to me.

I don't find the ad itself offensive, but I think the first three jokes are so offensive that the overall message of the ad would be lost for most viewers.
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Political Party Girl
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
But we need to tell fat people they should diet. IT'S FOR THEIR OWN GOOD! SO THEY CAN BE HEALTHY!
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Political Party Girl
05/14/09

@Political Party Girl: /sarcasm
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RobertaFisk
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
I get what he's going for, but the jokes aren't equivalent. Not because it's somehow more appropriate to make fun of someone for their size than it is for their race, but because the first three jokes were making fun of very very serious things. Making fun of hate crimes - someone being killed b.c they're gay? Making fun of the fucking Holocaust? These are more serious subjects than weight-based discrimination, because people are killed every day for being gay in many countries (and in the Western world too). Millions of people died just because they were Jewish. These jokes are much more offensive to me than the last one, because of that history and social reality.
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RobertaFisk
05/14/09

@RobertaFisk: And also, the fat joke was much milder than the others. The others were implying that it is ok to KILL (or prevent from being born) people just because of their race or sexual orientation. The fat joke does not imply that fat people should not exist. Because of that difference, I think the ad completely fails. It undermines its own message because the jokes are not the same level of offensive.
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samethingwedoeverynightpinky
05/14/09

@RobertaFisk: I agree. I don't think it was at all effective.
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girl.of.your.dreams
05/14/09

@RobertaFisk: You put this better than I could have. I think the violence implied in the other jokes makes it hard to put them in the same category as the last joke, and that's where the point fails.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
05/14/09

@RobertaFisk: Isn't that the point, though? Most people don't classify 'fat jokes' in the same realm as racist or homophobic jokes (blonde jokes they're probably fine with). So to see one at the end of that filth is pretty startling. Sure they can say, 'Well, it's not like anyone wants fat people DEAD,' but it's perhaps made it a bit more difficult for them to justify hating or discriminating against one particular group based on nothing but their looks.
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RobertaFisk
05/14/09

@HeatherNumber1: I think the ad would have worked if, let's say, it compared stereotypes about different groups. So a joke about black people being a certain way, Jewish people being a certain way, then a joke about fat people being a certain way. It's not that fat jokes aren't in the same realm as racist or homophobic jokes in general - it's the fact that these particular jokes weren't in the same realm.
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saintbernadette
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
Slightly off-topic, but I re-watched The Twilight Zone movie last weekend for the first time since I was 6, and the "racist guy" segment was incredibly chilling.

That is a well-executed social statement.
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ichigo18
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
Can anyone explain to me what a poofter is? I really have no idea what that means.
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t-yo3
05/14/09

@ichigo18: A gay man.
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lisas
05/14/09

@ichigo18: I'd argue that it's more analogous to 'fag' than 'gay man'. It's not a respectful term.
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t-yo3
05/14/09

@lisas: I didn't want to say "a faggot", which is what it's equivalent to, but yeah, exactly.
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Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni!
05/14/09

In reply to Fat Acceptance Ad Banned From TV
"Todd Samson, a regular panelist on the show, explained that the ad failed because viewers were so shocked by the first racist joke that they missed the point of the ad. Samson added, "I dont think you need to offend one group to help another."

Ah, Todd, with your soothing North-American accent, you bring the hotness and the sense to balance out Russell "OMG, that was so UN-PC!HOW BRAAAAVE!" Howcroft.

Seriously folks, he's quite something. Set the ladyboners to: EMBIGGENED You should be able to watch the show on the site [www.abc.net.au]
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msredshoes
05/14/09

@Fridge Hussy :STOP ACTING LIKE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN A TITTY BEF...: I have a serious crush on the well-reasoned Todd Samson.
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Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni!
05/14/09

@msredshoes: Friended for the Todd-love.
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