Big Fat Asses
As I walked into the work building yesterday, I spotted a fat woman out of the corner of my eye. Two thought crossed my mind:
1. Even though I've gained a lot of weight (which I'm losing now), there's always someone heavier.
2. If the local news station needed to get "on the street" footage of fat people's torsos for some dumbass report, she might be one of the victimized. I would probably be safe.
Which started me thinking, for a few minutes anyway, about all of the times that I've seen footage of fat people's torsos as they innocently walk down the street, with some idiot talking head blathering on about how fat Americans are/the health risks of obesity/the scourge of fast food/soda machines in schools, and as you know I try to avoid television news at all costs. I've seriously considered pulling my eyeballs right out of their sockets and jamming pencils into my ears to avoid it. Usually I decide to simply leave the room (Kevin is forever trying to catch the Extreme Uber-Doppler Angry Earth Weather Forecast).
Anyway, it always struck me as extremely rude to randomly shoot the saggy bottoms and bulging abdomens and ill-fitting, bunching clothes of innocent people on the street. What if they were just sitting there, in their favorite chairs, suffering through the idiot box news, glanced up, and saw their visage being used to tell all of Central City how being overweight leads to Type II diabetes? I'd be PISSED! And, despite the oh-so-discreet omission of their faces, I have a feeling that some of them were recognized by their family, their friends, and their co-workers. How's that for some grade-A bullshit?
My second point is, who wants to see that? Not that I think it's "disgusting" or anything. It's just that I don't need some cliched visual of fat people to digest the news that overconsumption of calories coupled with a sedentary lifestyle makes one unhealthy. I mean duh.
So I'm against that kind of sadistic guerrilla cameraman schlock.
As I walked out of the work building after another 7 hours of sitting on my ass, guess what I saw on the lobby-TV-that-plays-CNN-with-no-sound-all-day? Fat people's torsos, walking (yes, walking!) around on a city street. The headline? "Fat Profits". How cheap is that?
1. Even though I've gained a lot of weight (which I'm losing now), there's always someone heavier.
2. If the local news station needed to get "on the street" footage of fat people's torsos for some dumbass report, she might be one of the victimized. I would probably be safe.
Which started me thinking, for a few minutes anyway, about all of the times that I've seen footage of fat people's torsos as they innocently walk down the street, with some idiot talking head blathering on about how fat Americans are/the health risks of obesity/the scourge of fast food/soda machines in schools, and as you know I try to avoid television news at all costs. I've seriously considered pulling my eyeballs right out of their sockets and jamming pencils into my ears to avoid it. Usually I decide to simply leave the room (Kevin is forever trying to catch the Extreme Uber-Doppler Angry Earth Weather Forecast).
Anyway, it always struck me as extremely rude to randomly shoot the saggy bottoms and bulging abdomens and ill-fitting, bunching clothes of innocent people on the street. What if they were just sitting there, in their favorite chairs, suffering through the idiot box news, glanced up, and saw their visage being used to tell all of Central City how being overweight leads to Type II diabetes? I'd be PISSED! And, despite the oh-so-discreet omission of their faces, I have a feeling that some of them were recognized by their family, their friends, and their co-workers. How's that for some grade-A bullshit?
My second point is, who wants to see that? Not that I think it's "disgusting" or anything. It's just that I don't need some cliched visual of fat people to digest the news that overconsumption of calories coupled with a sedentary lifestyle makes one unhealthy. I mean duh.
So I'm against that kind of sadistic guerrilla cameraman schlock.
As I walked out of the work building after another 7 hours of sitting on my ass, guess what I saw on the lobby-TV-that-plays-CNN-with-no-sound-all-day? Fat people's torsos, walking (yes, walking!) around on a city street. The headline? "Fat Profits". How cheap is that?
posted by lulu | 6:16 AM
2 Comments:
You're absolutely right, we should only be exposed to pictures of perfect bodies - for our own inspiration and edification - preferably blond and blue-eyed, square-jawed, smiling at the bright future of the Fatherland. Everybody else is just yucky.
Um, way to miss the point, anonymous! I don't think fat people are disgusting, and said so in the article. It would not be beyond reasoning for ME to be one of the illustrators of fatness.
My beef is with filming people who don't know they're being filmed and then using their bodies as the embodiment of something terrible--something to be feared, vilified, and avoided at all costs.
When I said "who wants to see that" I meant "who wants to see 1. innocent people being demeaned in this way, 2. yet another news story that uses this exact same video footage.
But those who know me know that I DO love Hitler's ubermen and uberwomen, so maybe you're on to something after all....
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