I really, REALLY think that some people have way too much time on their hands. And some of those folks could be directing their idle time towards real problems in the world, but instead decide to make a quest out of situations that don’t deserve the attention.
Take for instance, the folks over at “Size Friendly TV.”
They’ve actually taken the time to compile a list of “offenders” on TV. Offenders of what, you ask? Television shows that under-represent the demographic of, as they call themselves (are you ready?):
People of size.
In particular they don’t like 24, CSI NY, CSI Miami, NCIS or House because there are no overweight people on those shows.
They want more people who are at least 25-30 pounds overweight represented on TV shows, since they say that about half of the U.S. is overweight and television programs should reflect that more accurately.
So let me get this straight: Here’s a site which is acutely aware of the obesity problem in this country (and yes, it is a problem), yet instead of setting their sights on reducing the number of overweight people, their goal is to increase the visibility of overweight people on TV so that they can feel better about themselves?
Talk about getting things backwards… Do you know where I think fat people are grossly under-represented on television?
Fast food commercials.
I am sick to death of watching one commercial after another for McDonalds and Burger King where the only people populating the screen are young twenty-somethings that are completely fit and look like they belong in a Gold’s Gym commercial. Yet there they are, stuffing two pound, 1,000 calorie burgers in their faces – implying that the food contains something akin to invisible calories.
How about a better representation of overweight people there, eh? Hell, probably 80% of the people in those commercials should be fat, but aren’t. And why aren’t they? Because despite the fact that so many people are overweight, most people don’t want to be fat. They don’t feel attractive and they don’t feel good about themselves. And to be blunt, if McDonalds thought overweight people in general were more attractive, don’t you think they’d slap them on the screen faster than you can say “Big Mac”?
An example of this mentality that infuriates me was a comment on the site I’m talking about where someone posted a comment basically saying that the TV show The Biggest Loser is the most degrading show on the air. And there you have it: Don’t show me people who are actually trying to improve themselves and their health, I’d prefer that you make me feel better about being fat to soothe my feelings.
Take a look at the photo above – Do you think it would be better to:
A. Make these kids feel better about themselves as they are?
B. Address the fact that they’re overweight by teaching them about nutrition and exericise and mentoring them in a weight loss program.
Folks who put up sites like those would better spend their time fighting obesity than trying to make the obese feel better about themselves. By doing so they would also be working to reduce:
- Adult onset diabetes in YOUNG CHILDREN.
- Type II diabetes in adults (totally preventable, and caused by being grossly overweight).
- Heart disease.
- High cholesterol.
- Various other diseases/ailments.
Source: BuddyTV
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Vic,
I’m a 6’2 over 350lbs. What is happening right now is a crock of total SH@t! I agree with you totally. I can’t believe these people. No matter how much they wine about not having heavy set…And let me say that being 30-pounds over wieght is not heavy in the standards that America has. The Biggest loser is a great show that tries to boost the self-esteam..or lack of by ALL big people. And I mean all. We all in one point fell like sh@t for what we are. And it just makes us eat more, but whatever.
I agree about showing those kids how to eat right. Because I for one, have high blood pressure at 19 years old. And I had to change everything I was used to so I wont die. These poor kids wont make it to prom if they keep it up. I personally hate McDonalds and Burger King and all those fast food corporations. Because they give off the total wrong image to intise little kids and adults along to go get there hormone injected crap. If you can for me, find the Size Friendly address and all this. I plan on giving them my piece of mind from a big persons perspective. Sorry…I really had to rant about this one. It’s totally bullcrap
This is going to sound harsh and insensitive, but that’s fine by me. More often than not, when you have a group of people demanding that they be coddled, what they really need is a swift kick in the pants to get them back on track. As a disclaimer, I’ve never been accused of being skinny, and at 5’11″, I’m about 40 or so pounds heavier right now than I’d like to be. I like food and drink. I don’t like exercise for its own sake (need to get back into sport). I have a different idea about what’s attractive than some people (I like women with curves myself…I don’t like a woman looking like a 13 year old boy), and I certainly don’t think that what society in general has set as the ideals are good or at all healthy (especially when it comes to girls and body image). That being said, when I start having a problem going up a flight of stairs, eating ice cream by the carton or buying clothes in sizes with repeated Roman numerals (think XXXL), there had to be some ignored red lights.
Honestly, I think the problem here is with the acceptance of something as ‘normal’ when it should be being treated as a health condition. All over the place you hear about the overweight wanting acceptance. They want bigger chairs, they want to be seen as attractive, now they want programming that goes along with their delusion. Being overweight can lead to heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, sleep issues and a list of other conditions too numerous to go into, yet now you’re hearing people going on and on about it as if it were some kind of civil rights issue. That’s what they’re making it out to be. This has become a society of victims, and now they’re wanting to get their piece of that pie. They’ve given up on bettering their situation (they’ve “come to terms” with their size) and instead have settled for being coddled as the victims they want everyone else to take them for.
While I know there are some legitimate health problems that can lead to being overweight, by in large, what makes most people fat, especially in an overindulgent society, is their lack of self control. In my case, I’ve taken on what’s largely a sedentary profession, I don’t exercise, I don’t sleep well and I eat too much. End of story. If I want to lose some of the weight, all I need to do is get off of my ass and expend more calories than I’m ingesting. That’s where most overweight people are as well.
Size Friendly TV needs to wake up and see the gravity of their actions. Being severely overweight shouldn’t be seen as just a reality of life and “part of who you are,” with all it can do to you physically, it should be seen as a health condition and treated as such. If the ‘Biggest Loser’ is seen as degrading, despite the fact that the people of it are generally trying to improve their health, then I have to lay the blame again on those who see being severely overweight as merely a part of their lives and coming to an acceptance of who they are. It sounds like giving up to me, and the sooner they realize that, the sooner they can take the steps to better themselves. What they’re hanging onto as their defining characteristic (fatties of the world unite?), sounds like a part of them they could greatly to do without.
i agree with u guys to a certain extent, but there is a problem when different shapes and sizes are not represented, i for one am a big healthy girl,i have always been big but because i was told thin is lovely and all i see are really tiny girls on tv then i start thinking may be the mags are right thin is good big is bad, so the yoyo diets begin, i actually ended up having a weight problem because i thought thin is best well thats the message i was hearing. but thank god for growing up and learning that its o.k to be a big girl, i am now at my normal weight, i can never be thin, that i have accepted, i am perfect the way i am,healthy big girl
House: It’s only logical that Doctor’s would be in good health — especially those represented in the show. They’re `the best`.
CSI/NCIS: Maybe someone should remind them that these officers have to pass a fitness exam.
24: Oh, c’mon. Edgar was my favourite character.
I wonder if they will ever realize that they’re being totally hyprocritical. They want recognition for who they are — `People of Size` — when they’re just people. They wanted to be treated equally by being given special treatment.
An article titled `Who I Am` should not include your weight.
Given, my chips wouldn’t hold much in this argument– at 5’7″ and 113lb, all we get is Spiderman.
Reverend
Here’s a suggestion for them to support….
a TV show just the OPPOSITE of “the biggest loser”. Take your “skinny, attractive” contestants and see who can GAIN the most weight in 30 days, or whatever the time frame is. Lets see how many ratings they get when they see someone destroy their body that fast to have their 15 minutes of fame. Interview the contestants before and measure body mass and running abilities and breathing. If you’ve seen Super Size Me, this would be a TV show based on that movie.
These people need to get a real life. Yes, America is over-weight. Chances are, we are going to be for some time. Most over-eating, over-weight people don’t want to excercise. They will diet for all of about a week or two, then when they don’t loose, they go back to eating. eating RIGHT (not the same as dieting) and excercise is a WAY OF LIFE! So is fast food and being a couch potato. Your choice.
BTW… I’m 29, 6’0. 8 years ago I weighed 340 pounds. Now I’m at a comfortable 240 with DEDICATION for two years or so. A few words of advice to those who want to lose:
Water!! Walking. Good foods (fresh fruits, nuts, – VERY little candies and fast foods, and sodas/pops) And pace yourself. Don’t try or expect to lose 40 lbs in 6 months or even a year. Expect 1% to 3% a month and keep at it.
Ever watch “Honey, We’re Killing the Kids”? It’s on the schmaltzy side in that its execution is as stilted as scripted as it gets (on the host’s side of the program), but the goal of the show at least has its heart in the right place.
At least somebody on TV is recognizing this is a serious problem, although this group might very well claim it was bigoted and biased to try and prevent future obesity.
And on a creative note, it’s a mark of poor art to include certain body types, sexes, races for the sole purpose of fulfilling some kind of quota, and to give some kind of false patina of being “nice”.
that kid looks like the mitchlin
Im an 18 year old South African girl and am of a normal and healthy weight. As far as I’m concerned America should be ashamed of their eating habits! Most people in SA only frequent places like McDonalds as a treat or “night off” from cooking occasionally. It seems as though those type of establishments are not only everywhere there, but also America’s main source of food. There are not only huge amounts of trans-fats etc, but also addictive chemicals that are manufactured in order to maintain their uneducated market. People may think I’m being harsh or rude about America but the facts are, that there are people all over the world starving and dying while America cant keep their mouth shut? What happened to conscious eating? I like to know exactly what I’m putting in my body-you are what you eat after all! As far as obesity being considered something that other people should be sensitive about-f*£k that? Just because people are too lazy to make their own nutritional meals or get to a shop doesn’t mean the rest of us should feel sorry for them. People need to start taking responsibility for their own health and happiness-not shift blame. Also if I saw that lil’ boy (above) eating that crap and being that size I would report their parents to some organisation- a child doesn’t know any better and it is up to the parent to educate them on correct eating habits. They are effectively killing him, and ruining his health and life for the future because this will become all he knows?
It’s difficult to abstain from joining the crowd pleasers in showing stupid fat people what they want to see:
“You can behave however you like and still be healthy.”
While I think there is no such thing as a fat person, and, that there are plenty of places for those whose physical appearance proves, beyond reasonable doubt, that their ability to control what goes in their mouth is, at least temporarily, beyond their control;
I also think that a physical appearance pleasing to the eye is a part of the skill set for being on camera and that it is dis pleasing to see someone whose appetite has been so obviously far out of control for so long as to allow them to grow to a BMI greater than 25% of that which they displayed at time of hire.
News and analytical personalities, especially, should present an appearance which precludes the likelihood of lack of self -discipline sufficient to maintain a reasonably healthy BMI range.
If they get too fat, offer them work as ad sales persons.
If they slim down, offer them the camera job back when it opens up.