What do you guys think?
Replies
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acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »MeeseeksAndDestroy wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »If everyone knows it's unhealthy then why wouldn't we want to see more shows where people change things around? I don't watch a whole lot of TV, honestly, so my opinion is skewed here but I don't see fat people being portrayed and stupid, or weight obsessed or depressed at all. I see shows like My Big Fat Fabulous Life and see how having an illness - like PCOS, which may slow down your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE as it is made out to be - makes it ok to be so overweight she can't even shave her own legs, but as long as you love yourself everything is all going to be great and you'll have this totally great life while your mom needs to come over to help you shave your legs or put on your own shoes. Good message? Really?
The thing about My Big Fat Fabulous Life is she's the only one that's ok with being overweight, but the show is still centered around her losing weight and the health consequences she faces for being the size she's at, so again, still not glorifying obesity as being healthy.
I never said it glorifies it as being healthy. No, I said it makes it seem perfectly acceptable.
Yeah! Why should anyone who is overweight be accepted as a human being! The outrage!
That's a huge jump - I stated in my original post that this isn't about that. Everyone is a person and regardless of your size it doesn't make you less of a person. But what it can do is give you less quality of life. I am still plus sized, I haven't been fit my whole life by anymeans. I was 350lbs in 2012. I am the last person to say you're less of a person because you weigh X. The whole post was about glorifying being overweight, period. Nothing about fat shaming or body shaming. So that's a big jump.
The article you posted has an issue with overweight people being portrayed as nothing but people that can't think or do anything without thinking about their weight. The author wants a show that portrays a fat person just living life as every person does. That's not saying being overweight is ok, but that it's ok to live life at whatever size you are. If you watch a show that tells you fat people can't be happy at the beach until they are skinny, is that a better message than watching a show that shows a person enjoying themselves at the beach but just also happens to be fat?
Well that depends . . . is the fat person being happy on the beach going to have a heart attack at 30, or insulin resistance at 35? Or maybe full blown diabetes by 38? Or maybe need both knees and two hip replacements at 50 because of strain put on joints? Is it worth it?
The point I'm getting at is that it's not about a size/weight, so much as it's about health. I weigh 245lbs (as of Monday) and I'm 5'10. By a BMI scale I'm obese but I have 140lbs of LBM on me, so if I were to weigh 160 like BMI says I should it probably wouldn't be super healthy for me as a person. And not everyone looks the same at the same weight - which is totally fine - but I'm not body shaming anyone at all. I am by no means perfect or in a position to say I'm better than you because of . . . this, this and this. I am working to better myself and it takes time and effort. Glorifying the acceptance of "it is what it is, so be happy with it and accept me as I am or you're a hater" is kind of dangerous.
Why can't that person just be *kitten* happy being on the beach that day? Why does everything have to be about 5, 10, 15+ years from now? That's not what tv is for. Tv is for escaping reality. A fat person can be on the beach and get eaten by a shark. Who cares? It's better to die doing something you wanted to do rather than hiding inside until you're skinny. Acceptance isn't saying being overweight is healthy, acceptance is saying you're fat, but damnit you should go to Vegas anyways because YOLO.
Because that's what my original post was about - health implications. Not about being eaten by a freakin shark or "escaping reality" when you said you want TV to reflect your every day life, fat people living life just like you do . . . so which is it?
I wasn't asking about being happy or skipping down the strip in Vegas. I was talking about health implications.
TV shows don't continue down a lifetime, they focus on a moment in that person's life. If you want to see a show about a person being depressed about their weight, have fun with that. I'd rather watch a show about a person being happy with their life. I can't convince someone that's already made up their mind on how they want their world to be.
I'm not spending my time watching someone's moment in time on TV, thinking "Jeez, she's happy with herself why can't I be too?" . .. I'm out living my life, and enjoying it - and that includes wanting to be fit, which has nothing to do with people on TV.
No, but you are watching tv thinking, "jeez, she's happy with herself, that's a terrible message."
I'm not watching a lot TV though, as I mentioned . . . I'm moving, exercising or reading a book or walking the dog or just generally do things that are productive to my life.
When she is happy - great. When she isn't - that's too bad. It's TV - I don't put a lot of thought into it . . . but apparently a lot of people do.
Edited because I'm a bad speller apparently
Evidenced by starting a thread about it pissing you off so much, it seemingly bothers you more than you think.
The article pissed me off, yes . . . I don't watch the show it references, This Is Us.
The line of thinking bothers me, a whole lot - and that isn't just on TV, it's very prevalent all over the media.
If an article wanting fat people to be portrayed as happy people rather than weight obsessed pisses you off, that's a bigger issue. Maybe you'd have better luck in a thread where no one's ever been fat and can't relate.
As I said I've been overweight for a lot of my adult life - I can relate. But as a blonde woman I could say why do they always portray blondes to be stupid when I have 2 graduate degrees? Why do they always portray short women and tall men? But I don't complain about it because I know it's not real life. The need or want to write the article is what got me going
Plenty of people want better representation of themselves on tv because it can have real world implications on how people treat them IRL. Maybe if tv stopped showing blond people as stupid, fat people as lazy, certain races as undesirable, etc, people wouldn't be so quick to stereotype based on what they've always seen and now accept as normal. I think you underestimate just how much people let media effect their real life.1 -
acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »MeeseeksAndDestroy wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »If everyone knows it's unhealthy then why wouldn't we want to see more shows where people change things around? I don't watch a whole lot of TV, honestly, so my opinion is skewed here but I don't see fat people being portrayed and stupid, or weight obsessed or depressed at all. I see shows like My Big Fat Fabulous Life and see how having an illness - like PCOS, which may slow down your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE as it is made out to be - makes it ok to be so overweight she can't even shave her own legs, but as long as you love yourself everything is all going to be great and you'll have this totally great life while your mom needs to come over to help you shave your legs or put on your own shoes. Good message? Really?
The thing about My Big Fat Fabulous Life is she's the only one that's ok with being overweight, but the show is still centered around her losing weight and the health consequences she faces for being the size she's at, so again, still not glorifying obesity as being healthy.
I never said it glorifies it as being healthy. No, I said it makes it seem perfectly acceptable.
Yeah! Why should anyone who is overweight be accepted as a human being! The outrage!
That's a huge jump - I stated in my original post that this isn't about that. Everyone is a person and regardless of your size it doesn't make you less of a person. But what it can do is give you less quality of life. I am still plus sized, I haven't been fit my whole life by anymeans. I was 350lbs in 2012. I am the last person to say you're less of a person because you weigh X. The whole post was about glorifying being overweight, period. Nothing about fat shaming or body shaming. So that's a big jump.
The article you posted has an issue with overweight people being portrayed as nothing but people that can't think or do anything without thinking about their weight. The author wants a show that portrays a fat person just living life as every person does. That's not saying being overweight is ok, but that it's ok to live life at whatever size you are. If you watch a show that tells you fat people can't be happy at the beach until they are skinny, is that a better message than watching a show that shows a person enjoying themselves at the beach but just also happens to be fat?
Well that depends . . . is the fat person being happy on the beach going to have a heart attack at 30, or insulin resistance at 35? Or maybe full blown diabetes by 38? Or maybe need both knees and two hip replacements at 50 because of strain put on joints? Is it worth it?
The point I'm getting at is that it's not about a size/weight, so much as it's about health. I weigh 245lbs (as of Monday) and I'm 5'10. By a BMI scale I'm obese but I have 140lbs of LBM on me, so if I were to weigh 160 like BMI says I should it probably wouldn't be super healthy for me as a person. And not everyone looks the same at the same weight - which is totally fine - but I'm not body shaming anyone at all. I am by no means perfect or in a position to say I'm better than you because of . . . this, this and this. I am working to better myself and it takes time and effort. Glorifying the acceptance of "it is what it is, so be happy with it and accept me as I am or you're a hater" is kind of dangerous.
So, if it's not a size/weight issue, but rather a health issue, why are you getting upset about people wanting overweight people to be better represented? How do you know somebody's health by looking at them? (Hint: You don't.)
I'm obese, and yet my yearly doctor's exams show that the only chronic health issue I have is a hereditary clotting disorder that I was born with, thanks to my father's genes. My thyroid is fine. My blood glucose is fine. My cholesterol, blood pressure, heart, lungs, kidneys, everything is fine. But I'm still fat, because I like to eat, and according to you that makes me unhealthy.
Whitney of MBBFL exercises more frequently (though both the dance classes she takes/teaches and the personal trainer she sees) than many skinny people, either in the real world or in the TV world. She's trying to lose weight and get healthier, and like many people, she doesn't always succeed. Would you rather only see overweight people in the context of The Biggest Loser, Extreme Weight Loss, or My 600-Pound Life, where all of these people are going to extreme, unsustainable ends to lose weight? Why not let people be happy the way they are? What makes you the person that everybody must answer to in deciding how to live their life?3 -
I do not have a problem with more fat people on TV. There are more fat people in real life and if a show like "This is Us" is trying to do a drama based on real people with real problems, relationships, etc, then someone who is overweight can, and perhaps should, be part of the equation. I guess I'm conflicted with the writer of the article having an issue with the fat character going through so much being overweight...I mean no on likes being overweight, you don't go skipping around like nothing matters, most people in that situation battle themselves all the way and try everything to lose the weight. It's part of the struggle.0
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So... how do you feel about people smoking cigarettes? I'm not going to be PC here, I think it's simply idiotic, both health wise and financially. When I see a person smoking I think less of them. Sorry can't help it. When I see an obese person eating hotdogs and fries, or go into a buffet I want to stop them and get them some help.2
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acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »MeeseeksAndDestroy wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »If everyone knows it's unhealthy then why wouldn't we want to see more shows where people change things around? I don't watch a whole lot of TV, honestly, so my opinion is skewed here but I don't see fat people being portrayed and stupid, or weight obsessed or depressed at all. I see shows like My Big Fat Fabulous Life and see how having an illness - like PCOS, which may slow down your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE as it is made out to be - makes it ok to be so overweight she can't even shave her own legs, but as long as you love yourself everything is all going to be great and you'll have this totally great life while your mom needs to come over to help you shave your legs or put on your own shoes. Good message? Really?
The thing about My Big Fat Fabulous Life is she's the only one that's ok with being overweight, but the show is still centered around her losing weight and the health consequences she faces for being the size she's at, so again, still not glorifying obesity as being healthy.
I never said it glorifies it as being healthy. No, I said it makes it seem perfectly acceptable.
Yeah! Why should anyone who is overweight be accepted as a human being! The outrage!
That's a huge jump - I stated in my original post that this isn't about that. Everyone is a person and regardless of your size it doesn't make you less of a person. But what it can do is give you less quality of life. I am still plus sized, I haven't been fit my whole life by anymeans. I was 350lbs in 2012. I am the last person to say you're less of a person because you weigh X. The whole post was about glorifying being overweight, period. Nothing about fat shaming or body shaming. So that's a big jump.
The article you posted has an issue with overweight people being portrayed as nothing but people that can't think or do anything without thinking about their weight. The author wants a show that portrays a fat person just living life as every person does. That's not saying being overweight is ok, but that it's ok to live life at whatever size you are. If you watch a show that tells you fat people can't be happy at the beach until they are skinny, is that a better message than watching a show that shows a person enjoying themselves at the beach but just also happens to be fat?
Well that depends . . . is the fat person being happy on the beach going to have a heart attack at 30, or insulin resistance at 35? Or maybe full blown diabetes by 38? Or maybe need both knees and two hip replacements at 50 because of strain put on joints? Is it worth it?
The point I'm getting at is that it's not about a size/weight, so much as it's about health. I weigh 245lbs (as of Monday) and I'm 5'10. By a BMI scale I'm obese but I have 140lbs of LBM on me, so if I were to weigh 160 like BMI says I should it probably wouldn't be super healthy for me as a person. And not everyone looks the same at the same weight - which is totally fine - but I'm not body shaming anyone at all. I am by no means perfect or in a position to say I'm better than you because of . . . this, this and this. I am working to better myself and it takes time and effort. Glorifying the acceptance of "it is what it is, so be happy with it and accept me as I am or you're a hater" is kind of dangerous.
So, if it's not a size/weight issue, but rather a health issue, why are you getting upset about people wanting overweight people to be better represented? How do you know somebody's health by looking at them? (Hint: You don't.)
I'm obese, and yet my yearly doctor's exams show that the only chronic health issue I have is a hereditary clotting disorder that I was born with, thanks to my father's genes. My thyroid is fine. My blood glucose is fine. My cholesterol, blood pressure, heart, lungs, kidneys, everything is fine. But I'm still fat, because I like to eat, and according to you that makes me unhealthy.
Whitney of MBBFL exercises more frequently (though both the dance classes she takes/teaches and the personal trainer she sees) than many skinny people, either in the real world or in the TV world. She's trying to lose weight and get healthier, and like many people, she doesn't always succeed. Would you rather only see overweight people in the context of The Biggest Loser, Extreme Weight Loss, or My 600-Pound Life, where all of these people are going to extreme, unsustainable ends to lose weight? Why not let people be happy the way they are? What makes you the person that everybody must answer to in deciding how to live their life?
Uh no. Never said anyone who likes to eat is bigger/fat just because they like to eat, but yes if you're 350+ lbs make an argument to me about how that's healthy. (hint: you can't because it isn't).
While ultimately 200lbs may be healthy weight for person A, it is not a healthy weight for person B so it isn't about weighing a certain amount but c'mon - I doubt anyone at extreme weights (either high or low) is actually healthy.
And sure she does exercise - never argued that - but she uses her "condition" as a crutch way more than anything. And I know people with PCOS, people who manage their weight very well. And she even admits she was a healthy weight at one time in her life - I think her teens or early 20s?? - so it's not like she's been big for her whole life and this is on top of it. No, she makes those choices.
Also, do you know her? Like personally? If you do, cool . . . if you don't, you have no idea what she does in real life. You know what she wants you to see. If she does then good on her, but a lot of people can come across a certain way if they want to. It's not hard to online/on tv.
My original post was about health - and this was all being taken off course. While no, if someone is big you don't know their health/fitness level/issues they face . . . only they do. We all make choices in life, sometimes we have things thrown at us that limit our choices, but we still have them.
And I never said to answer to me at all but society has some serious health issues coming its way in the form of kids who are experiencing obesity at previously unseen rates. And that's a huge problem. If you want to just do you and have that mentality then that's cool and it's perfectly understandable. But if you're (and I mean you as in the general you, not you specifically that's perfectly healthy and obese at the same time as you mentioned) going to complain when you have the health problems that come with years of being unhealthy then that's a completely different story and that's what we're gearing up for with just accepting people want to be happy and be unhealthy at the same time. I don't think less of anyone who is overweight - I am overweight - but I am big because I lost control of my eating, I stopped exercising, and I didn't care. I did this to myself. No one did it for me.0 -
So... how do you feel about people smoking cigarettes? I'm not going to be PC here, I think it's simply idiotic, both health wise and financially. When I see a person smoking I think less of them. Sorry can't help it. When I see an obese person eating hotdogs and fries, or go into a buffet I want to stop them and get them some help.
I think we all make choices - but we don't promote smoking on tv because we know it's unhealthy - studies show it leads to illness, specifically cancer or COPD.
Being overweight - as in not over a certain number but over what's healthy for your body (and that isn't 300+ lbs for anyone unless you're about 8 ft tall) - is unhealthy. It causes long term issues. Why we want to be ok with this is way beyond me. Being depressed and being overweight are not mutually exclusive; they often do come together but they are not unique to each other.
If you choose to smoke, you know the consequences. If you choose to drink and drive, you know the consequences. If you choose to not take care of your body you know the consequences.0 -
acorsaut89 wrote: »So... how do you feel about people smoking cigarettes? I'm not going to be PC here, I think it's simply idiotic, both health wise and financially. When I see a person smoking I think less of them. Sorry can't help it. When I see an obese person eating hotdogs and fries, or go into a buffet I want to stop them and get them some help.
I think we all make choices - but we don't promote smoking on tv because we know it's unhealthy - studies show it leads to illness, specifically cancer or COPD.
Being overweight - as in not over a certain number but over what's healthy for your body (and that isn't 300+ lbs for anyone unless you're about 8 ft tall) - is unhealthy. It causes long term issues. Why we want to be ok with this is way beyond me. Being depressed and being overweight are not mutually exclusive; they often do come together but they are not unique to each other.
If you choose to smoke, you know the consequences. If you choose to drink and drive, you know the consequences. If you choose to not take care of your body you know the consequences.
Discrimination & promotion, aren't synonymous! This' about preventing the discrimination of, overweight/obese people not; promoting an unhealthy weight/size!
Case in point the smoker you're referring to, that person's able to put their cigarettes in their dressing room while; shooting a scene & no 1 watching the show'd know that, he's a smoker to judge him for it while; the overweight/obese person's unable to instantaneously remove their fat & leave it, in their; dressing room & thus scrips're written specifically to, criticize/stereotype her health not; accommodate it!
For instance the smoker'd be given a scene in, which they'd take the elevator to; the building's top floor but the overweight/obese person's scene'd be of, them climbing the stairs to; the top floor instead!
Why? Because no 1 watching'll understand why the, smoker's out of breath if; his character isn't a smoker but we'll all know why she's!0 -
acorsaut89 wrote: »I don't think the point of the article was to celebrate being unhealthy, rather just wanting a show that portrays a fat person just living. Not trying to lose weight, not hating themselves for being fat, just living a normal life, just like fat people do everyday.
But that's the thing: it's saying it's ok to be contributing towards living an unhealthy lifestyle and just being ok with it. Should we be ok with being morbidly obese? Should we be ok with the variety of potential illnesses it will bring later in life? Should that just be ok?
We all live our lives doing whatever we do, and that's all well and good but I just can't get behind it. Having been pre-diabetic myself, having been 350lbs . . . and now, feeling like I do now. It's not vanity - it's health. I don't care what I look like, and yes I have some saggy skin, but I feel great.
I'm not saying hate yourself for being overweight . . . not at all. Don't hate yourself - love yourself enough to be healthy.
And yes, I know there are some thin people who have incredibly unhealthy habits, too. That shouldn't be celebrated either.
Why is it a problem for you if someone is ok with how they want to live *their* life? Their being "healthier" doesn't make *you* any healthier, does it?
You do you and let other people do themselves.1
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