Brief 2: Post III

It saddens me to say what I was expecting from this curation was exactly what I received. With most shows hammering in the aggravating fat humour, few films with plus-sized actors in the main role and very little amount of media to choose from.

I was surprised by just how little media there actually was. Everything on that list was all I could find in visual media, aside from a single flick I couldn’t even get my hands on, this really does put Hollywood’s fatphobia into perspective when directly compared to other films. It’s a big question as to why Hollywood does this. Is it because they don’t wish to promote obesity in a positive light? With the possibility of unintentionally leading their audience into an unhealthy lifestyle. Is it to branch off into “cutting-edge” humour? Because nothing can be ignorant and insulting if it’s “edgy.” Or is it for the unbelievably simple reason of being in the mindset that fat equals ugly?

Frankly, whatever justification they have becomes a pathetic excuse once you unpack their reasoning.

Whenever I see selfies of these real-life people possibly playing their favourite sports, eating out to celebrate, there is always, always, someone commenting on their weight. Saying how unhealthy they are, without knowing anything about their lifestyle, past or current, but since their body type doesn’t fit into the staple of what a fit body looks like, that films have been showing us for years, it must be anything but healthy.

You’ve probably seen shows like The Simpsons or South Park; both known for their social commentary as well as their risky humour in our frankly quite conservative world. Maybe this is what they’re attempting to be? To be shocking enough to get a nervous laugh from us, the audience, but portraying plus-sized people as disgusting throw away lines impacts reality, more than you’d like. It carves how people feel they can treat us because we’re not the social norm, Hollywood says so. Jacob Burmeister and Robert Carels once, in 2014, went into depth about who finds this kind of humour funny, and what did they find? “Those who disliked the weight-related humor were less likely to believe in disparaging stereotypes about obesity, consistent with the opposite association between humor appreciation and belief in disparaging stereotypes.” Truly, that says it all.

So, I’m afraid I wasn’t surprised by what I found. However, I was surprised by just how deep down this noxious rabbit hole goes.

• Burmeister, J. M., & Carels, R. A. Weight-related humor in the media: http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-24368-001

• Same study summarised and free to read: https://www.newswise.com/articles/appreciation-for-fat-jokes-belief-in-obese-stereotypes-linked