everyone laugh at the invisible fat chick
Jan. 17th, 2006 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
keryxI watched 8 whole episodes of Gilmore Girls yesterday (it was a lazy day), and in the midst of them had a moment of argh.
At the beginning of one episode (specifically, the one where Kirk does the 'journey of man' dance), there's totally random banter between Luke and Lorelei about shopping. They have a bunch of bags. She pulls out a pair of underpants much bigger than her and they chuckle over some horrible crack about how the underwear are in hiding from the OMIGOD ENORMOUS woman who would wear them. Cause even inanimate objects don't want to touch the Dread Fat Chick. It was so out of place in an otherwise snarky but not mean show. Here's a show where almost all the actors playing supporting characters are round or otherwise not "standardly" attractive, and it's not a big deal. WTF?? There were so many other things about those underwear to mock, too - they were all shiny and polyestery and pink beyond human comprehension.
And the joke was just so effing casual, like of course the invisible fat chick is humorous. Is that how the culture thinks about fat? That even relatively hip, liberal types still readily deride the invisible fat person, but act like they're totally cool with the non-invisible one?
Sigh. The true test of cultural decency is, I think, our ability to not be asshats to people who aren't standing in front of us.
At the beginning of one episode (specifically, the one where Kirk does the 'journey of man' dance), there's totally random banter between Luke and Lorelei about shopping. They have a bunch of bags. She pulls out a pair of underpants much bigger than her and they chuckle over some horrible crack about how the underwear are in hiding from the OMIGOD ENORMOUS woman who would wear them. Cause even inanimate objects don't want to touch the Dread Fat Chick. It was so out of place in an otherwise snarky but not mean show. Here's a show where almost all the actors playing supporting characters are round or otherwise not "standardly" attractive, and it's not a big deal. WTF?? There were so many other things about those underwear to mock, too - they were all shiny and polyestery and pink beyond human comprehension.
And the joke was just so effing casual, like of course the invisible fat chick is humorous. Is that how the culture thinks about fat? That even relatively hip, liberal types still readily deride the invisible fat person, but act like they're totally cool with the non-invisible one?
Sigh. The true test of cultural decency is, I think, our ability to not be asshats to people who aren't standing in front of us.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 07:51 am (UTC)On the other hand, I think that's the only show on t.v. in which fat characters body size is never mentioned. It doesn't seem to effect their love lives and they aren't depressed about it or insulting their own bodies. It's a non-issue. Any of their parts could be played by thin people. For t.v. there's a lot of fat actors on that show. Even when they lose weight it isn't an issue. Sukie lost a lot of weight at one point and I never heard it mentioned on the show.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 08:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 08:09 am (UTC)well put.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 08:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 06:15 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, the answer seems to be "yes."
Speaking of fat activism, I think you and
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-17 06:58 pm (UTC)We're chipping away at it.
And I have now read some of