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| The Black Hole We Call "Society" | |||||||||
| The obese have always been victims of discrimination and ridicule. On television they are not portrayed as normal people, they are portrayed as fat people. They are looked upon as if they were a subspecies of humans or a separate species all together. Society's perspectives of obese men and obese woman are quite different. Catherine Lawson and Jennifer A. Coleman both wrote articles having to do with society's views and abuse of the overweight. Both writers have strong feelings and convictions about their views and although I may not completely agree with every idea in their articles, I do believe both writers have legitimate points on the subject. | |||||||||
| Lawson claims that it is more socially acceptable to laugh at a fat man than it is to laugh at a fat woman. The movie, "The Nutty Professor" is a great example of how people look at fat women and fat men differently. Eddy Murphy plays a role in which he is an overweight college professor who desperately wants to lose weight. He invents a substance that converts him into the slim Eddy Murphy. In the end, he becomes comfortable with being fat and he ends up with the girl. Although people laughed at him, he ended up with the beautiful thin woman and he seems happy. There have been several movies that put men in these types of roles, but the only movie that I am aware of where a woman is put in this situation is in the movie "Shallow Hal." | |||||||||
| Some might consider "The Nutty Professor" and "Shallow Hal" as victories for fat people, but they are not. These roles are not played by actual fat people, they are played by famous actors in fat suits. People might argue that it does not matter because at the end the lasting impression is of a fat person with an attractive person. However, one must take into consideration that to reach that point of happiness, the "fat person" had to suffer through much ridicule and demoralization. All of the humiliation makes the five minutes they dedicate to making them seem "normal" does not begin to compensate for the all of the damage done during the other hour and fifty minutes of the movie. How many people would have watched "Shallow Hal" if the lead actress was overweight in real life? | |||||||||
| I can wholeheartedly sympathize with Coleman. She comments that culturally we view fat people as inferior and, therefore, more deserving of ridicule. Fat people are blamed for their obesity. Society feels that since it is their fault that they are fat, it is ok to call them names and hurt their feelings. Rarely do people stop to think of the circumstances surrounding a person?s weight problem. Many obese people are people who have problems such as a slow metabolism, gland problems, or emotional problems. Just like anorexia and bulimia are disorders, compulsive over eating is also a disorder. | |||||||||
| The obese are constantly ridiculed, but it would be unfair to say that they are the only victims of society. When I think of the society I live in, I feel disgusted and almost ashamed to be a part of it. What is it that makes a person believe it is ok to make fun of another person? Is there any person on this earth who is perfect or who is entitled, by some divine appointment, to judge others? What kind of a society are we that we find it justifiable to judge a person by their skin color, gender, age, ethnicity, educational background, economic status or by their weight? What makes anyone believe that they are better than anyone else? Our society closely resembles a black hole; it is void of compassion, sensitivity, genuineness and sympathy for our fellow man. America is supposed to symbolize life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but it seems only a select few are entitled to the American dream in our society. | |||||||||
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