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Post Info TOPIC: Marie Claire blogger asks "Should "Fatties" Get a Room?"


Marc Jacobs

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Marie Claire blogger asks "Should "Fatties" Get a Room?"
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Have you guys seen this?  Thoughts?  My fave part is how she reasons by saying she has "plump" friends - just like racists who scream "my best friend's cousin is black!"  



October 25, 2010 9:00 AM by Maura Kelly

The other day, my editor asked me, "Do you really think people feel uncomfortable when they see overweight people making out on television?"

Because I can be kind of clueless I'm not much of a TV person I had no idea what she was talking about, so she steered me to this CNN article, about the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly. As CNN explains, "the show centers around a couple who meet at an Overeaters Anonymous group [and] has drawn complaints for its abundance of fat jokes [as well as] cries from some viewers who aren't comfortable watching intimacy between two plus-sized actors."

My initial response was: Hmm, being overweight is one thing those people are downright obese! And while I think our country's obsession with physical perfection is unhealthy, I also think it's at least equally crazy, albeit in the other direction, to be implicitly promoting obesity! Yes, anorexia is sick, but at least some slim models are simply naturally skinny. No one who is as fat as Mike and Molly can be healthy. And obesity is costing our country far more in terms of all the related health problems we are paying for, by way of our insurance, than any other health problem, even cancer.

So anyway, yes, I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room just like I'd find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.

Now, don't go getting the wrong impression: I have a few friends who could be called plump. I'm not some size-ist jerk. And I also know how tough it can be for truly heavy people to psych themselves up for the long process of slimming down. (For instance, the overweight maintenance guy at my gym has talked to me a little bit about how it seems worthless for him to even try working out, because he's been heavy for as long as he can remember.)

But ... I think obesity is something that most people have a ton of control over. It's something they can change, if only they put their minds to it.

(I'm happy to give you some nutrition and fitness suggestions if you need them but long story short, eat more fresh and unprocessed foods, read labels and avoid foods with any kind of processed sweetener in them whether it's cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup, increase the amount of fiber you're getting, get some kind of exercise for 30 minutes at least five times a week, and do everything you can to stand up more even while using your computer and walk more. I admit that there's plenty that makes slimming down tough, but YOU CAN DO IT! Trust me. It will take some time, but you'll also feel so good, physica

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Dooney & Bourke

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I love Mike & Molly. UGH. I will have to come back with my full reaction.

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Marc Jacobs

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This is going to be a petty blow, but might I introduce Ms. Kelly to the comma (I'll try to find a slender-looking one) and the wonderful world of conjunctions? 

Best response?  Ignore this blog post (which I am sure is not happening).  Let this woman chatter herself into the sizeable hole she is digging.  Looks like good exercise from here...

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Gucci

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Kelly's right. I personally get grossed out by idiots who insist on blogging but can't string together a few proper sentences to do it.

I still don't get why two large people falling in love is promoting obesity. Especially seeing as how the show has made it a point that the two characters are actively trying to get healthier. Honestly, I wish the show had a few less fat jokes, but I also wished that Will & Grace had a few less gay jokes. But that's just me.

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Marc Jacobs

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Boots wrote:


I still don't get why two large people falling in love is promoting obesity. Especially seeing as how the show has made it a point that the two characters are actively trying to get healthier. Honestly, I wish the show had a few less fat jokes, but I also wished that Will & Grace had a few less gay jokes. But that's just me.



ITA! She must not have even watched the show b/c the main characters are trying to lose weight. I mean, they meet at an OA meeting for God's sake! Most people don't attend those meetings if they're not trying to change their lifestyle!

Btw, I love this show! I think it's funny. And seeing the characters make out does not make me uncomfortable.

This blogger is an offensive idiot - there's a difference by being outright disgusted by seeing a fat person walk across the room and seeing a heroin addict slumped in a chair - I can't believe she even compared the two! She very obviously has a problem with overweight & obese people - definitely a size-ist! I bet her 'plump' friends just love her and her prejudicial attitude.



-- Edited by wetbandit42 on Thursday 28th of October 2010 11:47:31 AM

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Hermes

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I read something today (now I can't remember where, ugh!) that they questioned MC's editor about it and she basically said "I haven't seen the show, but the writer was once anorexic so I could see why she would feel that way."

Um, why the hell would you let an anorexic person write a blog post about what they think of *any* type of body? Anorexia is a disease and someone who has it is naturally going to have a skewed impression of overweight or even *normal* people. Giving her a megaphone to shout those views all over the world, under your magazine's name, isn't a great idea. Especially when most people don't know that about the writer.

Also, I every time I see someone referring to the writer as "Kelly" I get confused for a brief second and I think "woah, what did I ever say?" :)

-- Edited by Kelly on Thursday 28th of October 2010 04:18:52 PM

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Marc Jacobs

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It is really disturbing to me that a show like this would be considered as "promoting obesity" - what is the promotion? The fact that they fell in love? Are people running to Dunkin Donuts for crullers in hopes of finding "the one?" No. If they were the fat, funny, lonely neighbor no one would mind.

In general, there's a bit of tact that should be used when publicly sharing an opinion. I am no journalist but I wouldn't put something as offensive on my fb profile. It's a matter of manners. Also, I think that Marie Claire has an image to maintain, one that has tried to be "pro woman," modern-feminist, showcasing plus size models, diversity, makeup or airbrush-free pictorials, etc... How do you then publish a piece that single-handedly knocks down the self esteem of half your readers?

Has anyone googled this chick? She's quite ugly. I personally wouldn't want to see her making out with anyone but you won't see me writing an article about it.

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Gucci

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The writer was anorexic? That explains a lot. I agree with Kelly, it was unprofessional to assign this story to somebody who suffers from that. But what strikes me as being even more unprofessional is that who ever supervises her (and I assume reads her articles before they are posted) didn't stop and think "Maybe we shouldn't publish this."

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Chanel

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As well I think it's unprofessional to ask someone to cover a TV show that she has not watched. (But she read a CNN article about it).


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Gucci

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The journalist's lack of research also bothers me.  I think that if the writer was assigned to write on the show, she easily could have gotten copies of episodes to watch. It's only been on a few weeks (like 4 or and it's a 1/2 hour show.) On Demand has it, Hulu or many other online places also have the show for viewing. She should have done her homework. It's not like every assignment she's going to be given is going to be something she has working knowledge of. A writer has to do research. It's part of the job.

-- Edited by Boots on Monday 1st of November 2010 10:22:32 AM

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